Fiberglass/bodywork pros, teach me your ways.

[zachattack_5491]

I have a huge hole in my roof from the previous owner putting in his own sunroof. It broke on me and I can't replace it, nor do I want to.

So what I want to do is just fiberglass this hole closed, but I have quite a few questions because I've never used fiberglass. Any answers would be appreciated. I'm poor and I don't want to take it in to be professionally done.

Should I use some other method without fiberglass? I've thought about this for a while and fiberglass seems like the best option, but opinions are welcome.

How would fiberglass hold up to the desert sun?

Can I use fiberglass mat just over the hole for structural integrity, and then just use the resin over the metal and feather it out? Is the resin able to be feathered out like bondo?

[bersh240]

get a new piece of sheet metel welded in.
then bondo/glazing putty it smooth and add paint.
fiberglass mat is good stuff. just not ideal for this application since there is still the option to use the proper materials.

[zachattack_5491]

You think that would work well? A lot of the guys around here worry about welding on the thin roof metal, and they also say the bondo will crack from the sun/heat here.

[angelscrx]

If you take it to a reputable shop they should do a good job. Then you can do the bondo on there. You should not be using a ton of bondo but just enough to smooth out the edges.

[metal_mulisha8888]

Just weld in a new piece of sheet metal. Once that is in place and welded, grind the welds a little if needed so they sit level with the surrounding material. After that, you need to go get the fiberglass bondo. Its crucial that you use the fiberglass bondo as a base, before the actual bondo, to make it so the bondo doesn't expand or contract. The fiberglass bondo dries extremely hard, so you will be at it for awhile sanding it. Then after the fiberglass bondo, you can use regular bondo to make everything nice and smooth. Then shoot it with some paint of course. I replaced a couple pieces of sheet metal in my engine bay like that, the pictures are in my build thread. I also have put body kits on numerous ricers in my area so I'm telling you the way i have done it everytime, and I have never had a problem. Its lots of work, not very expensive and comes out really nice.

[wishing_on_a_sr]

Don't do the fiberglass and bondo. the bondo will crack and the fiberglass will peel in the hot sun. my roof is now toast. i just snapped some pics, and ill post them later. i would go to a junkyard and cut the roof off of a hatch and respotweld the roof back into your car. i saw a how to about that the otherday.
And sorry for the threadjack but do you still want that harness, i can meet you in abq sometime, i ran into some issues with my back being f*** up so i have been tardy with getting back to you about that. /threadjack

[zachattack_5491]

Yeah, I want to just chop off a roof but I'm not cutting the roof off a perfectly good 240. All the wrecked ones have messed up roofs. FML maybe I'll just get it done professionally, my wallet will be pissed off for a while but whatever.

Also, I don't think I need the harness anymore. I went crazy on mine and fixed it up good as new.