Vinyl roofs and repairs

[richardw]

Starting this thread as a continuation of Andy Webber’s discussion of his excellent work on his vinyl roof here: viewtopic.php?f=13&t=12660&start=30

Andy has used CT1 to repair parts of his vinyl roof with great success. I found this link to products from viper which allow a leather grain finish to be applied, if it helps: https://youtu.be/BdHQYda8M8I

We’ve talked a lot about fitting vinyl roofs in the past and, as a wacky ‘out of the ball park’ thought, I wondered if it would be possible to coat a bare roof with CT1 then apply the leather graining and colouring products to achieve the desired finish. Of course CT1 is a sealer and only available in a nozzle dispenser, but drying and setting times seem long enough for getting a smooth finish. Not sure exactly how to apply over a large area such as a roof - maybe some kind of spreader? Anyway these are just preliminary thoughts, not to be taken too seriously, but hopefully they will trigger comments from those more skilful than I.

Cheers, Richard

[AndrewWebber]

Thanks Richard (and Pete in the Club Lotus Combe Track day thread). Some useful thoughts, both / either of which would move it on from where it is now. I certainly think the CT1 approach can work as a very durable filler / repair medium, it can be applied / spread with normal 'body filler spreaders'. The back 3 inches or so of my vinyl roof was largely detached, the 'factory' mild steel fixing strip across the rear of the roof was partially exposed and partially detached and somewhat rusty. Not being confident enough to remove / replace it 2 years ago I cleaned / around under it as best I could with acetone, then masked the surrounding body painted areas and put a lot of CT1 under and over it. Then put grease proof paper on top then a pre made wooden former across the whole roof width / length of the repair and pressed it down with my 4 post lift (enough to drop the rear on the suspension around half an inch. I then took the +2 on a Scottish tour for 3 weeks. On return raised the lift, pealed off the paper and filled any surface voids with more CT1. In the year it has been out in some frost / rain / heat and shows no sign of failure / pealing / shrinking / cracking etc. hence the decision to try and improve the aesthetics this week with a light CT1 reskim of the repaired areas dabbed with a tooth brush to take off the smoothness then the vinyl paint sponge dabbed all over. Too early to assess the durability of the paint of course. It could be a whole roof may be easier to get a 'consistently random' texture than a repaired area. I'm not yet brave enough to cover the old good bits with it though. The grain of which is quite large /open / defined (more so than the video link from Richard) so I will endeavor at some point to make an impression tool from something similar (or maybe my own roof). It is not top of my list currently so may not be for a while as still have the Audi RS6 transaxle to finish in the 'Europa' and am mid Speed Championship season with the +2. I will add any updates here on the roof when they happen (good or bad!)

[bash]

I know Im not the sharpest tool in the box, but why not just replace the vinyl ? Im sure there must be reason but....

Bash

[richardw]

You have to remove and replace the upper windscreen rail. Many (like mine) are now glued in so removal without terminal damage is almost impossible, and new or acceptable used rails are hen’s teeth.

I’m also dreading a cracked windscreen for the same reason!

Cheers, Richard

[bash]

Thats a very good reason.

Bash

[AndrewWebber]

Have just ordered one of these to try in some pre cured CT1.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/221927311162 ... R8TCqo-OYg

Andy

[Pete Boole]

Looking forward to seeing the results!

Pete

[AndrewWebber]

Okay so with the Sprint and Hill Climb season finished, some time to update on the Elite vinyl roof repairs. I continue to be convinced that CT1 makes for a durable long term repair material. The challenge is getting the 'leather grain texture' into it. As previously mentioned I purchased a silicone impression mat (meant for making an football iced cake!), smeared some more CT1 over the previously repaired area, laid some cling film over it and after 30mins (summer time), pressed it into it. I tried without the cling film and it was a mess! It takes the impression but this is probably a bit limited by the clingfilm not 'stretching' to match the impression. Anyway the final result is 'okay' but I couldn't find a texture impression with a similar fine grain to the original roof. I haven't tried making my own from an impression off of an original section. The other issue (see photo) is as the repaired area has to be feathered out to nothing to blend in with the original roof there is a band where there is not enough depth for the impression to be made. (If you were brave enough to do the whole roof this could be avoided). I did finally 'wipe' it with vinyl paint. Time will tell how long that lasts but after 8 months it is still good. So for me (in context of this car's overall 'used' condition), I'm going to leave it a that, at least for now. It is functional (when I got the car the tail end of the roof flapped noisily at speed and was going to tear itself to bits and the metal rear fixing strip damage the rear fibreglass section), it is presentable from a metre away and now 'part of the story'....I'm now contemplating trying black CT1 on a some heavily damaged sections of the joint line rubber strip...

[Lotus-e-Clan]

That's more than acceptable for a classic with age-related patina. It's a bit like leather seat patina - I prefer the look - as long as it's rip-free and looks cared for.