Factory roof rail removal, plugging holes

[Fausto79]

Hi All,

i have looked everywhere for this but to no avail.

before you get jumpy this thread is not about removal of factory rails. I have done this already. (TIP - it can be done by just pulling down the headlining a little bit at the corners. for the front you will need to remove the sunvisor, for the rear you can just pull the trim panel under the alpine windows. i could reach it with a little manouvering). i had to remove them to fit my contoured roof rack.

what this thread is about is actually about how to plug the holes up. I want to use blanking grommets with silicone but that is where the problem is. i have looked everywhere for these. all the auto shops go to 50mm internal diameter max. the holes on the disco 1 roof are 1 3/8. roughly 54mm. i found some that were 55mm but they were too fat to actually fit between the sheet metal panel and the support bar that the roof rail bolt fits onto.

the only place i found ones that seem to fit is from steele rubber in the US. there has to be a place in Oz that sells correct ones that may fit. i am baffled as to why it is so hard to find a piece of rubber here.

if anyone has suggestions please help.

Thanks,

Faust

[russdog]

Can you fit a rubber grommet to the small hole , then fill the big hole with roof & gutter silicone - which is available in all sorts of colours, may find a colour close to your vehicle's

[Yorkie]

The d2 ones were 35mm iirc, there is a place in Adelaide that sells varying sizes

Fitch the Rubberman - One stop shop for all your rubber needs! (http://www.fitchtherubberman.com.au/)

:cool:

[Fausto79]

The d2 ones were 35mm iirc, there is a place in Adelaide that sells varying sizes

Fitch the Rubberman - One stop shop for all your rubber needs! (http://www.fitchtherubberman.com.au/)

:cool:

Thanks mate i tried to contact the rubberman but all my emails and phone calls have gone to deaf ears. Thought maybe he wasnt there anymore

[Fausto79]

Can you fit a rubber grommet to the small hole , then fill the big hole with roof & gutter silicone - which is available in all sorts of colours, may find a colour close to your vehicle's

Thought about bogging it up but it a perfect hole. It will just crack the bog, silicone etc around the rim of it and let water in unless u feather it out which will look weird.

Theres gota be a plug. Getting to the stage where im thinking just stick some sheetmetal squares on top and paint them.

[Spel1]

There's another rubber place you might try.
Absolute Rubber, 112 Fairbairn Rd, Sunshine, VIC 3020. Ph 03 9311 3339

[clubagreenie]

Try Grippy Rubber Products in Sydney. Not sure where they are today but I know they're still around.

[Landover]

Try a plumbing supply place. You can get those stainless steel blanking plugs that you use to blanks off the tap holes in a sink when converting to a flick mixer. I think they would be close to the same size.

[olbod]

I would treat the area with rust converter and then araldite an aluminium disk over the hole, bongy over it and respray the roof.
It looks as tho the paint needs a touch up anyway.
Also the bongy can itself be araldite, properly sanded, under coated and sprayed. I doubt it would leak.
I have done this sort of thing a number of times in the past mainly to cover small rust holes in stuff, with lasting results.
On a flat panel I indent the edge of the hole slightly to have an area for the araldite to fill.
This tecknique is easier on a small area rather than cutting and welding a new section.

[clubagreenie]

I was thinking of gluing a plate from the underside and having the roof vinyl wrapped. So it should seal it well and truly.

[Fausto79]

other thing i was thinking seeing as i was just gona use plugs was to just use 3M aluminium tape and put a neat patch over it. that stuff is pretty hard, should seal quite well and last a while. and it similiar colour to my disco so it wouldnt look too bad. should i duck now?

[Fausto79]

I found a place called Chev Parts in NSW who supplies Steele Products. They do not have the exact plug i need (part number 35-0517-45) but can order it in for cheaper than i could get from the US. He quoted me $5.25AUD per plug plus $6 for postage.

From the US i was quoted $3.40USD per plug but postage was 8% of total cost plus $26, so it would have ended up being very expensive.

Ian is the name of the guy at Chev Parts he was very helpful.

In the end i decided to get some sheet metal and plug the holes up for good. I will be doing the work this weekend and will take pics and do a thread on it when im done.

for anyone wanting to plug up the holes though with rubber i suggest calling Ian at Chev Parts. after a lot of searching he was the cheapest and almost the only stockist with the right size plug.

[Stevie]

Just wondering how you went with the sheet metal do you have any pic's?

[Fausto79]

Just wondering how you went with the sheet metal do you have any pic's?

yea mate ive got a running blog going. not sure how up to date it is. but basically ive also got another thread which shows some pics.

while i was up there i decided to spray the whole roof because there was rust under the windscreen seal and one of the alpine windows so i removed them. then thought it was a good time to just do the whole roof.

this is the windscreen thread:

http://www.aulro.com/afvb/discovery-1/181754-windscreen-seals-3.html

and ive attached pics of some of the holes patched up. the ones close up of the holes were before i decided to stip the roof right back, so just shows a bit of feathering, which wouldve been ok if i just decided to patch over the holes. it is all stipped back now though so have to give it an etch.

still havnt sprayed the roof. planning to do that this weekend, fingers crossed.

[Stevie]

yea mate ive got a running blog going. not sure how up to date it is. but basically ive also got another thread which shows some pics.

while i was up there i decided to spray the whole roof because there was rust under the windscreen seal and one of the alpine windows so i removed them. then thought it was a good time to just do the whole roof.

this is the windscreen thread:

http://www.aulro.com/afvb/discovery-1/181754-windscreen-seals-3.html

and ive attached pics of some of the holes patched up. the ones close up of the holes were before i decided to stip the roof right back, so just shows a bit of feathering, which wouldve been ok if i just decided to patch over the holes. it is all stipped back now though so have to give it an etch.

still havnt sprayed the roof. planning to do that this weekend, fingers crossed.
Thanks the photo's are great and help a lot. It looks like a good job and well sealed up.

I'm keen to do this without destroying the roof (a real possibility for me!) so before destroying a perfectly good vehicle any help with the questions below would help.

Where would be the best place to get the sheet metal patches you used?
What thickness are they?
What did you use to adhere them to the roof?

Sorry for all the questions, in fact I don't even know if they are the right questions!!

[Fausto79]

Thanks the photo's are great and help a lot. It looks like a good job and well sealed up.

I'm keen to do this without destroying the roof (a real possibility for me!) so before destroying a perfectly good vehicle any help with the questions below would help.

Where would be the best place to get the sheet metal patches you used?
What thickness are they?
What did you use to adhere them to the roof?

Sorry for all the questions, in fact I don't even know if they are the right questions!!


hey mate,

to be honest i just guessed as well. it's only 4 small holes so there is no structural requirement. i guessed the thinner the metal the easier to blend in when painting. i used 0.3mm galv sheet. just bought from bunnings.

for the glue i used a specific steel to steel glue. there's plenty around. just dont use silicon or if you do make sure it is without ?acetone? or acetic acid (not sure if the same thing). basically the vinegar smelling one. as this reacts with the steel and causes rust.

i filled the holes up with a non acetone sealer and then used the steel glue to glue the 50mm x 50mm patches i cut. make sure you clean them with grease n wax remover. I put a heavy weight on top to hold them down. you will also have to mold the front ones a bit as the roof is slightly curved. pretty easy though, i just used pliers.

make sure the weights hold in place as it can slide down your roof.

after that i bogged them and smoothed them down and now im painting the whole roof. i added a pic of the progress. ive etched it. tonight i will prime it with high fill primer. sunday when its nice and warm and have the whole day i will paint it.

you can go the easy road as I was going to do and just buy rubber plugs. if you go back on this thread i think i put down some details. it is much easier but you can see the plugs. this option is good if you ever want to put the rails back. my option is a no return one.

after discovering rust at the windscreen and one of the alpines i decided to respray the whole roof. as you can see from one pic i glued some steel plate which i bent with hammer and vice to match the curve of the panes and glued it to the back of the alpine window where the rust had eaten though. that way i could bog the front up and make it flush for the seal to sit on. hopefully making it water tight. so was much bigger job than i started out.

hope this helps

[Stevie]

Thanks for the advice its a big help.

Your roof is coming along really well. It'll look smart when resprayed

[Fausto79]

primed it yesterday. had a few issues with gun blockages but sorted it out. still need to lightly sand back the primer.

sunday i will attempt to paint. thats the scary part. then next week after a few days of curing the windscreen guy is coming back. after that i can finally drive the blooming thing again.

[Yorkie]

good effort on the roof, makes me even happier about the rubber blanks i used. :D

[Fausto79]

sprayed the roof yesterday and cleacoated.

was pretty happy with result. if you look closely you can spot some blemishes but all round it looks pretty good and its now rust free and looks way better than the shonky job the previous owner did.

need to do the bonnet next as that is still shonky like the roof was.

few spots where i couldve done better but seeing as i have to move house next week as well i had to rush it a little.

im happy though. for a first time i rekon i did ok.

[Fausto79]

PS i changed to a gravity fed scorpion spray gun as the sca pressure fed one was ****. most the blemishes you can see were caused by the bad spray from the previous gun.

still need to spray the windscreen frame and pillars black and cut back the clear on the roof.

[Fausto79]

Finished the resto job on roof. guy coming on thursday to install the windscreen and the alpine windows. here's a few pics.

im pretty happy. much better than before and more importantly no rust.

[Fausto79]

The windscreen guy just came today. did a good job. hopefully when it rains this will prove it.

[Stevie]

Top job mate, it looks really good