w123 missing sunroof - weld in?

[davelarue]

It is really annoying me that i don't have a sunroof on my 300TD. I found a donorcar with a sunroof. Would it be difficult to weld it in? Has anyone done this before?
Thnx

[whunter]

If the body never had one.
It requires precision fabrication and welding to alter the roof.
This is a structural - safety issue on the Mercedes unibody.
Making it seal against weather/leaks is a separate issue.
You will need to re-paint the car after it is installed, due to weld points burning the paint off.

.

[Stretch]

A factory fitted sun roof has a tray that is easy to remove from a donor vehicle. The problem as mentioned above is that you then need additional fixings on the underside of the roof of the vehicle. This is the trickier part - with the associated safety issues. Whether this could be fitted safely depends on the abilities of those who do the job.

If you need pictures of the structure of the underside of the roof I can make them for you as my car is still stripped down to a worthless shell...


...look out for differences in sun roof trays => the W123 coupe sun roof is a different beast from the others. There's also a difference in the trays between the manual and power sun roof options. If I were you I'd go for a manual option.


On the whole though I consider this to be a whole lot of work for a W123 - why not buy one with a sun roof already fitted?


An alternative is to try and find an after market solution. In the 1970s / 1980s when many cars weren't fitted with sun roofs as standard companies such as Webasto used to do a roaring trade.

Sunroofs

[Stretch]

Another thing that has come to mind - the sun roof drains for the Mercedes factory design aren't necessarily all that easy to fit.

The front drains come out behind the front wheels in a strange cavity between the front wings and the side of the bulk head. To get to this part of the car there's quite a bit of trim removal required. All do-able though...

...but the rear sunroof drains come out a strange recess on the rear pillars on a sedan / saloon body. If you don't have the attachment for the rubber hose that runs from the drain to the recess on the body then you could have trouble - I don't know for sure if this sun roof drain "functionality" was fitted to all cars. It could be an irritating quirk...

[PARSHOOT1]

Doesn't sound like you're getting alot of encouragement and I would have to agree with everything Stretch has pointed out particularly about the front and rear drains. I just pulled a sunroof off an '89 260e at our local PicknPull lot and obviously I didn't have to be too careful about the removal process. But, the whole time I was doing the removal I kept thinking about what a pita it was going to be to re-install. That being said, there's got to be someone here at PP that has done this task, you just hopefully can get their attention and help. Also, the power of the internet is at your fingertips. Good luck.

[steeleygreg]

I got to agree with the above posts. I've just finished restoring my sun roof in an 82 240D. It's electric and not manual unit. I had rust on the drivers side to deal with which got sealed with POR15. Since yours is a TD model and not a sedan like mine, the installation may not be that hard, but for the drains. That may be another story. The two fronts drain exit forward of the "A" pillars and the rears drain in the back in the "C" pillar (sedan). Not sure where they exit in a TD model, but without the correct fittings to get the water outside the car body, it may create a problem. If memory serves correctly, the factory drain hoses come in pre-determined lengths if still even available.
My suggestion is to look for a quality aftermarket sunroof. These will come with all the necessary fittings.