So my poor mini got hit by hail, hard. There are dents covering the entire roof and hood. Luckily (kind of) because a guy hit me I get a new hood for free. However, a roof I am up to my own means. I know I can bondo it and smooth it out or even by another stock roof. However, if they make carbon fiber hoods and boots, why not carbon fiber roofs?? Anyone see any? Or could make one? Seems to be the most logical place to lighten up anyways, its the highest off the ground.

 

I have done research for just the mooroof in CF. No one is willing at this point. It will be done though. You would have to add supports to an entire CF roof. I'm sure it could be done but the chances on finding someone to do it is like winning the lottery.

 

I was going to do this a few years ago but realised the cost to weight saving is totally blown out of proportion.
Its a really thin sheet metal roof anyways.

 

I'm guessing you havent seen this article.

http://www.sportcompactcarweb.com/pr...mini_cooper_s/

Carbon Trix
Carbon-fiber sunroof panel
(562) 906-5335
www.carbontrix.com

 

I've looked into this and I got quoted around 1400$ for one, it's tempting.

 

If just fixing the dents go with PDR, much cheeper than replacement with anything.

 

I work at a BMW dealership and we have 2 ///M6's right now (i got to drive one ). the engine and beauty aside, the coolest part is the carbon fiber roof. coolest part

 

Could just be me not understanding the process fully but if a carbon fiber hood can be made and sold for less than $600 then a roof should be easy. Just how much more complex the hood it than the roof. Its nearly flat! I guess its just less of a hot item so no one has does it. But if they were ever mass produced I think they would, or at least should, be cheaper than a hood.

 

Would PDR actaully work for hail? Its not just a few dents, but doezens of little dents. Some are easily large enough to feel others you can just see and feel rather flat. All in all there are probably at least 2 or 3 dozen dents though.

 

First of all it's the install, it's not a bolt-on mod, or well, not that I know of? Don't you have to cut the existing roof off? And a second thing is that the roof would be custom since no one(?) has a form for the roof.

 

See post #2. These were the dudes I talked to. They weren't interested really and said they threw away the CF moonroof mold a long time ago because it was such a pain in the a$$. I can only imagine going the extra step and doing a roof.

 

HAHA.. i built that Article out for SCC years ago.. im glad its still around

 

That was a great article, just wish they had some more pictures of the carbon sun roof panels in place. I love how the 15 inch wheels look on that car.

 

I could mold a CF roof in a few days, but not one that could be sold or installed easily.
I would imaging that to mold a correct CF roof that you would have to construct a two piece mold. Still, not a huge deal for someone that does it for a living.
I might guess that you could save about 10 lbs. with a CF roof.

It can be done. Problem these days is the availability of CF. It's very hard to get a hold of and if you can expect to pay about $50/yard for it.

 

MOLD ME A CF MINI

 

Word.

10lb in weight saving sucks though, but hell it looks really nice. :drool:

 

I should clarify. It would only be about 10 lbs less then a non-sunroof Mini, but about 56 + Lbs of a sunroof Mini.

 

So if we were to estimate lets say maybe 4-5 yards for the CF. So thats $250 right there. How much would labor be? 300? $550 dollars doesn't seem that bad for a full carbon fiber roof. Maybe the labor would be more though...

 

You might want to double if not triple that labor. As someone said earlier in this post the install of the CF roof is the biggest problem. You literally have to cut off the roof and then find a way to secure the new CF roof since you can't weld the CF. Then if the current roof supports are built into the metal roof then you have to fab metal supports and attach those to the CF roof.

On top of that you'd be messing with a major structual part of the car which can get a bit dangerous......

 

Removing the roof skin..

• Remove all window trim, top and bottom with the exception of rear hatch glass
• Remove rear hatch interior panel, disconnect all wires and then remove rear hatch including hinges.
• If you have a sunroof; remove headliner and then sunroof.
• Remove windshield and rear side glass.
• Remove any antenna or GPS. If you have GPS then you need to remove interior passenger rear side panel to unhook antenna wire in side glass.
• Now you can start removing the roof skin by drilling out all the spot welds and grinding away welds in the four outside corners and along the interior roof frame.
• Pry up roof skin and remove.
• I may be missing something(s)

The non sunroof mini has a rear roof support that stays bolted across the opening. There are pick-up points for a front brace but I don't believe that Mini ever used them.
In a sunroof Mini there are no braces as the roof skin is beefed up on it's own. The pickup points are still there though so brace can be installed. Not sure you need it with a CF skin though, but you might get 'oil canning' if you don't have something.
A CF roof skin would need to be epoxied and riveted in place. The roof skin is really not structural to the Mini so that should not be too much of a concern.
So, yes, this is a lot of work for a small weight savings on a street car. But it would certainly look trick.

 

By the way I thought I'd just post a pic of a fiberglass door skin and headlight replacement covers I molded up a few weeks ago.

 

Since TC1 is trying to get rid of the hail damage would a CF overlay (like the fake CF dash overlays) do the trick? Should get rid of a lot of the labor costs and cover up the unsightly hail damage.

Isn't hail damage coved by insurance?

 

An overlay actaully would work for this case. I believe insurance would indeed cover it (fixing my roof) however right now its being repaired for getting hit. I was just thinking about possible things to do other than just fix the dents.

 

Let me know what the end result looks like (painted and mounted)!