Lancia Beta Forum

My roof is in a bad way, I also intend to ditch the sunroof so a plain roofskin would be a good solution.

Anyone know where I can find one, or if they even exist???  Do you have one on your parts car?

I have a lot of beta coupe parts I'd be willing to swap for a roofskin ;)

Cheers
Dan

The coupe I'm dismantling has a sunroof.

Early cars had no sunroof, but you'll be very lucky to find one that someone is willing to cut up.

New roofskins have not been available for decades.

The sunroof is a bit of an Achilles heel for the Beta.

I can't find it at the moment but on one of the recent restorations featured on the Forum the member had basically welded up the sunroof on his car, using a piece of steel cut to shape. It would of course involve a lot of skimming and shaping afterwards to get the contours right.

Yeah I noticed the sunroof has the same contours as the roof, it's compound curved and pretty good alignment,  If I can't find a non-s/roof roofskin I'll have to weld it up and skim it like you suggested.

I've got time on my hands to search for a non s/roof skin during my project, thanks Matt for confirming they existed ;)

The hunt is on!!!!

Cheers
Dan

It was Mark W who welded the sunroof up on his track car project but from what I remember he wasn't very happy with the end result.

although UK spec Beta Coupés were always fitted with a sunroof, this was an option on all other markets (even on the i.e. and the VX), so if you try to find a non-UK car, you would have more chance to find one without  ;)

I have a UK spec Beta Coupe that does not have a sunroof.

I think it was only on the later cars S2/FL and on that all had sunroof as standard.  So chances of finding an early car is slim, plus the roof is different on the early cars when compared to later cars.

Been thinking more on this subject & I reckon I'll go for welding the s/roof shut, filler it nice and straight and make a fibreglass mould of the roofskin, I don't think I'd be happy driving around with a welded up sunroof and a bucket load of filler on the roof....only a matter of time before it cracks when I hit a bump.

Sure other people could benefit from a f/glass roofskin too ;)  Or maybe even the big C word......CARBONNNNNN muahahahahaaaaaaaaaaaaaa

Cheers
Dan

The roof is an integral part of the monocoque so I can't see how it can be replaced by a fibreglass panel? The Spider body is extensively modified to compensate.

BTW the 1300 didn't have a sunroof.

Hi Neil,

The actual sheet skin on the roof is not load bearing, the underframe structure of the roof body remain as standard, you just replace the skin with a comparably strong c/fibre or f/glass panel and bond it on in place of the original.  Commonplace in the rally/racing scene.

I'm not going to make it a convertible (In which case you'd be absolutely correct), just looking to replace the sheet steel with composite & get rid of sunroof :D

Cheers
Dan

Why not just seal the sunroof and vinyl wrap the roof.

To clarify on this topic:

In the UK, 1300 and 1600 Coupes and 1600 HPEs did NOT have factory fitted sunroofs.

All 2000cc (Carb, ie and VX) UK spec cars (Coupe and HPE) of all series came with factory steel sunroofs as standard.

On the saloons - only the 2000ES in the UK had a sunroof.

On the Trevi, the 1600 did not have a sunroof, the 2000 did.

Sun roof was not available in the Uk as a factory option on cars that did not have it as standard spec.

Hope this helps

A

colonel,  That would still leave me riding around with filler and a bodged up roof, instead of vinyl I'd much prefer paint on a fresh skin or composite one...down to personal choice really.

Just to note this is for a full on track/road car that'll be space-framed, stripped out, Jag rwd running gear so a roofskin isn't much of a big deal to the build...just like to have things set in my head before commencing on a project that's all.

Thanks for the info 'A' :D