11 replies to this topic

[Miniowner123]

in the middle of my mini turbo project and i have found some accident damage to the front corners of the roof and doorframe

mainly its the door frame damage in the pic but the corner of the roof has been dented in and filled to, im wanting to panel beat the roof back out into shape but the cant rail is in the way, is it ok to remove the cant rails permanently?

only it would make it more accessible to work on the roof plus a little extra weight loss doesnt hurt, if its not possible any other ideas are welcomed and much appreciated, thanks.


edit: just see the spelling mistake in the main title......woops lol

Edited by pinhead, 27 May 2009 - 06:26 PM.

[midridge2]

you could but the cant rail is were the headlining rods fix into.

[Miniowner123]

sorry forgot to mention im going for the stripped out look, so no headlining and any weight saving possible is always good, so the cant rail isnt structual or needed for anything else?

[liam_italian]

My suggestions would be to heat the area of the dent up and try and push it out the best you can, then use a shrink the metal to try and smooth it out and then you can either lead load the roof or use filler!

Or you can use one of those fancy panel beating tools that spot welds itself to the panel and then pull it out, you then twist the end and the spot weld breaks and you start the process again, cant remember for the life of me what they are called tho!

[Miniowner123]

thanks for the advice, should be pretty easy to get back into shape (and get to) once the cant rail is removed and the damaged section of doorframe is cut out

[Matrix]

The cant rail is structual!

[Miniowner123]

o ok, just to make sure its the part that holds the interior light and the headlining rods, other than to hold these what does it do? doesnt seem to be too strong or even holding anything in place, thanks.

[midridge2]

safe to remove, none structual.
the only purpose of it is to hold the roof bars, interior light, mirror, to hold the side of the headlining in place and to make a double skin to keep the glass rubbers water tight at the top.

[Miniowner123]

nice one, thanks for the help

[Matrix]

whatever
the cant rail goes all the around the top of the car and ties in every major panal on the car it is very structual my friend!
the bit that skicks up for the h/l bars is only a small part of the cant rail.

[midridge2]

well then we need to agree to differ my friend.

[Paul Wiginton]

Cut out the damaged section of the doorshut, reshape the roof and weld in a new section to the doorshut. Simple

Paul