I have always wanted a folding sunroof, partly because I love driving with the open sky above but also they remind me so much of Minis I liked when a lad in the 60’s early 70’s – particularly the shorter ones. Just in case anyone else is thinking of going down that route, the after-market Hollandia 400 electric roll-back roof is no longer made. They will continue to supply to manufacturers but the equivalent of the full length roof that was fitted to the British Open is no longer manufactured; I am lead to believe parts are not readily available either, in case you are looking at used.
I have considered the Britax Weathershield / Webasto roof (they are pretty much the same thing) which come up on eBay quite often, rather surprisingly. There is a potential catch with these insofar as whilst often described as being ‘complete’ they don’t ever seem to come with the bracing strip which was screwed or rivetted into the roof and sit in the inner roof’s perimeter channel. These support the leading and rear edges of the opening and are necessary to support the roof and prevent the corners of the aperture cracking. As roof profiles vary between vehicles these braces were individually prepared to match the car by hand-forming over an anvil. Therefore, even if you find a used Britax Weathershield / Webasto roof with the bracing bars, unless it came off another Mini they will not fit unless altered to the correct length and shape. A roof from an MGB GT or anything else will probably not fit, although no doubt those with necessary skills might be able to make it work.
I hope that helps anyone thinking of doing this. My recent conversation with a sunroof installer with several decades experience including the Webasto type very strongly recommended not buying a used roof. He was not even prepared to fit a used one as he no longer has the ‘bridge’ which I understand would have been used as a former to create the bracing bars. Also, spare parts are impossibly difficult to find.
Cutting a hole in a solid roof was never going to be straightforward but I’m now completely put off. A genuine Tudor Webasto roof (which has wooden supports) is available from https://www.thetrimmingcentre.co.uk/ and will cost around £2.2k plus VAT. Actually, this seems relatively good vale for a properly installed roof.
Cheers, David
