Anyone refitted the rear roof section

[steven.collett]

My Chimaera roof rear section is not fitting tightly behind the driver and passenger doors and seems to pulling up from the bodywork a little bit - upon inspection it looks like the ears that are glued into the bottom frame have come unstuck so they need re-gluing, and the Velcro that the flaps grip onto on the inside of the hood have also come away from the body so they need repairing/re-gluing too. It seems as though the only way to repair this effectively will be to take the whole rear section out so I was wondering if anyone else has successfully removed and refitted their rear roof section and could offer any guidance on how easy or challenging it might be before I start?

It looks fairly straightforward but then again...don't most jobs..!! I'm no mechanic and fairly handy, but being in Canada means I'm a bit too far away from a specialist who I'm sure would find this a fairly simple job so I'm going to have to have a go myself, so any guidance, suggestions or horror stories before I start would be hugely welcome?

Thanks

[Steve_D]

I'm doing my own car at the moment and replacing the Velcro. Have Just (I think) found the right stuff as the Velcro readily available is self adhesive an does not stick properly. Waiting for some to arrive.

Removing the hood is not too difficult providing the fixings come undone around the back frame. Dependant on year the fixings are either right through the frame and have plastic caps on the heads inside the car or the heads are inside the hood base frame. Either way rust will be the issue.

You will need to disconnect the interior light wiring down inside the B pillar and then remove the pins from the connector so the wires plus pins can be pulled out through the carpet/side panel.

When removing the hood pivot bolts take careful note of how many spacers and washers are used each side which will not be the same.

Steve

[steven.collett]

Thanks Steve. I assume all of the fixings for the hood frame screw into seats in the bodywork? The ones around the back frame in mine (a 97) are flat headed allen bolts. How are you going to stick the new Velcro pads?

[rickprice]

I have a 2000MY car.

You need to:
Disconnect the wires
Undo the pivot bolts
Undo the bolts along the back. In my car, these bolted through into the boot so needed a helper to hold a spanner there.

I did this because my roof was leaking and as I refitted it I put a nice thick bead of silicone along the undersurface of the hood. Has been watertight since.

Good luck,

Richard

[steven.collett]

Thanks Richard. Hoping to have a go this weekend so the guidance is much appreciated. Will let you know how I get on. Cheers.

[Steve_D]

steven.collett said:

Thanks Steve. I assume all of the fixings for the hood frame screw into seats in the bodywork? The ones around the back frame in mine (a 97) are flat headed allen bolts. How are you going to stick the new Velcro pads?

The bolts just have a largeish washer behind no seat or pocket.
I have still not found the heavy duty velcro without the self adhesive layer so I have used a normal version and fixed it with contact adhesive plus rivets.

Steve

[steven.collett]

Thanks for the tips. Got the back section off - it was much easier than I had expected and a pleasant surprise. I repaired some of the stitching and re-glued the hood to the bottom frame. The Velcro on the body had been riveted and had ripped but managed to repair that too. Refitted everything and its hopefully good for a few more years now. Really appreciate the guidance - gave me the confidence it was do-able wasn't going to be a mammoth undertaking.