Thanks for prompt replies.
Having spent an hour this morning in my lovely cold garage trying to get my head round how everything fits together and reread your comments and also the attached file to an earlier post by Denis Sweeney l would concur that bolts were fitted at the back of the track rail and also the very front on both sides.
So, as stated by Martin can now build up the whole of the roof section as one unit and drop the whole thing into the opening. I wasn’t sure about the rivets but having examined my roof opening there is no evidence of screws ever been used to secure the rails section to the opening.
My build has taken 25 years so far, would be great to get it completed for next year’s centenary!
05-12-2021, 04:51 PM (This post was last modified: 05-12-2021, 05:03 PM by Francis.)
Very useful information thank you. I am about to but back together my Ruby sun roof and have a couple of questions for which l would be most grateful for advice.
Presumably the metal sliding roof rails/gutters are fixed on top of the leather cloth and therefore screwed through the material? What about the two bolts that go through the steel frame at the back either side?
Are these loosely put in the frame and the leather cloth laid over the top?
Thanks in advance
Francis
I think l got this post on the wrong thread initially, l am new to this game so struggling a bit, my apologies.
Very useful information thank you. I am about to but back together my Ruby sun roof and have a couple of questions for which l would be most grateful for advice.
Presumably the metal sliding roof rails/gutters are fixed on top of the leather cloth and therefore screwed through the material? What about the two bolts that go through the steel frame at the back either side?
Are these loosely put in the frame and the leather cloth laid over the top?
Thanks in advance
Francis
I have recently done mine, like yours with no original useful elements remaining . I have quite a few photos which may help in conjunction from info you already have. There is too much to post in this group but if you want to PM me your email address I can send you the photos and some info.
18-12-2021, 12:09 PM (This post was last modified: 18-12-2021, 02:33 PM by Martin Prior.)
Hi Tim (Parazine).
Trials and tribulations with the internet kept me offline for several days.
I recognise and agree with almost everything in your post, but I can't picture where the bolts that we were discussing are supposed to go. We make RP and Ruby sunroof sets in reasonable numbers (6 on the books at the moment), so if we're missing the I'd like to know where they should be. Almost all of the cars that we see have either had heavy repairs to their sunroofs, or have lost them altogether. I'm surprised that I've not spotted these bolts on the few (presumed) original roofs that we've worked on, but I evidently have. Oh well, Sevens are a constant learning process!
I have to admit my restoration did not include any bolts.
Sealant, which I purchased from Woolies was applied all around the roof opening.
The wood frame, fully covered was then dropped into the roof opening and sat on the internal metal strips that were screwed to the the fixed portion of the roof woodwork, this in turn pulled the roof frame into the recess and sealant.
The sliding rails were then screwed onto the covered roof frame and the sliding roof installed.
I never had woodwork to follow and all knowledge was based upon the to papers I posted many moons ago.
Cannot say my Ruby is as original but all looks ok
Yes it certainly works by screwing the "H" frame down externally but that's not how they were originally made by Pytchley or installed by Austin.
Hi Martin,
I can't remember exactly where the machine screws go, I seem to recall, through the wood? It's thirty years since I had to do one of these so the fine detail has escaped me in that time!
All, P363 in the Source Book has the correct method of assembly for an RP saloon detailed, this is also correct for Rubies up to 1938 when the metal sunroof was introduced, to streamline the process with the Big 7 line.
19-12-2021, 10:54 AM (This post was last modified: 19-12-2021, 12:36 PM by Martin Prior.)
Unfortunately, the Source Book information makes no reference at all to the machine screws! I simply can't work out where they would go or what purpose they would serve. Given the number of sunroof sets that we've sent out or fitted without them, they can't be very important.
This is an original sunroof installation from a Mk2 Ruby. It had already been dismantled when it came to us. There are some out-of-sequence holes at the front(circled) and I believe there was a similar pair at the back. I assume that these were associated with the machine screws, but where did the other ends emerge? If they went all the way through, surely they'd interfere with the headlining and if they didn't, how would the nuts be accessed?
I think they were there to enable the sunroof to be quickly placed on the production line, giving some precision to the location. Gun the sealant on, pop the roof on using the four bolts to locate it precisely, screw up from underneath, job done.
I would think that they wouldn't interfere with the headlining as is a bit "baggy" and there would be enough room to hide the bolts.
20-12-2021, 04:02 PM (This post was last modified: 20-12-2021, 04:07 PM by Martin Prior.)
That sounds quite plausible. Someone PM'd me to say much the same, with the additional information that the nuts were captive in the timber, so nothing would protrude through the lower surface.
We've made at least 30 roof sets without these bolts. I can see that they may have been useful under production line conditions, but I think that for us they'd simply be an added complication - customers can fit them if they wish!
The original frame on my Ruby's roof has the extra holes - but no longer any bolts. The back half already had a thin zinc-plated sheet fitted by 1975, which works very well. This had been bolted down along the back edge, through the wood. The nuts were too shallow to interfere with the headlining - they weren't noticeable until the headlining was removed. It is possible that they were the original four bolts used to fit the roof as they were the right size and length and in the olden days everything was used again?
When I put the roof back on twenty years ago after repairs I used closed-cell neoprene strip to seal it instead of sealant - in case I had to take the roof off again. However, it is still on and still water-tight. The neoprene strip was about 1/8" thick, but squashed almost flat when fitted so made a neat, if unoriginal, job.
