spot the stagea

[Duncan]

roof rail delete used to be a thing, they were made locally for a while too

[soviet_merlin]

8 hours ago, AnimalGarage said:

I can get more photos of it here soon and I plan to make a thread detailing the process. I received the car this way and it sorely needs refinishing. That is probably the most appealing photo of it. Up close it is fading, cracked, and needs to be re-glued. Depending on their condition I'm on the fence between refinishing or making a new set.   

Oh right, I didn't realise it was your car. Please do! Makes me feel better about mine. I also have a big scrape on the front left bumper where someone presumably used the wall to guide the car into a parking spot  But somehow all the funds go towards mechanical things and the cosmetics stay forever unfinished...

6 hours ago, Duncan said:

roof rail delete used to be a thing, they were made locally for a while too

Interesting, I don't think I have seen it before. But after seeing @PranK's rusty roofline on the BMW I'd probably leave it alone. Wouldn't want water to get in there.

[PranK]

My roof rails are off atm on the E39 until the rust is fixed. I did find another little bit of surface rust under the rails when I took them off. As @soviet_merlin said I'd just leave them alone unless you're planning on ensuring they're properly sealed.

I was on the fence about leaving them off as the delete is still a thing in BMW E39's but I feel like the car is missing something (er, it is, der) with them off and I'm looking forward to putting them back on.

[AnimalGarage]

13 hours ago, PranK said:

My roof rails are off atm on the E39 until the rust is fixed. I did find another little bit of surface rust under the rails when I took them off. As @soviet_merlin said I'd just leave them alone unless you're planning on ensuring they're properly sealed.

I was on the fence about leaving them off as the delete is still a thing in BMW E39's but I feel like the car is missing something (er, it is, der) with them off and I'm looking forward to putting them back on.

It would be different if the sealant hadn't started to peel up with gaps in the glue about ~6cm and bigger in some areas. I would much prefer not having to do the work take them off the car . However, the filler the owner put in the roof rack mount cavities has shrunk and begun to crack on the rail delete panels. I cant trust that to hold off moisture ingress especially where I live. Not only that but I have faded paint on as well as on either side of these panels, so they would need to come off to give the roofline a proper respray.

My goal is to get in there and put a healthy amount of epoxy instead of panel filler/bog and potentially skin with carbon fiber. I have 2 spare rolls from an old motorcycle fairing project from a few years back and I think it'd be a nice touch on a black stag. 

I've seen some threads where people replace their roof rack delete with a welded in sheet metal part. But has anyone re-worked the roof rails themselves? It seems like there is a lot of volume there to add in some threads and maybe a keyway for a quick(er) release roof rack system. Not afraid to mill something out if I have to. It would be cool to have a cross bar only setup. That way I can keep the sleek roofline that would accept a couple bolts to gain back that extra utility  3D print some snazzy covers to hide the threaded section to be thorough and keep things covered when not using the rack. 

[MBS206]

18 hours ago, AnimalGarage said:

It would be different if the sealant hadn't started to peel up with gaps in the glue about ~6cm and bigger in some areas. I would much prefer not having to do the work take them off the car . However, the filler the owner put in the roof rack mount cavities has shrunk and begun to crack on the rail delete panels. I cant trust that to hold off moisture ingress especially where I live. Not only that but I have faded paint on as well as on either side of these panels, so they would need to come off to give the roofline a proper respray.

My goal is to get in there and put a healthy amount of epoxy instead of panel filler/bog and potentially skin with carbon fiber. I have 2 spare rolls from an old motorcycle fairing project from a few years back and I think it'd be a nice touch on a black stag. 

I've seen some threads where people replace their roof rack delete with a welded in sheet metal part. But has anyone re-worked the roof rails themselves? It seems like there is a lot of volume there to add in some threads and maybe a keyway for a quick(er) release roof rack system. Not afraid to mill something out if I have to. It would be cool to have a cross bar only setup. That way I can keep the sleek roofline that would accept a couple bolts to gain back that extra utility  3D print some snazzy covers to hide the threaded section to be thorough and keep things covered when not using the rack. 

It sounds like you want what the Toyota Landcruisers have for their roof racks.
Wanna know what you end up with?
Rust holes in the roof, and water everywhere...