moespeeds

I'm planning on caging my FRC this winter, I will do all the work. My plan is to take the roof off the car to make the whole job easier. Removing the roof looks pretty simple, but what are guys doing to re-attach it? I could just use structural epoxy to re-attach it, but I'd rather leave it removable for any future mods/maintenance. Anyone got pictures of how it's done?

triple_s1x

I kept mine simple to make it removable and just bolted it back on using the factory hardware. I will say though taking the roof off looked easy, but it really was a pain in the *** with all the glue GM used.

moespeeds

Did you cut through the glue? Use any heat? I'd love to see pics if you have any. Thanks for the reply.

Cobra4B

Here are some selected posts from my build thread on NASAforums. The roof is held in place by the 5 OEM brackets (2 front and 3 across the rear) in addition to 3 tabs I had added to the cage to make up for the lack of any adhesive holding the roof to the now-gone b-pillar. There is one on each side coming up off of the area where I cut the b-pillar and one in the center top on the main hoop that bolts to the roof using the hole already in the roof panel for the headliner push-pin. I just put a nutsert in that hole. Can't get crazy with the torque because it's a nutsert in SMC, but you can get it plenty tight. Have had it caged since April 2011 and have had no issues with roof stress, movement, etc. If you have any questions let me know and I'll PM you my cell phone.

Cobra4B

Oh... as for the glue... it's horrible. I tried a hot cable saw to no avail. Ended up having my glass guy come over with his crazy assortment of sawzall blades and had him help me do it.

Getting the rest of the b-pillar bar off of the roof was a uber chore too. I had two buddies hold it while we took turns attacking it with a cable saw and lots of lubricant. I know I've seen the roof panel removed with the b-pillar left in place, but it must take forever to do it. Some of the early FRCs had water leaking issues and GM would fix them under warranty... I've seen the pics and read the OEM service guide which says to use a wire/cable say, but dang I don't see how you could get the room/leverage to do it with the roof on the car.

yakisoba

Noob cage question: How come most folks cut the b pillar out? Seems like a sturdy bit of stuff... How come we don't work with it more?

moespeeds

Man those pictures are awesome, and really helpful. Don't know how I missed this in your NASA thread. B pillar is useless once there is a cage in there, it's just in the way.

Thanks for the info.

Cobra4B

I thought the same thing... would be great to build a cage using the OEM b-pillar as the main hoop and just work off of it. Won't fly... wouldn't pass any tech inspection anywhere. Plus, if you look at my pics where I cut mine out it's very very thin. Yes it's strong, but nowhere near as strong as DOM. You cut it out to make room for the main hoop... basically the main hoop replaces it. If you're over 6' then fitting in a caged C5 with the OEM b-pillar sucks. I'm 6'4" so it wasn't an option at all.

2 GTOs

That sure gives me an appreciation for why these cages are not cheap.

Cobra4B

Most shops don't bother taking the roof off... they'd have no idea how. The guy who built my cage told me he'd call me and pay me as a consultant to take the roof off if he had to do another

Cobra4B

One thing I forgot to mention. If you have a very early build FRC you won't be able to get the quarter panels off with the roof on without cutting. You can't get to the forward two screws through the gap between the quarter and roof. When GM realized their error they started slotting those front two holes on the FRC quarters. In the old service manuals under quarter panel removal it actually told you to cut holes in the quarter panel to access those screws from the side with some pliers! It then directs you to the body work section and tells you to fill and paint! It's something like:

Step 1: Cut access holes
Step 2: Remove quarter panel
Step 3: Re-install panel
Step 4: Refer to body/paint section
Step 5: Use GM specific SMC filler to fill holes; perform body work
Step 6: Paint



Also, even if they are properly slotted they can be hard to remove as the roof adhesive will squish out and stick to them at the front. You just want to have all the other fasteners loose and wiggle the panel back and forth and it'll work itself out. I've only ever had 2001 Z06s, a coupe, and a vert so I've never dealt with one that I couldn't get the panel off of.

96CollectorSport

The best way (I've found) to cut through the glue on the B-pillar is to take a long (18") sawzall blade and then take it over to the grinder and give it more of a knife edge, you still want to keep the teeth though. So instead of having more of a squared off blade it's more knife like. This also works for the A-pillar but I used a smaller blade for my air saw and you have to bend the blade to get it between the top and the A-pillar, otherwise you end up cutting into the top.

Put the blade in the sawzall and get it in between the B-pillar and the roof (the nice thing about the longer blade is that you can get a little more bend out of it.) Once you start cutting the blade will want to gall up with adhesive once the blade gets hot, have a buddy spray silicone on the blade, it will cool the blade and help lubricate it at the same time. As your working try putting putty knifes or screwdrivers between the pillar and the hardtop as you work to give youself a little more room to work.

We tried using heat at first and that got us nowhere, once we did the sawzall and the silicone we had the roof off in an hour and a half.