My truck had a moon roof when I bought it. It was broken and all caulked shut and I hated getting roasted in the sun by it.

So I removed it, cut an aluminum plate patch out of 1/8" aluminum and used about 20+ small nuts and bolts and attached it all the way around the hole, and siliconed under the plate for a weather seal. It's fine. It doesn't leak, and on a lifted truck, you rarely see it. Inside I just put in a new full headliner.

My truck is otherwise a pretty nice truck that's almost entirely rust free, and it's a 4x4 short bed to boot, so it has some value. The question is...if you found the ultimate truck and you saw this done to it, how badly would it affect an offer you made on the truck? To fix it properly either requires a patch panel to be welded in, or a whole new roof panel. I'd go with a patch panel most likely, but for now, it's not really broke and I don't have plans to do anything about it.

Given an entirely new drivetrain in my truck (engine, trans, Tcase) all rebuilt, Suspension is very built with long arms, upgraded axle shafts, Deaver springs, Bilstein remote reservoir shocks and tons of other mods, I would appraise my truck in the $20k range. It doesn't have nice paint but it does have a good body on it and as stated, little rust (only in one rear wheelwell do I have any bubbling).

I just wonder if this is something worth addressing should I ever decide to sell the truck, or if the cost to fix it properly is more trouble than its worth.

Thoughts?

 

It would be worth fixing. I'd butt weld in a panel , do the body work and repaint it as best possible without getting into the visible from the ground area . guys used to spot weld in a panel from the inside then skim it with bondo and paint it for a fast easy repair. not the way I'd do it but better than what you have.

 

I would suspect your biggest issue is perception. No matter how well you did the rest of the work, I think most people with any sense would be very leery of ANYTHING done on the truck after seeing a 'hillbilly' fix like that. JMHO.

 

X2 on that!

 

It would be worth your money to get it repaired right IMO.

 

Well you know you got it that way (with the moon roof) and then you repaired it good enough for you and it does not leak, all the really matters. But correct in thinking about what is a potential buyer going to think when they see it? Are you planning on selling it some day? Since you did all the hard work to make it an awesome backcountry wheeler, and very nice truck BTW, you might as well fix it right or get it fixed right.

To answer the question "if you found the ultimate truck and you saw this done to it, how badly would it affect an offer you made on the truck?. If I was thinking about buying it and seen that repair, the only personal question to affect my offer would be, can I live with it like that or is what is it going to cost ME (the potential new owner) to make it right.

With all the upgrades to the rest of the truck being spot on, I would not factor in that roof repair. But that is just me. And some people use everything wrong or potentially wrong thing found to hack away at your asking price. Damn low ballers....move along this truck is not for you.