Anybody knows how to dismount (i.e. take off) the roof rails on Roomster?

What's the procedure?

I have to paint them, but obviously it would be a better job to do it off the car.

Help greatly appreciated

Edited 6 January, 200917 yr by Marko3

They are bolted on through the roof, you will need to drop the headlining down to reach the bolts.

Why do you need to paint them?

Not an easy job...

IMHO, it is better to mask the car, instead of taking the bars off.

Not an easy job...

IMHO, it is better to mask the car, instead of taking the bars off.

That was exactly my idea! But the guy who is going to paint them wants them off so he can do a better job. :smash:

Well.. removing the lining etc. really seems to be an overhead.

I want to paint the center segment of the rails for a bit of visual tuning

The car in question is Roomster Scout.

That was exactly my idea! But the guy who is going to paint them wants them off so he can do a better job. :smash:

Well.. removing the lining etc. really seems to be an overhead.

I want to paint the center segment of the rails for a bit of visual tuning

The car in question is Roomster Scout.

there may be other options, I may be experimenting with a bit of chrome "foil" soon on my black vRoomster scout, if and when I get the time. Whilst working over here in Hamburg I have had an A3 hire car in S-line trim with silver roof rails and it looks great against the black.

It does of course have the potential to go horribly pear shaped

Edit, this is the stuff I am looking at, I used some to tart up an old track bike once and it was quite durable

YOW! - metal effect

If you wanted to paint them, then it may be less trouble to mask off the car rather than dropping the head lining etc

Edited 5 November, 200817 yr by Fluffmeister

What if I go to a Skoda service shop and have them take off the rails? I mean, I'll have guarantee on their work and hopefully they'll do the job right.

Is that operation precarious, I mean, is there any realistic possibility that my roof starts leaking? I hope if the job is done properly everything should be sealed tight.

@Fluffmeister:

Which outdoor foil did you have in mind? As I see it there are two "candidates", light gray (R Tape silver brushed outdoor) and dark gray suitable for car signs (Ritrama pro metalic silver):

R Tape silver brushed outdoor:

Ritrama pro metalic silver:

Edited 5 November, 200817 yr by Marko3

Just an update. I've wrapped the rails with silver foil, and here's the result:

The end result is very, very good indeed Really does make the car look better.

Nice job, that's it...

And there's no hassle dismounting the rails etc. It was finished in 45 minutes flat. Though I was cautioned to go easy with mini-wash so I don't blow away the foil.

One more point... The rails aren't completely straight. There are slightly curved so when the guys applied the foil they couldn't avoid making few tiny cracks on the inward side of the rails. But these are so minuscule you can't see them properly unless you are really searching for them, and again they are not prominent since they are on the inside only and not on the outside.

Edited 4 January, 200917 yr by Marko3

Good job Marko, I have a roll of pro-silver that's been sitting here for a few weeks now. Back from Germany, back from holidays so it's time to crack on and get mine sorted.

Thanks for the pix

I see you have door mirror covers and a metal strip on the rear bumper that co-ordinate with the foil covered roof bars but, I'm sorry, but I'm not convinced by this.

IMHO a Roomster Scout should be left looking a bit 'rugged' and not tarted up.

Should look sweet on a black one

I see you have door mirror covers and a metal strip on the rear bumper that co-ordinate with the foil covered roof bars but, I'm sorry, but I'm not convinced by this.

That's perfectly OK. As they say.. there’s no disputing about tastes.

The original look was too dull and too simple for me. For example, take a look at VW Golf Cross. It's got much more bits and pieces, fancy work, that Skoda doesn't. And also I want to have a car with my own personal touch not just any car, completely standard.

And just a comparison of mirror caps...

Before:

After:

Before:

After:

When we are on the subject... I'd like to present several more items I've done on my Roomy.

I "noticed" that the new VW Cross series has some "markings" on rear doors. Something like this:

And I didn't like the fact that Skoda doesn't have that. Even though Cross and Scout are the same urban crossover subtype.

I had a guy who does this professionally for a living make me a couple of "Scout" stickers. He used this pic to extract the fonts:

He made me "Scout" stickers with white and black letters, as well as other "Roomster Scout-style" stickers. The whole thing looks like this:

I was satisfied just with the "Scout" lettering.

And the final result:

The sticker is approximately 2 x 10 cm in size. VW Cross cars have larger letters, however I'm satisfied with what I have now - I don't want to turn my car into a Scout commercial.

I don't know if this is the appropriate forum topic, or should I open a new one? Anyway, I can always copy the posts or link to them from the new topic if it becomes necessary.

Edited 6 January, 200917 yr by Marko3

That's pretty sweet. I see you have another distingushing Scout mark as well on the wheel. This mark is pretty unique to the model

Your eyes are a bit too sharp That's the result of 90o right corner and a high curb.

I can scan the stickers and give you the exact measures so anyone with a sticker printer can make them for himself.

I reckon every Scout has that mark