Auto body repair & detailing: Roof rack on Escort wagon, interior headliner, water leaks

Question
I happen to have so loved my '98 Escort wagon that when I drove it to death I bought a used duplicate (in the vast So'Cal. aftermarket) far less used--in fact, still quite cherry.  The one I enjoyed for years had a roof rack, and it now sits undrivable in my back yard.  The "younger" one is now my primary personal transportation, but it lacks a roof rack.  How possible, how costly would it be to cannibalize the roof rack from the old one that I'm going to junk?  Would I have problems or high expenses with the interior headliner installing it onto my fresher duplicate model that lacks original equipping with roof rack?


Answer
Don-

My suggestion is that you search the aftermarket for a suitable rack for the car. Unless you are prepared to make a significant investment to have it swapped onto the new car. It would, in my opinion be a compromise to the integrity of the car. I am guessing that the inner structure for the roof of a car w/o a roof rack could be different than that of a w/ roof rack car. The thought of some guy with a drill and a bunch of pop rivets hacking into the roof of my car with the hope of attaching a rack is somewhat troublesome. Nevermind the possibility of creating water leaks. While I'm not saying it couldn't be done- you probably don't want to invest the kind of money it would take to remove and reinstall the headliner, make any necessary modifications to the inner structure of the roof to accept the screws or rivets, make sure everything is sealed up properly, and then wait for an eventual downpour to see if your car fills with water, ruining the headliner in the process. You may check someone like JC whitney on the web to see what they have for an aftermarket accessory that may be suitable.