my friend and i are trying to build our first race car /drift car and we found that the early model base or sport is the lightest of all fcs. we found a car with nice coilovers and rims at a great price, the only thing is it has a sunroof. i hate sunroofs since i never use them and its just dead weight that i cant take out (not like ac or ps) and was wondering if that should be a deal breaker. can i remove the motor and will it pretty much be the same weight as not having a sunroof and does having one reduce rigidity. we need to save all the weight we can because we are sticking with na since its cheaper and more durable but we don't want to drive a snail.

 

Check with whoever your planning to race with and see if the rules allow you to remove the sunroof mechinism. you can remobe the whole thing and weld a piece of sheet metal in it's palce...or, buy that car and another one without a sunroof, swap over the good parts, and sell the other car (or keep it for parts)
The sunroof stuff isn't THAT heavy but it's WAY up there...

CW

 

https://www.rx7club.com/showthread.p...weight+sunroof
https://www.rx7club.com/showthread.p...weight+sunroof
https://www.rx7club.com/showthread.p...weight+sunroof
https://www.rx7club.com/showthread.p...weight+sunroof
https://www.rx7club.com/showthread.p...weight+sunroof

It looks like the sunroof is about 25 pounds. I don't know how much whatever you would put in that place would weight. Your best bet seems to be just to remove the motor assembly.

 

Remove the motor and sliding mechanism, and then weld the sunroof lid shut... Or buy a carbon fiber sunroof panel from www.speedmachineperformance.com and permanently fix it to the roof... Well, that's if you don't mind paying $250 for a 3lb weight loss...

 

sunroof weighs about 20-25lbs
the wieght is high up on the center of gravity of the car....but the center of gravity is fairly low to begin with in these cars....

is it hard to get rid of? yes. as mentioned welding in a piece of sheet metal would be required....along with bracing since it IS the roof we're talking about here....

all in all with the thing removed and panels/bracing installed there will probably be a difference of 15 lbs....

how competitive are these drift events you're entering where 15lbs really matters?

 

better yet, leave it open.
wouldn't it nice to gaze the sky when you drift?

 

the sounroof weights more like 30 lbs.