sunroof to no sunroof
 

Just wondering if anyone has ever swapped the roof. I have a glass sunroof 94 fd and was going to make it a hardtop. Just wondering if anyone on here has ever swapped/replace a roof on one of this cars before

Check out this thread: https://www.rx7club.com/group-buy-center-69/fd-carbonfiber-sun-roof-group-buy-912394/
You have a PM.

considering that would require a bit of fab work to do right i doubt it and ^ is the best you'll do. Dont get rid of the glass unless your going to track the car as it is somewhat rare.

A good body shop will be able to re-skin the roof, the roof skin is actually pretty cheap from Mazda (not over $200), but I am not sure if they still have it. But after it's done you will need a new paint job unless you want them to blend up to the pillars (I don't recommend on that).

There is a brace (also very cheap) on the non-sunroof cars.

Also they will have to remove the windshield, so there is a chance it might shatter.

At the minimum. You will need the non-sun roof skin, center brace (helps supports the skin), non sunroof headliner, map lights. Selling your glass sunroof should help cover some of the charges.

Worst case is: above items, new moldings: windshield, door seals might not seal as well now, windshield.

If you love your car that much, I mean really like it, then start looking for a body shop. Or else sell your rx-7 now and pick up another one that is a hard top (easiest choice).

I wouldn't bother man. It looks like alot of work (labor $$$). In the end, it really is just simpler to buy another FD. I think redoing the roof would kill resale value as well. In my short time hear, I have never heard of anyone doing what you want to do. There is probably a good reason for it.

Skinning the roof is only part of it. The headliner is different of course, the a-pillar/b-pillar plastic MIGHT be different, not sure of some of the other interior bits. Unless it's a gutted track car or something.

Dale

Pretty sure everything underneath is the same. All of the fittings for the sunroof subframe are there. They just punched a hole in the roof, and bolt the subframe/headliner up. I wouldn't be surprised if it's pre-wired as well.

I bought this car no motor no tranny. like 72000 miles on the car. Its in great shape inside and out. Im just not a fan of sunroofs,t-tops,convertibles. Why do u think it would hurt the value of the car if the roof is swapped. Im very picking about cars so the work would be done perfect.

Swapping the skin wouldn't be too hard. As mentioned above, the non-sunroof models have a brace that adds to the rigidity of the body structure. You will have to add this reinforcement for it to be done right. The part number is FD01-70-661 with a MSRP of $26.21.

The non-sunroof skin is FD01-70-601A and the MSRP is $162.38.

More to think about.

Most likely it will be slightly off as well, since no one is perfect. Also the body shop will have to grind down the weld afterward, a good body shop will be able fill any cervices with metal, but most likely they will bondo the cervices (nothing wrong with it as long as it isn't too deep) then.

Then there is a chance the paint will crack around the area because of the cervices is filled with bondo, the metal might will expand different rates etc etc.

It doesn't have to be too pretty though. The seams are hidden by the weather stripping. They will also probably use seam sealer instead of bondo to fill any gaps.

Basically, just take it to the best body shop you can find if you want it done right.

Up from the dead.

Has anyone actually followed through with a conversion? I'm thinking it might be easier to get a metal sunroof and weld the hole shut with it, removing all the other nonsense.

Thoughts?

Welding the steel sunroof in place permantently could be a lot of hassle.

First off, you wouldnt want to use a MIG, as it would introduct too much heat into the roof skin, and would distort it all to hell. Not to mention MIG welds are hard and will be tough to body file properly. You would want to TIG it or gas it with welding wire to keep the heat down, and have someone inside the car with a wet cloth pressed up on the underside of the roof steel while you did it, to keep heat shrinkage down. You would need to body file it, metal finish it as close as possible, and skim a tiny bit of 'bondo' (we call it bog in Aus) over the end product. Not too much bondo though, as the sun beats on the roof hard, and over the years the heat could cause shrinkage of the bondo, causing cracks to appear.

You would use a semi-hard setting mastic-type seam filler in a tube mainly to run on the inside (rain runoff facing side) of the drip rails (the steel 'L' seams on the sides of the roof under the plastic weather stripping above the door) 3M makes this stuff in a squeeze tube, called 'Drip-Chek' sealer and it is light grey/greeny and messy as all hell to work with.

Honestly I wouldnt do it. Your car has a sunroof. Mine doesnt. I'd love a sunroof in summer. Why not just enjoy it?

I'm thinking it might be easier to get a metal sunroof and weld the hole shut with it, removing all the other nonsense.


This is a really bad idea.

On my FC TII (they were all sunroof) I was having my car painted and wanted the sunroof deleted for room for my helmet when racing. The non sunroof top from Mazda was no longer available.

I bought a new sunroof panel and non sunroof reinforcement bar and told the body shop to cut the reinforcement around the sunroof hole out, cut the reinforcement out of the new sunroof panel, cut the corners and flatten the edges down and put the piece in like you would patch a quarter panel.

They of course ignored me and decided it would be "stronger" if they left all the reinforcement in place on both the body and the sunroof skin and put 1/4" rod where the sunroof gasket goes and weld it shut with a mig.

When it got hot or cold the uneven expansion/contraction around the super rigid sunroof area caused it to show the outline of the sunroof.

Pretty obvious this was going to cause the filler/paint to crack in short time and of course since they left all the reinforcement I gained less headroom and the non sunroof reinforcement and headliner did not fit.

So they re did it and repainted the car, and still did it the same way, just less filler (they had tried to give the roof a more rounded profile the first time). Still the same problems.

When I slowly cut out reinforcement so I could put the hard top reinforcement and headliner in, it changed the stresses on the roof and gained a couple dimples in the rear sunroof area on each side.

Basically if you insist on taking out a sunroof with anything less than a non sunroof roof panel you need to go to a hot rod body shop where they understand metal craft and not a collision repair body shop.

It's certainly doable. I got a quote for about $1500 from a really good shop. It's just the skin, so there's really no structural issue. They just weld it in, and yes, putty/blend it at the pillar—which they'd have to do in the other direction if you replace a rear fender. The pillar is actually a good place to color blend, because the curve in the body at the fender prevents any minor color mis-match from being noticeable. It's just not a cheap operation. If you were repainting the whole car anyway, you'd be able to find some economy since they would be sanding/filling/removing glass, etc., anyway.

What you DON'T want to do is just try to patch the sunroof hole, and have it look good.