Does anyone know of the process of converting the FD to have a sunroof? i have looked in the tread search but cant find anything. i have a huge rust spot in that area so just think i should just convert it since i have to cut that part out any way.

 

are you tall? once you put a sunroof in you will have less headroom. far as i know get a sunroof, and sunroof headliner, and the switches, and the factory harness should have a blank plug you just put it in and plug it up, after you measure and cut your roof open.

NON-sunroofs look better and are harder to find, IMO .ive never known anybody to swap a sunroof in only out... but my opinion is biased im 6"5 LOL

 

Non sunroof is much better!

 

You can try sending a PM to "lilfreddie". He has done the conversion.

Jack

 

You can just buy the non sunroof skin and have it replaced for cheaper than you would pay for the conversion. Let me see if I can find it.

EDIT: The panel itself is $164.52. Plus whatever it costs to have it cut out, welded and prime/paint.

 

if that price is right, go with that. cutting a whole in your roof isnt the best idea. you would want to buy the roof that has a sunroof and get all the reinforcement to do the conversion anyway.

 

i cant speak from an rx7 owners perspective but ive seen it done plenty of times on other cars. and compromising the structural integrity of the car by cutting the entire top off isnt an option nor should it be. cutting the sunroof out and dropping it in is all thats necessary. its easier than you think just measure it 5 times and get it right. lol

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gVGIy...eature=related

just translate it from Spanish and your ready to go,. lol

<iframe width="425" height="349" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/gVGIycD8AQU" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

 

how is it compromising anything? its a roof skin that you would replace, it wont do anything to structural rigidity. when you put a new door skin on is the door weaker?

 

You can just cut a hole in your car and install a factory formed sunroof. The roof skin on a car with a factory sunroof is flanged for that sunroof. If you just pop a hole in your roof then you will have no seal or structural integrity holding the roof up around the sunroof. I install aftermarket sunroofs for a living, and every sunroof we install has an inner and outer support ring that clamps the OEM roof skin between it. This is where you get your strength and rigidity from. Also the sunroof is usually braced to the side rails of the roof skin acting as a structural stiffener (brace). I would not recommend attempting this at all. However, it's your car. If you really want the OEM sunroof then I would recommend getting the roof skin form a car that has the factory flange for the sunroof.

P.S. when cutting a hole in a roof skin you have to use electric metal shears and go counter clockwise, if you don't the ripple from the shears will go to the outside of the hole and you will NEVER get them out.

Hope this helps.

 

sell your chassis and get one with a sunroof.. other wise dont compromise the rigidity of the car .... no sunroof is best.. more head room and looks sleeker

 

For the love of god, don't just cut a hole and slap one in. Do it the RIGHT way and get the correct parts so it works like it would from the factory. I had a S10 Blazer where a previous owner put in an aftermarket flip-up sunroof. The damn thing leaked if you looked at it funny and probably weakened the whole roof since it had no visible reinforcements on either top or bottom.

Another option would be to offer someone doing a sunroof-to-no-sunroof conversion $200 for their entire roof panel with all the included parts. As mentioned by Rotor_Venom08, axing the sunroof is more popular, especially with tall guys and from what I've read, it is usually done by welding a panel in the sunroof's place. By offering $200, you'd be giving them a way to offload their unwanted parts, they'd get the correct panel to do the conversion properly and be one step closer to their goal. Where to cut and weld the roof correctly is in the Collision Repair Manual in the FSM.

Everyone wins!

 

i was saying that cutting off the entire roofline, would compromise the structural integrity of the car. vs just cutting a hole in it.

either way you will compromise it some and if you dont think so then you must be delusional. but it can be compensated for in other areas like i said ive seen it done before but not on any sports car per-say so im leary about it. seeing as ive seen alot of Fds get flipped over recently. lol

 

+1 and offer them beer its better than money