Sunroof delete

[V4_guy]

The gap was just sealed with lots of silicon. it was ugly but worked.

Except in the rain But of course that car had been rolled. Some better sealant would probably cure the leaking problems. Josh seems to always be playing with Liquid Nails. There must be something special in it...

Carbon roof replacement?

It seems like 3M WindoWeld, which I used to reinforce my front motor mount, would work well to seal things up.

I've decided that I'm going to keep the sunroof in place for now and revisit deleting it after I lose another 40 lbs. myself.

[SwedeSport]

Many race cars are made of bonded carbon. I didn't actually come up with the idea myself, I saw a program on a prototype race car buildup and they use bonded carbon because is stiffer, lighter, and stronger than traditional fasteners. Corvettes use alot of bonding instead of welding, and in fact feature a floor that is made of BALSA. Of course it has a layer of carbon on either side. Not sure what model, but Aston Martin bonds almost the entire body structure together.


I honestly think the main limiting factor is that we are building this stuff in our backyards, and not in state of the art manufacturing facilities.

Here is an article about BMW using (and testing ) the process.
http://www.compositesworld.com/articles ... e-adhesive


Here is one on a Mercedes C63
http://mbworld.org/forums/c63-amg-w204/ ... f-c63.html

If I'm not mistaken, the F22 Fighter has an airframe that is all bonded composite. The aircraft industry has been using composites for years. I think that a plane that breaks the sound barrier is going to be exposed to a higher load on the bonded joints. Based on that I would feel confident in its ability to protect me in a car.

[Crazyswede]

the fuselage on the dreamliner is carbon

[simo96]

No-doubt bonding in a factory with tested and correctly designed parts/agents work. How many of us have that facility? The rest of the roof is going to bend, do you have a piece that bends with it or a stiff bit that doesnt. Basically you will end you with alot of stress around the edge that joins the two disimilar materials together.

[saabmatt]

Interesting timing this, I’m going to be making a whole load of stuff for my track 900 from carbon including a roof, I friend of mine in France has just scrapped a non sunroof 900 and he cut the roof off for me I just need to get it back to the UK now, (UK cars without sunroofs are very hard to find).

I have been experimenting making air vent covers using resin infusion and will move on to a whale tail next, I also have a pair of original Carlsson bumper covers to create moulds from, once I have the technique down I should have my roof panel home.

A few pics

[nutcase]

Looks pretty good :)

Don't know how concerned you are with stuff like that, but looks like your name and partial address in one of the pics.

[SwedeSport]

I am looking forward to see all this carbon stuff!

The vent covers look sweet!

[saabmatt]

Good read here if you have time.

Help Planning Mold/Part - Sunroof delete panel
http://www.compositescentral.com/showthread.php?t=6781

[87 n/a]

I finally tackled this project.

Step negative 1: choose a weekend without tropical storm warnings if working outside.

Step 1: Remove bolts from underside of assembly (headliner already removed) and drain hoses.
Remove assembly (shaved 42 lbs off top of car).


Step 2: Identify roof support bands both front and back of sunroof hole.


Step 3: Carefully cut 3/4" back all around sunroof hole. Make sure only to cut through top level of sheet metal. Take out 6" sections at a time by making cross cuts. After you have cut a section for removal, I used a dulled chisel to remove it from the seam sealant on the bottom. The top sheet metal of the roof has a rolled lip over the roof support bands.
Clean up the old seam sealant and you have a nice flange for dropping in the new metal.


Step 4: Make a template of cut sunroof opening out of cardboard. Place old roof panel on car to match c900 curvature. Sharpie the sheetmetal in position on the roof from the inside. Take new roof panel off, position cardboard template in orientation to previously sharpied line. Draw new outline on metal (should be approximately 3/4" larger than old lines).
Cut with nibbler. Fine tune shape with 4" grinder.


Step 5: Run a generous bead of seam sealant all the way around the gap.

All and all, it was pretty easy. I was excited to find the roof support bars so I didn't have to flange the roof at all.

[99Super]

Thanks for the write-up! This is on my list after the new motor/trans.
40lbs is nothing to sneeze at! I'll still have to figure out how to make it look like is has the stock sunroof sue to class restrictions. I assume all SPG's had a sunroof? If not, I can delete it legally. Does anybody know?

JOhn

[Geoff]

Yeah, they all had sunroofs. Just run your car as a "900 Turbo" with extra weight (SPG skirts). There really isn't that much difference...

[99Super]

Unfortunately, Street Prepared doesn't really allow this modification so it has to be at least visually complete.
The SPG is specifically in ESP whereas other 99/900s are in DSP so I can only update/backdate to other SPGs.

John