plastic sunroofs.

[joe_90]

Im trying to replace the heavyweight sunroof in the e36 (track car) at the moment, and looking at options.

I spoke to a company today that can vacuum form the sunroof (after I take it out) to produce a plastic insert, this will then fit into the hole, I can then bond it in, and seal round the small gap that is left.

Can anyone see an issue with this, Obviously rolling the car would not be the best idea.. But the plastic will be fairly flexible. This shouldn't be a problem on trackdays either, as many people im sure use a)carbon fibre ones b) or have no roof.

The guy I spoke to said he can make me about 4 (from a sheet) for £100.. any comments?

Also, anyone know where to get cheap polycarbonate from?

/mods move if not in the right place.. cheers.

Edited by joe_90 on Monday 7th June 16:05

[nsmith1180]

I see no problem with that if you roll cage the car too.

[Silverbullet767]

Stick-on Sunroof??

[joe_90]

Silverbullet767 said:

Stick-on Sunroof??

Oh yea.. I remember that.

[GSP]

Weld it up?

[joe_90]

GSP said:

Weld it up?

Was going to .. but a) cannot weld, b) need to get someone to do it which will prob mean moving it.. I had thought about welding 2 beams under where it currently goes.

[Ean218]

joe_90 said:

The guy I spoke to said he can make me about 4 (from a sheet) for £100.. any comments?

That seems bloody cheap! An 8' x 4' sheet of 6mm PC on its own is going to cost £100+vat, never mind all the work fannying about knocking up a tool and then doing the vac-forming.

[The Wookie]

I wouldn't worry too much about it, there's plenty of other open bits for you to fly out of in the event of your belt failing.

Bonding in a polycarbonate roof sounds fine, but personally I'd just yank the heavy mechanism and leave the existing panel in place the way it is. Or just bond it in if necessary.

I doubt the sunroof panel itself will actually be that heavy.

Edited by The Wookie on Monday 7th June 16:29

[GSP]

joe_90 said:

GSP said:

Weld it up?

Was going to .. but a) cannot weld, b) need to get someone to do it which will prob mean moving it.. I had thought about welding 2 beams under where it currently goes.

There are LOADS of mobile welders who will come and stick a plate in for considerably less than £100.

Think of all those MOT failures that can't move... the welders come to them.

[joe_90]

GSP said:

joe_90 said:

GSP said:

Weld it up?

Was going to .. but a) cannot weld, b) need to get someone to do it which will prob mean moving it.. I had thought about welding 2 beams under where it currently goes.

There are LOADS of mobile welders who will come and stick a plate in for considerably less than £100.

Think of all those MOT failures that can't move... the welders come to them.

hmm good point.. I will have a look.. I was going to punt the other three off in ebay and make my money back.

[joe_90]

The Wookie said:

I wouldn't worry too much about it, there's plenty of other open bits for you to fly out of in the event of your belt failing.

Bonding in a polycarbonate roof sounds fine, but personally I'd just yank the heavy mechanism and leave the existing panel in place the way it is. Or just bond it in if necessary.

I doubt the sunroof panel itself will actually be that heavy.

Edited by The Wookie on Monday 7th June 16:29

The sunroof is a huge massive thing I will get a pic.. it looks heavy, the motor itself is quite small.

[joe_90]

Ean218 said:

joe_90 said:

The guy I spoke to said he can make me about 4 (from a sheet) for £100.. any comments?

That seems bloody cheap! An 8' x 4' sheet of 6mm PC on its own is going to cost £100+vat, never mind all the work fannying about knocking up a tool and then doing the vac-forming.

It wasn't going to be from poly, from a more cheaper bendable plastic.. but not a shattery one..

[The Wookie]

joe_90 said:

The Wookie said:

I wouldn't worry too much about it, there's plenty of other open bits for you to fly out of in the event of your belt failing.

Bonding in a polycarbonate roof sounds fine, but personally I'd just yank the heavy mechanism and leave the existing panel in place the way it is. Or just bond it in if necessary.

I doubt the sunroof panel itself will actually be that heavy.

Edited by The Wookie on Monday 7th June 16:29

The sunroof is a huge massive thing I will get a pic.. it looks heavy, the motor itself is quite small.

Fair enough, can you strip it back to just the panel and bond it? If you wanted to make it more secure then you could also put four metal strips around it and rivet it to the roof skin. It would look proper pikey though

ETA - I am assuming this is a 'sun' roof and not a 'moon' roof

Extra points to anyone that knows the difference

Edited by The Wookie on Monday 7th June 16:34

[dan19evans]

sellotape

[GSP]

joe_90 said:

GSP said:

joe_90 said:

GSP said:

Weld it up?

Was going to .. but a) cannot weld, b) need to get someone to do it which will prob mean moving it.. I had thought about welding 2 beams under where it currently goes.

There are LOADS of mobile welders who will come and stick a plate in for considerably less than £100.

Think of all those MOT failures that can't move... the welders come to them.

hmm good point.. I will have a look.. I was going to punt the other three off in ebay and make my money back.

In reality is there a market for them. People either want a proper sunroof, or no sunroof so weld it up.

I guess you may get lucky.

I would want minimum fuss, maximum safety myself though.

[300bhp/ton]

joe_90 said:

GSP said:

Weld it up?

Was going to .. but a) cannot weld, b) need to get someone to do it which will prob mean moving it.. I had thought about welding 2 beams under where it currently goes.

Would a sheet of aluminium pop riveted to the roof over the hole be cheap and easy??

And don't see how a sunroof can cause more issues on track than an open top car like a MX-5 or Caterham.

[joe_90]

300bhp/ton said:

joe_90 said:

GSP said:

Weld it up?

Was going to .. but a) cannot weld, b) need to get someone to do it which will prob mean moving it.. I had thought about welding 2 beams under where it currently goes.

Would a sheet of aluminium pop riveted to the roof over the hole be cheap and easy??

And don't see how a sunroof can cause more issues on track than an open top car like a MX-5 or Caterham.

You know what that just may be the f**k it approach