Replacing sunroof

#21

[quote]2. You will think fondly how much easier this would have been if you’d done it prior to your cage going in.
[/quote]
:laugh:
I shouldn’t laugh, but damn…I can’t imagine trying to do it that way.

#22

Boy, if that isn’t the sad voice of experience! I left my complete sunroof in when cage was built (yes I was an idiot too) but your tale of woe convinces me that until I’m fighting Skeen for the win on a regular basis, it’s just not worth the trouble to do anything about it now.

And, to the earlier poster who wondered if removing the motor, but leaving the rest of the system (cables, etc.) intact can cause the panel to become loose and start to slide open, why yes, yes it will.

That’s the extent of my winter project, to halt the unrestricted rearward movement of the sunroof.

#23

I agree with everything but #6. If you think the panel is too heavy, you didn’t skin it, which took me 30 minutes with a screw driver. It is a piece of sheet metal now. Here is the final result - about 18 pictures from the end.

http://web.mac.com/natblack/Black_Site/The_Race_Car.html

#24

jblack wrote:

[quote]I agree with everything but #6. If you think the panel is too heavy, you didn’t skin it, which took me 30 minutes with a screw driver. It is a piece of sheet metal now. Here is the final result - about 18 pictures from the end.

http://web.mac.com/natblack/Black_Site/The_Race_Car.html[/quote]

Nice documentation.

but I got to ask… why do you have a right side net with that seat?

#25

In severe offset impacts the belts can stretch enough to allow the driver to move forward and laterally far enough to move beyond the halo. The net prevents the driver from recoiling outside of the halo. Its kind of like a guide to return back to where he started.

#26

scottmc wrote:

I am not happy about that…

I don’t need it for NASA, but I do for BMWCCA. I was very against the way the rule was written - I wanted to see that you need head/torso protection - as it is a good idea. Instead they require a net. No way around it - you have to have the net if you want to run BMWCCA Club Racing. I perfer the head protection in a seat - which is fine for NASA - but the BMWCCA came out with the rule, so I am doubled up there.

Such is life.

#27

jblack, I checked out your photos. You guys have done a lot of work. I salute you.

Re. removal of the sunroof skin as opposed to riveting on sheetmetal. I took a hard look at how the sunroof was constructed and decided that I would be unlikely to get the bottom layer off without tearing the crap out of the top layer. If I’d a gone at this in a more moderate fashion I’d a taken the time to look at how others had done it.

But moderation is for sissies.

#28

Most pro teams at this point are running both.

#29

Ranger - I haven’t met you - but I think we would get along… :slight_smile: Moderation is overrated. Not to say I didn’t beat the crap out of the edge, but I bent it back, and was surprised it wasn’t bad at all.

JP - ya, I was not nuts about the rule, and got in a rut with it - but it is like some on here about the exhaust - you need to man up, get over it, and not let yourself go to the “bad place”. Or, if you do go, come back quickly. I’m back - and after getting it in, it isn’t nearly as horrible as I thought (thought it would screw up the camera view, screw up right hand visibility, etc). It is not bad at all. Does make me wish I had a dash bar, but the mount to the firewall is pretty serious.