oem sheet metal non-sunroof skin??

[pdaoaudio]

Ok guys, im possibly buying my 2nd 2g in the next month..... just a 420a car

the car was completely done with sound deadner ect....... heres my problem, it was a sunroof car...... so the sunroof was covered...... it is 150+ db on music with no flex.... if any of you guys are into stereos (which i am) thats quite crazy

lets say it doesnt look pretty by any means..... it makes me sad and im sure a lot of you will say wtf!?!?!?! to it..... i tried looking for a replacement non sunroof skin to replace with...... my question is can you buy a oem replacement if so where cause im having a hard time finding it :/

someone shed some light on this.... its a sad sight but the car is clean everywhere else (hatch lip, strut towers, wheel wells, trunk floors, rockers), motor and tranny are fresh and low miled, and its bass ready.... my last car was rattled to pieces

http://i216.photobucket.com/albums/cc254/2loud4youmorris/IMAG0051-1.jpg

 

[WES_393]

Wow, that's a pretty rigged up sunroof plug. I'm not sure by what you mean sunroof skin. Do you mean a plug to put in the place of the sunroof? I'm not sure where to get one and have been looking myself for a while now. However, what the PO did was basically cut a peice of sheet metal, bolted it in, and siliconed the hell out of the edges so it was water tights. With some elbow grease and a wrench it should come right out. Then I would just replace the sunroof assembly (if it was taken out) and either install an OEM sunroof or a plug. If the sunroof is working correctly, it shouldnt rattle much. Even at 150db.

 

[4g63tc]

Sunroof Skin, you do mean replacing the roof (sunroof) with a non sun roof roof?

If so here's the skinny, it's an old trick learned by VW beetle guys who wanted ragtops, on their hardtop models.

First find a donor 2g non sun-roof.

Once sourced there are two options

1. cut the donor roof at the a, and b pillars remove
1a. remove your interior from the car getting the graft, weld in cross braces
1b. remove the auto glass, and hatch
1c. cut your roof off, corresponding to the pillar cuts on the graft
1d. weld graft into place.
1e. do body work
1f. put everything back in, after removing cross bracing.

it's alot of work, but yields the best results, and has little chance of warping during the installation.

Option 2

1. cut out section of the roof which will replace the sunroof. size it approx 2" beyond opening
2. place donor section on car, trace out the new piece
3. cut new opening approx. 1/4" smaller
4. using a flange tool flange a step into the new cut, creating a "shelf" for the graft to sit in
5. place spot weld approx 1-2" apart all the way around, repeat until completely finished take your time the faster it's done the more it will warp
6. Body work
7. primer, and paint


there are easier ways to do option 2, but this by far is the most user friendly

 

[pdaoaudio]

What i mean by roof skin i mean the metal skin itself on the outside of the car.... my question is can you buy an oem replacement skin for the car... i looked through some forums and noticed someone converting their car to a hard top with no sunroof and the top he had looked like it had that factory replacement part black on it ... like a brand new part... can you buy them, if so where?

 

[hhuricane]

Dealer is the only place it would be available. MB959352 is the part # for a Talon, should be the same for an Eclipse.

 

[pdaoaudio]

Dealer is the only place it would be available. MB959352 is the part # for a Talon, should be the same for an Eclipse.

perfect answer thanks guys... i will look it up and check out the pricing for it.... thanks guys.... heres a couple other pics of the car just so ya get an idea of it, doesnt look too pretty but it gets the job done ....... rebuilt motor at 30k reman tranny at 30k, new tierods, wheel bearings, brakes, tires, cat back exhaust ect..... only thing that was killing me was that darn sunroof but now that i can look up the part im not too worried

 

[LiquidX]

I'm guessing the PO did that since the 150db would blow out the sunroof assuming that's bass. There is no way you would be in the car at that level without ear damage.

 

[pdaoaudio]

here are a few more pics of the car.

http://i216.photobucket.com/albums/cc254/2loud4youmorris/IMAG0202.jpg

http://i216.photobucket.com/albums/cc254/2loud4youmorris/IMAG0198.jpg

http://i216.photobucket.com/albums/cc254/2loud4youmorris/IMAG0195.jpg

im sure this car isnt anyones "cup of tea" but its going to be a daily driver/ bass machine. Im more into older american muscle and I own a 79z with a 400sbc and a 95z with an lt1 ... my 95 eclipse is on the way out and has served me well with 198k miles but it is time for a new one. Let me know what you think, and if anyone is into high end car audio I'd love to chat!

 

[Steve93Talon]

You could always make a mold of a non-sunroof car's roof, then make a fill panel from that. We did it on my buddy's 1G, came out great. See the pics in the album below.

Pics

 

[jtmcinder]

Note that the roof of a DSM is part of the monocoque chassis. DSM's do not have a skin-on-box roof, like most recent cars. Replacing the entire roof with a new, non-sunroof piece is not a simple thing. It is much easier to get someone to make a better, metal plug and weld it in. Much cheaper, too.

 

[4g63tc]

Note that the roof of a DSM is part of the monocoque chassis. DSM's do not have a skin-on-box roof, like most recent cars. Replacing the entire roof with a new, non-sunroof piece is not a simple thing. It is much easier to get someone to make a better, metal plug and weld it in. Much cheaper, too.

I gave a basic explanation of that process in Post 3, amazing how it's been overlooked.

I've done it once on a 1960 VW beetle, and yes it was time consuming, and not for the faint of heart.

 

[pdaoaudio]

Sunroof Skin, you do mean replacing the roof (sunroof) with a non sun roof roof?

If so here's the skinny, it's an old trick learned by VW beetle guys who wanted ragtops, on their hardtop models.

First find a donor 2g non sun-roof.

Once sourced there are two options

1. cut the donor roof at the a, and b pillars remove
1a. remove your interior from the car getting the graft, weld in cross braces
1b. remove the auto glass, and hatch
1c. cut your roof off, corresponding to the pillar cuts on the graft
1d. weld graft into place.
1e. do body work
1f. put everything back in, after removing cross bracing.

it's alot of work, but yields the best results, and has little chance of warping during the installation.

Option 2

1. cut out section of the roof which will replace the sunroof. size it approx 2" beyond opening
2. place donor section on car, trace out the new piece
3. cut new opening approx. 1/4" smaller
4. using a flange tool flange a step into the new cut, creating a "shelf" for the graft to sit in
5. place spot weld approx 1-2" apart all the way around, repeat until completely finished take your time the faster it's done the more it will warp
6. Body work
7. primer, and paint


there are easier ways to do option 2, but this by far is the most user friendly

sorry i have been using the forum on my blackberry and must have overlooked it, but very good information! I keep going back and forth on how much work i want to get involved into this. The sunroof on that car is so rigged.... from what i can tell it seems to be "sunken in" as in not very flush with the rest of the roof.... think a top piece could go over the existing welded in panel? keep in mind it was very beefed up there as it is with birch wood under it ect .....

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just to show ya guys what type of air is moving in this car

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You could always make a mold of a non-sunroof car's roof, then make a fill panel from that. We did it on my buddy's 1G, came out great. See the pics in the album below.

Pics

Only thing Im worried about is if i made a fiberglass panel over the current one with the amount of flex i feel like it would crack.

 

[jtmcinder]

I gave a basic explanation of that process in Post 3, amazing how it's been overlooked.

Yes, I did overlook that. If I hadn't, I would have quoted it and disagreed with it. I, personally, would not replace the roof by cutting the existing roof out near the corners and welding in a new roof that had also been cut in the same way. I would either remove the whole roof and replace it entirely, or cut the smallest amount possible (if anything) around the sun-roof hole and plug it. Why? Because the roof - as one, intact, piece is a critical element of what is known to be the weak-point of a DSM: torsional stiffness. If you cut a lot, but not all of it, you will probably end up with a chassis that is even weaker in this regard.

 

[4g63tc]

Yes, I did overlook that. If I hadn't, I would have quoted it and disagreed with it. I, personally, would not replace the roof by cutting the existing roof out near the corners and welding in a new roof that had also been cut in the same way. I would either remove the whole roof and replace it entirely, or cut the smallest amount possible (if anything) around the sun-roof hole and plug it. Why? Because the roof - as one, intact, piece is a critical element of what is known to be the weak-point of a DSM: torsional stiffness. If you cut a lot, but not all of it, you will probably end up with a chassis that is even weaker in this regard.

yes, you are correct, but so am I

the two options given, are what you just described. Option 2 is cutting the sunroof out, then grafting in the non sun roof piece, no pillar cutting required, since you're only sizing the plug by 1/2", and flanging the the original resulting in a nice seam weld, and a solid piece, stronger than the original.

Ever work on a Vintage VW beetle? Without the cross bracing before removal of the roof the "bubble would collapse on itself, so the roof being a weak point, i get it. It just happens to be the most accepted way to maintain structural rigidity when swapping a roof by cutting at the pillars and replacing a whole unit.

Personally I Did this on my 1960 when I converted it to sliding ragtop, and have had no issues, and it Packs a 2110 cc engine with dual 44's, and sits on Airkewled air bag suspension.

I made the suggestion based on the fact it's an N/T and won't be seeing twisties at the track, and it's going to be purposed as a rolling sound system.

 

[jtmcinder]

Ever work on a Vintage VW beetle?

No, but it's almost completely irrelevant. The old Beetle was not a monocoque. It had a floor-pan/chassis with a body sitting on top. That's why old Beetles were so popular as the basis for kit cars: because you could lift the body off and the rest would still be in one piece.

Yes, old Beetles got a majority of their torsional stiffness from the body, but the actual form of the body was irrelevant. It could be a Beetle, a dune-buggy, or even a silly Lotus-7-looking thing. None of that mattered.

 

[4g63tc]

^ either way, cutting the donor part oversized, then grafting it to a flanged roof shouldn't comprimise it by much, and it would alot easier than trying to re-skin an entire roof.

 

[NWHTanK]

First off i cant belive what I am hearing. In the picks bellow it will show a roof cut off a eclipse 2g. The cost from pick n pull 125 includes drains, electric sunroof, and roofassembly. My when I got it had a aftermarket sunroof. How can u tell the diffrence? The factory has a lip stamped into the metal were as the aftermaket ones cut the exiting metal. Now when u get a used roof cut it off at the pillars. U will have to remove or cut intirior trim and glass. Unbolt the hatch as well.in the pics u will see a white roof out lined in green tape are were the factory skin is applyed with spot welds drill those out fully.On the car reciving the roof cut, drill,or gind out spot weld but leaving base metal intack. When install replacemt roof glue using automotive panel glue and weld back into place thier are two seams one right and one left of the upper windshield that will need to be fully welded. Seam seal and paint then reasamble. Now are there any diff bettween a sunroof car and a non sunroof car? No. The bolt holes and the drains are thier. But are either not being used or are pluged with plugs. So the sheet metal and sunroof parts are all that is needed. So to put a solid roof u will need. A doner roof with head liner.

 

[NWHTanK]

The black roof is what is on my car notice that it has no lip in the opening. The next pick is of the rt front drain behind the fender which is pluged.

 

[4g63tc]

^ even easier drill out the spot welds with a spot weld cutter, and reapply with panel glue, are you plug welding the spots that you drilled out?

 

[NWHTanK]

Note that the roof of a DSM is part of the monocoque chassis. DSM's do not have a skin-on-box roof, like most recent cars. Replacing the entire roof with a new, non-sunroof piece is not a simple thing. It is much easier to get someone to make a better, metal plug and weld it. in. Much cheaper, too.

Not true. The roof is a skin welded to the structure. The stucture is the roof pillars wich consits 6 pillars and 2 roof rails and 2 soports front and aft. The quarter windows and whindshild are a part of the stucture as well. Most people call it a untized body or unibody state side.

 

[NWHTanK]

^ even easier drill out the spot welds with a spot weld cutter, and reapply with panel glue, are you plug welding the spots that you drilled out?

I will be using both glue and welds. If u have a spot weld drill gun u can set depth and drill the bottom side of the panel up. In that way not drilling thru ## replacemt part. Glue on the sides and welding the cornners.