944J

where do I get the metal and what kind to give to my body man for a sun roof delete?

should I do some kind of cross bracing to make it stronger?

does this make my car unsafe in anyway?

how do I finish the interior afterwards?

who wants to buy my freshly painted gaurds red sunroof?

V2Rocket

the difference of sunroof/no sunroof is almost entirely unnoticeable in body strength. You could flip the car over without the sunroof installed and be just as safe as if you had a solid roof.

If you really want to do this, a close sized piece of sheet steel should do fine...just have it welded in and the welds sanded smooth.

As for the interior, you're most likely going to need a custom header panel done...or maybe try to jury-rig the piece off a factory delete car.

944kid

The factory sunroof cars are said to be stronger structurally than the delete cars, actually.

If you were to go through with this, you'd need to get a compound curve done to the metal in order for the lines of the roof to flow smoothly.

I'd suggest not doing this. Instead, find a Saratoga top!

V2Rocket

I wish I had one...lol

Reimu

A saratoga top would be nice...

alordofchaos

if your body man doesn't know what metal and how to get it, I'd suggest a different shop
not needed, you've got a roll bar, right?
If you try and stick your head up through the sunroof after the delete, you'll probably hurt yourself
You'll probably want to replace the upper headliner. I know it's been done before, and someone posted pics within the past two years - a search should find it. OTOH, you'll find that people rarely look up, so it doesn't have to be perfect.
I'd ask where you are and how much you want for it, but non-paying members aren't allowed to sell here

Darwantae951

Don't do it. It's way too much hassle for little to no gain. Plus it'd be really expensive.

(But, if you really want to, check out GT racing. I believe they'll have what you need)

-Darwin

V2Rocket

Why do you want to delete? Is your roof leaking?

Buying those $100 seals will probably be cheaper than removing the roof altogether.

User 41221

Guys, the easy way to do thi sis to find a junked early 924, lots of them had no sunroof. Cut it at the pillars and take it to the body man, and you'll be set, they shoul dbe able to put the 924 skin directly on it.

Like the previous posters have said, tho, there is no benefit to doing this. I have a Saratoga top and agree, spend the money for one of those instead!

Regards,

mein51

Thats... like... not safe You've just made an effective crumple zone around your head!

I "deleted" my sunroof on my track car by unhooking the motor in the closed/locked position. I've seen some cars with the stock sunroof tack welded in place.

sharky47

I have a late sunroof delete car, infact it's sitting in the parking lot here at work. I have been driving it so much and for such a long time, when I get in a suroof car - it's actually kinda wierd......

potent951turbo

+1
I am so use to driving my car with its nice perforated headliner that the sunroof cars are odd to me now.

FRporscheman

There IS one large advantage to having sunroof delete - it is much quieter than with a sunroof. Also, there is no more concern for leaks.

User 41221

Let me clarify my previous post. The body shop should remove the old sheet metal skin from the supports you cut off the 924, and reinstalls the sheet metal over the original supports of the sunroof equipped car. Its very safe to do, doesn't change the original structure of the car and trust me, if its a decent body shop, they will know what to do...

Regards,

Oddjob

I looked into this to some extent:

GT Racing has a fiberglass roof skin, but its $$.

Talked to a local hot-rod shop about doing some "tin" work, welding and leading in a steel panel over the sunroof opening. Said they would need a contoured piece to start with. Said it would be possible to find a roof skin from any type car that had a similar roof line, but recommended finding an actual 924/944 solid roof panel (the job would cost significantly less, since they would have to do less forming to get it to match up right). I was quoted a couple hundred bucks for the work.

Tried for some time to find a non-sunroof 924/944 at a junkyard to cut the roof skin off. Never had much luck. The couple places that did have a non-sunroof car were out of state p-car dismantlers, and they wanted good money for the roof panel, and shipping on a large panel becomes prohibitive (if youre trying to do this on a budget). I asked two places about just cutting out the center section of the roof (about 2" larger then the existing sunroof opening), and both would do so, but it would be the same price as the entire roof (which included the pillars). $350 + shipping (probably $150 or so) was the cheapest I found.

[Side Note: one of our Rennlist sponsors was very patronizing when I asked if they had a non-sunroof skin. Tried to talk me out of doing it (without even asking/listening to what I was trying to accomplish), with a very condesending attitude. Told me there was no point in shipping an entire roof - so I asked about cutting and shipping just the center panel section - told me that would not change/decrease the shipping costs...? After that frustrating discussion, I will not buy anything from them.]

Factory new roof liner (for non-sunroof) is over $200. Also, hard to find these roof liners used, in any condition that is worth reinstalling.

So the project was approaching $1000.

In the end, I disassembled the factory fiberglass sunroof panel, removed the alum. stiffeners, ground off the reinforcing ribbing, leveled and pinned it in the roof channels, epoxied and fiberglassed it in, then bondo'd it smooth. I dont have enough mileage on the car to say with any certainty that the seams will not crack. My fear with a track car, there may be enough flex in the body, that the seams will be prone to cracking with time/mileage.

Installing the factory non-sunroof liner was also a big pain.