moorepower

I bought this on ebay last week. It was advertised as a plexiglass sunroof for a 924. The pictures were kinda crappy, and I thought it might be a frameless version of the Saratoga. The bid was low, so I took a chance on it and ended up winning it.

It certainly isn't a Saratoga, and there's no name or any identifying marks on it anywhere. It's basically a piece of dark tinted Lexan with the proper curve to it, with six simple but nicely designed locking mechanisms glued around the perimeter (I'll probably drill it and put some small bolts through into the mechanisms for a little insurance). The seal is just glued around the outer edge of the Lexan.

Has anyone seen anything like this before? I'm not aware of anyone else making a glass / Lexan sunroof panel for the 924/944. It's not as fancy or factory-looking as a Saratoga, but it's actually a decent alternative to paying $600-$800 for one. And it might possibly, dare I say it, be reproduced in some limited number by someone (sadly, not me) with access to a machine shop and an oven big enough to form the Lexan?

Update: This roof panel is now for sale to help fund my suspension upgrade. I made a new seal for it, but the material I used was too stiff. It won't compress enough to pull down the corners of the panel even with the rest of the roof. The proper seal could pretty easily be made out of a softer material, but I really don't have the time to mess with it anymore. I'll let it go for $225, which is about what I have in it at this point.

MichelleJD

Interesting.

Airflite40

does it actually fit?

Tom R.

When I bought a few new saratoga tops I bought a lexan one for my RX7 and a glass one for my friends 944. I also at one point owned a glass one on a RX7 i had.

so i know saratoga made glass and lexan for the RX7. It may be a saratoga from a late 70s 924.

ausgeflippt951

May I ask how much you got it for?

greenshoes3

does it fit?

moorepower

Tom, the guy said it came off of a '77 924 so that may be true. But didn't all Saratoga tops have serial numbers on them? there are no markings at all on this.

Collin, I paid about $180 including shipping. A heck of a deal if it was a Saratoga.

And yes, it fits, sort of. It's the right size and all the latches line up, but the seal is torn up and it's bunching up under it so it doesn't sit flush with the roof right now. I'm going to check around at some auto parts and hardware stores to try to find a replacement seal.

Here are some pics of it installed

959Lover

That looks rather nice, but with a rollbar, what are you doing with a sunroof in the first place?

dmjames

Well, if nothing else, that lexan piece is probably lighter than the panel that's normally there...

Yabo

Wow that looks great!

dmjames

No kidding... Nicely done, especially for $180!

genikz

Agreed, that looks fantastic.

mavfan

i had a lexan saratoga top like that, but it had the saratoga badge and item #. also latches were different. looks like yours is a copy?

Tom R.

the key is when was it made?

the saratoga on my 85 rx7 used the same latch mechanism as the factory roof. i think they bought the mazda part and put it on their lexan panel.

the saratogoa for my 944 used completely different latches than the factory roof. perhaps saratoga couldnt get the porsche parts, and continually improvised.

as for the serial number, if it was a badge, and not etched in..... a lot can happen in 30 years.

mavfan

true true, they were badges.