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The panel is made to fit correctly without the lip. I spoke to Chris at fennlane and others stateside who have done it extensively before attempt this on my car. I'd remove all the under roof bracing it will help with the fitment of the panel and with obtaining the right curvature. FYI-The curvature of a non-sunroof cars roof is different from a sunroof car. As we welded the roof skin began to tighten up and we worked the panel to the curvature of the template. As to glue I know they are very advanced and used by many OEMs today but Chris recommend welding spot or MIG. FWIW He did tell me he enlarged the flange on the panel to accommodate gluing as some had requested. The issue with the glue is you need a decent amount of filler up top to make it look good and even then it may crack especially on a track car such as yours. Good luck it should turn out great either way. It was one of the best mods I did to my car, headroom was greatly improved, weight reduction was around 40-50 lbs, and that seamless roof looks so good!
Thanks again Brig993, your responses are right on line with the many threads I have read both here and on Pelican (where Chris at Fenn Lane posts). My Indy and I are slowly beginning to come around to the notion of welding the panel in properly for a tight fit. It may be time to put on the big boy pants and add MIG welder to the resume.
Clocked in another day on the sunroof delete. The carbon fiber frunk lid arrived from Helion, and I spent an hour or so unpacking the lid from the crate. If the lid is half as nice as the crate, this should be one fine lid. I was only permitted a brief look, and then it was back to work fitting the sunroof.
I made good progress today fitting and making ready for the Fenn Lane panel. I ground down the rear lip in the sunroof frame and removed the center support bar. The bar weighs 2.5 lbs! That brings the total to 35 lbs. off the roof of the car. I'm continuing to grind away slowly carefully fitting the Fenn Lane panel. Almost there...
New arrival Carbon fiber frunk lid from Helion Weighs just 15 lbs. Grining away Tedious work, I could have been a dentist
Grind away folded lip, and the support bar releases 2.5 lbs. of more dead weight Grinding and fitting, fitting and grinding Almost ready to weld in the Fenn Lane panel!
Impressive work. Please forgive me if this is a stupid question, but would it have been easier to replace the entire roof?
No such thing as a stupid question. The weight savings from a full fiberglass roof was tempting. But this 964 track weapon will also remain street legal. That means no full cage, just a roll bar. No full cage means no fiberglass roof (in my book). So metal roof sans the sunroof seemed to be the best route.
If I screw this project up, I will replace the whole roof skin with a new stock roof. It’s a big job to do correctly and above my pay grade, and the stock roof alone costs about $3,000. The Fenn Lane panel seemed like a good thrifty DIY solution.
Day four and after a few more hours of fit and grind, fit and grind, the panel is ready to be welded into place.
Plan is to to cut some PVC pipe to size to get some tension on the roof and panel. Then Bill Pfister at Eurotech will beaknout the welder. Can’t wait! And a big thanks to Bill Pfister for guiding me through this project. I’ve stumbled a few times, but haven’t fallen.
After a few more hours of fit and grind the roof is finally ready for the panel install
No such thing as a stupid question. The weight savings from a full fiberglass roof was tempting. But this 964 track weapon will also remain street legal. That means no full cage, just a roll bar. No full cage means no fiberglass roof (in my book). So metal roof sans the sunroof seemed to be the best route.
If I screw this project up, I will replace the whole roof skin with a new stock roof. It’s a big job to do correctly and above my pay grade, and the stock roof alone costs about $3,000. The Fenn Lane panel seemed like a good thrifty DIY solution.
thanks. I had no idea that the stock roof was that much.
Bracing for the welding.
There’s a noticeable change in the curvature of the roof. No longer flattened by the sunroof cassette, the Fenn Lane template now fits perfectly.
Final preparation, bracing for the final welding Close to 3” of extra head room, yahoo! More curves. The template, which was previously ill-fitting with the sunroof cassette in place, now fits perfectly
03-04-2019 | 04:09 PM
