Sunroof delete
#16
I already have the parts and the work scheduled. You remove the front and back windows, the entire roof skin and the roof liner. replace it with a new non-sunroof roof and a new headliner. You have to drill out the spot welds and weld in a new roof. All of the work is done within the rain gutter channels and you only paint the new roof panel. The complete job runs 5 - 6k complete. I believe the weight savings is 45lbs.
#18
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Originally Posted by grussell
I already have the parts and the work scheduled. You remove the front and back windows, the entire roof skin and the roof liner. replace it with a new non-sunroof roof and a new headliner. You have to drill out the spot welds and weld in a new roof. All of the work is done within the rain gutter channels and you only paint the new roof panel. The complete job runs 5 - 6k complete. I believe the weight savings is 45lbs.
What has always fascinated me is that all of the 996/997 coupes have the little doors for the roof rack, yet you just about never see 996s or 997s with roof racks. Even the GT3 Cups and R/RS/RSRs have the little doors for the roof racks, though I actually have seen a GT3R "Woody" with a roof rack -- and a surfboard -- from Kelly Moss Racing (as a joke). Two days ago, I was at FLM and watched their technicians putting the rubber seals and roof rails mit doors back in. Funny stuff for a race car.
So yep, no A/C-pillar blend needed. Well, unless the paint match is truly terrible, in which case you need to find a new painter...
So the 2K Ruf quotes is just covering the parts since everything is out anyway. I've heard $6k~ to do the job around here, all in, but then we've got those "low" hourly rates here in SF...
I find it interesting that 997 owners are stepping up to do this job. I've seen one here in Marin already, and the fact that even one would spend the kind of money to do this should send a very strong message to Porsche about the mentality (or, should I say "insanity/hardcore-ness/etc") of its U.S. customers. "Cutting" the unibody's factory spot welds in ANY location is not for the faint of heart, and one wonders what this will do to resale if cars without sunroofs as delivered from Porsche are supposedly worth so much less...
pete
#19
Originally Posted by excmag
This is a better explanation for what I was trying to get at. From having looked at these cars (996s and 997) for so long and so often, I've noticed that the rails and gutters create a roof "cartridge" that 964s/993s just didn't have.
What has always fascinated me is that all of the 996/997 coupes have the little doors for the roof rack, yet you just about never see 996s or 997s with roof racks. Even the GT3 Cups and R/RS/RSRs have the little doors for the roof racks, though I actually have seen a GT3R "Woody" with a roof rack -- and a surfboard -- from Kelly Moss Racing (as a joke). Two days ago, I was at FLM and watched their technicians putting the rubber seals and roof rails mit doors back in. Funny stuff for a race car.
So yep, no A/C-pillar blend needed. Well, unless the paint match is truly terrible, in which case you need to find a new painter...
So the 2K Ruf quotes is just covering the parts since everything is out anyway. I've heard $6k~ to do the job around here, all in, but then we've got those "low" hourly rates here in SF...
I find it interesting that 997 owners are stepping up to do this job. I've seen one here in Marin already, and the fact that even one would spend the kind of money to do this should send a very strong message to Porsche about the mentality (or, should I say "insanity/hardcore-ness/etc") of its U.S. customers. "Cutting" the unibody's factory spot welds in ANY location is not for the faint of heart, and one wonders what this will do to resale if cars without sunroofs as delivered from Porsche are supposedly worth so much less...
pete
What has always fascinated me is that all of the 996/997 coupes have the little doors for the roof rack, yet you just about never see 996s or 997s with roof racks. Even the GT3 Cups and R/RS/RSRs have the little doors for the roof racks, though I actually have seen a GT3R "Woody" with a roof rack -- and a surfboard -- from Kelly Moss Racing (as a joke). Two days ago, I was at FLM and watched their technicians putting the rubber seals and roof rails mit doors back in. Funny stuff for a race car.
So yep, no A/C-pillar blend needed. Well, unless the paint match is truly terrible, in which case you need to find a new painter...
So the 2K Ruf quotes is just covering the parts since everything is out anyway. I've heard $6k~ to do the job around here, all in, but then we've got those "low" hourly rates here in SF...
I find it interesting that 997 owners are stepping up to do this job. I've seen one here in Marin already, and the fact that even one would spend the kind of money to do this should send a very strong message to Porsche about the mentality (or, should I say "insanity/hardcore-ness/etc") of its U.S. customers. "Cutting" the unibody's factory spot welds in ANY location is not for the faint of heart, and one wonders what this will do to resale if cars without sunroofs as delivered from Porsche are supposedly worth so much less...
pete
#20
The Rebel
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This should be *relatively* cut and dry...why not go with a Carbon Fiber piece, it would be even lighter and in the right place...at the top!
#21
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I would seriously consider against this. You are going to weld in the panel right at the gutters and any corrosion resistance coatings will be burned away at those seams, which in this case happen to be at the rain gutter/moisture trap. There is also quite a bit of torsional forces vectored across this piece, and the uniformity of the new welds will undoubtedly be more variable than the robotic welds done in assembly. It is a recipe for future problems. If given a choice, I would never purchase a car that had this done.
#22
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Originally Posted by MJSpeed
This should be *relatively* cut and dry...why not go with a Carbon Fiber piece, it would be even lighter and in the right place...at the top!
#23
King of Cool
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Originally Posted by eclou
I would seriously consider against this. You are going to weld in the panel right at the gutters and any corrosion resistance coatings will be burned away at those seams, which in this case happen to be at the rain gutter/moisture trap. There is also quite a bit of torsional forces vectored across this piece, and the uniformity of the new welds will undoubtedly be more variable than the robotic welds done in assembly. It is a recipe for future problems. If given a choice, I would never purchase a car that had this done.
Corrosion resistanse is less than original but when don right, that shouldn't be a problem either.
If RUF is doing this for $2k (so the total about $4k), I think it's a no brainer!
#24
Nordschleife Master
Originally Posted by BobbyC
Frayed - if your numbers are right ($2k), go Ruf...especially if they're throwing in the IRC.
That's a serious contradiction.
FWIW my dealer said you just replace the whole top panel. No issues with eveness.
#25
Burning Brakes
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CF Roof Installation (on M3E46)
Originally Posted by MJSpeed
This should be *relatively* cut and dry...why not go with a Carbon Fiber piece, it would be even lighter and in the right place...at the top!
#26
Technical Guru
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Originally Posted by frayed
Isn't the entire roof skin replaced, extending down the or at least to the A and C pillars?
I haven't seen a picture of the replacement skin, so I don't have an appreciation for where welding would take place.
I haven't seen a picture of the replacement skin, so I don't have an appreciation for where welding would take place.
#27
Thanks Jason, that helps quite a bit.
eclou, the panel is not a structural element as I undertand it. Maybe adds a slight amount of rigidity, but it is not a load bearing element. It's there to keep rain off your noggin.
eclou, the panel is not a structural element as I undertand it. Maybe adds a slight amount of rigidity, but it is not a load bearing element. It's there to keep rain off your noggin.
#28
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While the panel itself may not be structural in terms of load bearing, it is definitely "closing the box" in terms of torsion and flex - otherwise the cab would have the same chassis flex as the coupe, no?
#29
Originally Posted by eclou
While the panel itself may not be structural in terms of load bearing, it is definitely "closing the box" in terms of torsion and flex - otherwise the cab would have the same chassis flex as the coupe, no?
#30
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Originally Posted by mitch236
I think too many people are fixating on this sunroof issue to the point of insanity. Leave it be.
sunroof issues still
portal of controversy
help make the pain stop
portal of controversy
help make the pain stop