Can Sunroof Shells And Cages Play Together Nicely?

[Atari Boy 11]

I am thinking about stripping the interior of my 205 and putting a cage and buckets in it.

The problem is that my car has a factory sunroof.

 

I am quite attached to the car and as time goes on I have replaced more and more parts and therefore of a known quantity, the upshot is I don’t want to part with the car and get another non sunny car.

 

I have seen sunroofs plated over but I don’t like the look.

Are there cages that fit under factory sunroofs (OMP SD etc), I could replace the glass with a bit of metal possibly.

I also saw Carl Chambers car recently and he had welded a metal plate into the aperture so that it was flush, it had then sprayed the roof so that it is very hard to spot that it was once a sunny shell, that is if I could even find one.

 

I am not about to enter any competitions so it does not need to conform to any regulations so keeping the sunroof would be the easiest. Is it possible?

 

Comments and thought welcome please.

 

Thanks

 

Jonny

[Baz 421]

Most bolt-in cages fit around a sunroof, but you may have to lose a bit of the interior sunroof trims/headlining.

[Matt Holley 11]

I had a sunroof fitted aswell as my omp cage for a few months before I plated the roof, as said you need to remove the slider bit from the inside of the sunroof and it all fits, I have been told about people that managed to fit cages with the whole roof lining and every thing still in but they wouldnt work when I tried it.

Edited October 25, 2008 by matt holley

[Stu 18]

Ive got a 10 point OMP that fits fine with the sunroof, you 'll need to loose the plastic slider guards from inside the roof assembly, the sunvisors wont fit and for ease i did away with the interior light altogether.

 

The other thing id recommend is removing the trims from the A posts, mine catch slightly on one side which creates a mega annoying noise!

[Matt Holley 11]

With sunroof

 

 

Without sunroof

 

[Pugnut 9 1 Cars]

thats one of the neatest blanking plates i've seen .

 

 

I'm considering removing my sunroof and i'm struggling to justify replacing the roof skin for the sake of not having a few pop rivets on show. your picture has almost made my mind mind up .

 

Did you use a section of roof from a scrapped car to get the correct shape, or is it a just a flat piece ?

 

Al

[Baz 421]

Pretty sure that's one of the plates from Ashley peddle's group buy a while back.

[Matt Holley 11]

Yes its one of ashleys plates, I had it fitted by the bodyshop I use when I was having the bonnet painted at the same time, he did a good job of it.

 

Heres another angle of it

 

[daveyboyblack 1]

Hi Matt,

 

Quick question... is it a trick of the photo or is the plate flush mounted? I've just bolted a plate onto my car but only now remembered to think about how to make it a smooth transition from the roof to the plate (2mm thick).... It's been a very long week so brain was a bit frazzled when I did this!

Is that a bead of sealant around the edge of your plate?

 

Here's how mine is currently. ...

 

 

It's only after i've bolted it on that I realised I hadn't put any chamfer/rounded edge on the upper lip of the whole plate. Any suggestions how to make this look better... apart from finishing the painting?

 

Cheers

Dave

[jplautomotive 0]

i took mine out and plated it but refitted the trims , you can just see in this pic

 

[Baz 421]

i took mine out and plated it but refitted the trims , you can just see in this pic

 

Can i ask why?

[jplautomotive 0]

yeah lol . cause i dont much like the look of a plate bolted to roof so the trims hide it a bit

[jplautomotive 0]

my roof plate

 

[Atari Boy 11]

my roof plate

 

 

I like that.

[Matt Holley 11]

Hi Matt,

 

Quick question... is it a trick of the photo or is the plate flush mounted? I've just bolted a plate onto my car but only now remembered to think about how to make it a smooth transition from the roof to the plate (2mm thick).... It's been a very long week so brain was a bit frazzled when I did this!

Is that a bead of sealant around the edge of your plate?

 

Its not flush and I cant remember what he used to seal it and create the chamfer but its some sort of flexible sealent, not rtv or I would have remembered, I think the reason its looks a good job is the whole roof was painted at the same time so you eye doesn't get drawn to the colour differance.

[daveyboyblack 1]

Thanks Matt,

 

I'm hoping to finish it off this weekend so lets hope once I get the paint done it'll look a lot better!

 

Ta

Dave