Albatross

iTrader: (1)

So I've decided I want to try my hand at making something out of carbon fiber and nobody sells a sunroof delete panel so... here we go.

First I picked up an old sunroof and took it all apart. For what it is the stock system is pretty light. The tray is some kind of fiber material, the motor isn't huge. good design, however, it weighs around 40 lbs and i never use it.

The glass comes out easily, After popping off the plastic covers 6 nuts hold the glass to the assembly with some spacers used to get it sitting at the right height.



After removing this I took some measurements of the gasket uncompressed then used a sharp wood chisel to cut the gasket off.



FYI: You can't just pull the gasket because it is sandwiched between the metal backing and the glass.



My next step is to turn this glass thing into a good plug so I can make a good hold so I can make a good part from the mold. I'll post progress images in this thread.

estomax

iTrader: (2)

keeping an eye on this. if you are able to do this reasonably well i might want a copy too, may as well make back some for your effort i never use my sunroof and it actually is a problem with my helmet cause i'm a bit tall.

t2d2

iTrader: (8)

While you're at it, see if you can figure out any way to separate the glass (and gasket) from its frame. I didn't study it closely when I had mine out for padding out the gasket, which didn't help much anyway for wind noise reduction, but it didn't seem to be designed for obvious maintenance. You'll definitely find people interested in a full delete, but personally I'd love to keep the whole assembly, but replace the glass with lexan and add a fresh gasket. The glass feels like it's 75% of the weight of the whole thing, but some of that is surely the metal frame.

Kira X

iTrader: (24)

This looks like a pretty cool project. I can't wait to see how it comes out.

bigwhite

Dont have anything to add, I did a steel sheet tacked in and blended to look stock. When you do a full delete you def have to do a new headliner. The green SC with Supra wheels always looks good.

TokinSC400

I don't think i could delete the sunroof in my car. Now if it was a track car then i would. But not my daily driver. i like the lexan idea though.

kez

iTrader: (4)

Hmmmmm interesting keep us updated

Kris9884

iTrader: (7)

Great idea, but I would never use it, I LOVE my sunroof. So do the ladies..

turbodremz

iTrader: (18)

Please keep me updated on this. Ill be collecting materials to delete power everything from the doors soon, and with the weight of that plus the sunroon, I could easily shave off another 100lbs.

oldManTan

i'd do this if i could simply replace the glass and still be able to open the sunroof, interested in seeing where this goes.

DrAtomica

Interesting idea I must say, even though I would never use it myself. I'll be on the lookout for the completion of this project.

fried_rice

iTrader: (20)

Sorry to go off topic, but, I just weighed the completely gutted doors with everything cut out.
115lbs-Complete Door with panel
40lbs-Gutted Door, I welded on, no lock or anything
10lbs-Window
25lbs-Door panels and speaker
40lbs-Reinforcement bar, metal reinforcement inner skin and motors and electronics
10lbs-Hinge

I'd expect about 20 lbs per side including the motors and electronics of the door. I've weighed damn near anything you can think of and posted most of that info in the weight reduction worksheet thread.

A properly done carbon fiber sunroof panel would be 1-2lbs at most!
And I'm sure you've seen this post, but just in case you haven't.
https://www.clublexus.com/forums/sc-...ml#post6786212

fried_rice

iTrader: (20)

Easy steps to make the mold make.
1.Apply mold release agent on part.
2.Use signboard and tape to the sides of the window to make a sealing edge
2.Paint Gel-Coat 2-3 coats, make sure to add MKEP hardner
3.Once Gel-Coat is dry 1 hour or so, paint fiberglass resin on top of Gel-Coat
4.Add fiberglass weave preferably thin weave which is easy to work with.
5.Roll out air bubbles
6.Apply another coat of fiberglass resin, bondo brand from lowes, home depot works surprisingly well, as it's very fast hard curing resin
7.Add another layer of fiberglass mat and repeat step 6 with 3-4 layers of fiberglass mat
8.Once cured over night pull the fiberglass mold off and wet sand/ buff for a good mold surface
9.Carbon fiber action time, preferably vaccum bagging

Here's fusebox mold I made, before sanding and finishing. Haven't had time to mess with it too much, but we had a couple come out alright. The main issue we were having was epoxy curing, due to cold weather and open enviroment of the shop. We purchased most of the supplies locally. The carbon fiber epoxy and consumables were purchased online, when I get time I can link all the sites that have really cheap supplies, or if you need some I have a bunch of extra stuff sitting around!

Albatross

iTrader: (1)

if this goes well i'll think about making a copy of the bottom frame with studs.

the really tricky part would be the seal.

thanks for the support guys, i'll post pics of the plug and mold soon, i hope. I need to get a sheet of plywood, mount it at the right height (for the correct depth, and then get the edges right since i cut the seal off.

oldManTan

please provide where you get your supplies since i wanna make tons of CF stuff for my car. WEIGHT REDUCTION BRO!!!