Gauging Interest: S14 Sunroof Delete Panel

[Trap Star]

First off: Mods, if this is the wrong section please move it.

Ok, so I'm in the process of building a sunroof delete panel for my S14 track car. The first iteration will be made of fiberglass. I am using the stock mounting studs because I can be sure it will hold, its convenient, and I plan on this being a removable piece. The other advantages are you lose quite a bit of weight if you ditch the sunroof assembly, and (if you're like me and 6'4") you gain some headroom which is great for us tall folks.

So, is anyone else interested in something like this? I have no idea yet where pricing would be set but that's something I'd like to get people's opinion on, especially those that are interested. Anyway, let me know here or through PM. Also if there is more of an interest for carbon fiber units let me know, just remember the price will be quite a bit higher.

Thanks, BJ

[nisileighty]

I’d be interested in an s13 one!


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[Trap Star]

I'd be fine with doing an s13 one but I need a car to do it with. My s13 coupe has no sunroof. After I get this done I'd be open to doing an S13 prototype for just the cost of the materials and the owner of the car would keep the finished product. Really depending on the whether or not the S14 version is marketable I'd probably just do the prototype for free on someones s13.

[CrimsonRockett]

These have been made in the past.

http://www.nissanroadracing.com/showthread.php?t=4784

http://zilvia.net/f/showthread.php?t=162002

Originally Posted by RurouniMidnight

Just letting anyone thats interested know, kognition is making the s14 carbon delete panels again just hit him up by email or on facebook. I picked one up a little over a month ago and loving it. I also installed a non sunroof headliner to keep the interior looking clean.

No idea if Kognition still makes this piece.

[slideways2004]

Originally Posted by CrimsonRockett

These have been made in the past.

http://www.nissanroadracing.com/showthread.php?t=4784

http://zilvia.net/f/showthread.php?t=162002



No idea if Kognition still makes this piece.

He does not and does not plan on making any more.

[C. Anderson]

If you do make these for daily drivers/non garaged cars you would have to build the drip channel with drain tube connections into the mold so they don't leak.

[jds]

I would be interested in one for my drift car, the cage is tucked pretty close to to the bolts where I imagine it would mount though...

would it be contoured to the roof shape or flat?

[Nissansota240]

Good luck, I was planning on building one out of fiberglass that incorporated our track delete brackets we already make. But have never found myself with enough time.

[rbs14kouki]

interested ... im even thinking of cuting the roof off and swaping it for one without a sunroof

[Trap Star]

Originally Posted by C. Anderson

If you do make these for daily drivers/non garaged cars you would have to build the drip channel with drain tube connections into the mold so they don't leak.

This is something I've thought about. For my use I won't be driving in the rain very often, if ever. So I'll be working on more of a non-daily version first.

Originally Posted by jds

I would be interested in one for my drift car, the cage is tucked pretty close to to the bolts where I imagine it would mount though...

would it be contoured to the roof shape or flat?

Plan is to match it with the roof. I think just having it be flat would look unfinished.

Originally Posted by rbs14kouki

interested ... im even thinking of cuting the roof off and swaping it for one without a sunroof

Yea, that's actually what my original plan was. I even had another roof I cut from a parts car but I ended up deciding on this instead.

[nisileighty]

If you can get an s13 version busted out before late February, count me in. Build is going off for paint early March and would like to have everything by then


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[Trap Star]

This is still moving forward. I started glassing this morning. There's still a lot of work ahead but progress is being made.

I'm also considering door finishers, a cover for the gap to the trunk, and maybe some other small bits. All of that is still in the idea stage though.

[cream]

is this similar to what your making? They have s13 and s14 coupe ones http://northwindcomposites.com/produ...-insertdelete/
im trying to see if they can get some s13 hatch ones made.

[Nissansota240]

Originally Posted by cream

is this similar to what your making? They have s13 and s14 coupe ones http://northwindcomposites.com/produ...-insertdelete/
im trying to see if they can get some s13 hatch ones made.

That's rad!

[hanzbrady]

Originally Posted by cream

is this similar to what your making? They have s13 and s14 coupe ones http://northwindcomposites.com/produ...-insertdelete/
im trying to see if they can get some s13 hatch ones made.

I'd be in for a hatch one! Group buy?

[cream]

i got a reply from one of the sunroof makers. He does make sunroof panels for coupe however is unable to make it for hatch.

Good morning,



My apologizes for the late response as I was out of the office last week for the holidays and am finally getting caught back up.



With regards to the S13 hatch, I don’t at present have a dedicated mold for it. This issue is that the glass size and contour is different between the hatch and coupe. The hatch glass piece I have measures 34.5in x 17.75in at the widest. This is a bit wider and longer than my other S13 and S14 molds. The contour matches my large S13 mold (I have two S13 coupe molds) pretty well but the extra size causes some problems. My molds carry the contour of the glass about 1-1.5in beyond the edge of the glass on all sides. This allows room for an oversized insert as I’ve found most actual delete installations require about 0.3-.4in additional material beyond the edge of the glass to completely fill the hole in the chassis. The problem with the hatch glass is that it is just large enough on its own that it butts right up to/overlaps the location on the mold where the contour quits following the glass. This doesn’t leave any room to cut the insert large to fill the chassis hole without having a fairly significant contour change in the insert at the corner edges.



That said, I have had a couple customers who felt that they were willing to give it a shot and I sent them an untrimmed insert so that they could trim to fit and try to avoid or minimize the corner contour issue. Unfortunately, I never heard back from those couple folks as to whether or not they were truly successful and how it turned out.



I apologize that I don’t have a clean solution to offer. That said, if you’re still interested in understanding thing a little more I can take some pictures of the hatch glass I have sitting in the mold to give you a better idea of what we’re up against.



Please let me know if this helps or there is anything further I can do to support you.



Thank you,





Lee Skidmore

Owner / President





Northwind Composites, LLC

208-290-5585

[email protected]

www.northwindcomposites.com

www.facebook.com/NorthwindComposites

[TheRealSy90]

Seems like Northwind offers both a glass replacement to retain the coupe power sunroof, and a full on delete panel. That's awesome.
Personally I used the DLGarage brackets and just hard mounted the coupe glass to the roof, nicely sealed with black silicone and you can't even tell from outside that it no longer opens, while inside it's all head room.