S13 sunroof question

[Rittmeister]

Here's a dumb one.

My coupe has the factory power moonroof. I never use it, and I've actually unplugged the wiring from the switch to keep from opening it when I go for the map light...

Anyway, it's got all the negatives: potential for leaks (none yet), all that weight in the top of the car, etc. Even as short as I am (5'8.5") I miss the headroom with a helmet on.

Question - how is water drainage handled on a car with a flip-up sunroof? The power roof has the drainage tray and the tubes that run down the A and C pillars. Does the pop-up roof have a similar arrangement, or does it just have a better weatherstrip that allows water to simply stay outside?

I'm looking ahead to new paint and bodywork in the next 12-18 months, and I'd love to remove the sunroof for a lot of reasons. Welding in a patch seems to be inviting cracked filler and ugliness down the road; a new roof skin is impractical cost-wise (and maybe not available); I don't like the rivet-on idea or the glued-on Lexan or whatever.

I'm wondering if an aftermarket pop-up would give me back some headroom if used with a standard headliner, and maybe sealed shut with silicone (I'd never use it anyway).

I keep wishing Kognition would make a plug for S13 so I could install it, seal it, get a non-sunroof headliner and be done, but I fear that's not in the cards.

[s13silvia123]

theres a tube on each corner where the water drains out into the chasis same as the power sunroof

[ericcastro]

I have a pop up one.

Drainage is prolly similar. I know hoses run down my pillars.



Just curious,
when did sunroof delete become the cool thing to do??
when did sunroofs become such a pain??

I think its the dumbest shit you can do.
nothing is nicer than a little sun coming in, or some cool air, sounds and smells.
or driving at night and being able to look up at the stars or city buildings.
At the track, it makes more helmet room. keeps the car interior cooler, and I know I personally do ALOT of my rigging with the pop up roofs or straight up mount a tripod out the coupe roofs hole....


Getting rid of sunroofs is as rice as those holes in the honda rear bumpers........

[chrisa]

^^^ i could not agree with you more, seriously i love my sunroof. I have had 4 S13's and they all had holes in the roof. The only time i see taking the sunroof out is if you are building a TRACK ONLY car.

[projectRDM]

I concur, I will never own a car again without a sunroof.

That said, an aftermarket pop-up only has no drains if it's just a flat style that's removable. OE pop-up roofs have drains built in to the roof sheetmetal, not part of the roof's assembly.

[Impact Black]

I personally hate the sunroof on my LE hatch. I'm looking at ways to delete mine as well.

Its unfunctional, all it does it pop up 3 inches and thats it. A friend of mine deleted his by going to a junk yard and cutting the roof off at a certain point. Then the body shop cut the roof off of his car and welded the non sunroof roof to his car.

Looks bone stock, and very nice.

I'm going to talk with the body shop that I take my car to and see what he has to say and what he suggest.

[curry.style]

^You do realize the hatch sunroof is manually removable right? Like you pull the pin in front and pop the latch in the rear and it flips straight up and pulls off to the driver's side of the car...

And +1 for not buying cars without sunroofs. I don't think I could ever own a hardtop car again.

[SirSilvia]

or driving at night and being able to look up at the stars or city buildings.
At the track, it makes more helmet room. keeps the car interior cooler, and I know I personally do ALOT of my rigging with the pop up roofs or straight up mount a tripod out the coupe roofs hole....
Speaking of, how did you mount the tripod. I need to find a way to mount the camera in the car and am currently short on extra cash till Friday.
Plus its going to rain on Wednesday when I'm at the track
I'm thinking of cutting a 2x4 and putting it either on the parcel shelf or laying it on the window sills of the QP. I doubt very seriously it would damage the windows, since it will only be snug and the camera and board would weigh about 3 pounds. so no real weight pressing on the window either.

It will probably look ghetto as hell but will be a temporary fix.