No welding required.........................



overview



left side



rear left corner



rear left corner closeup



front left corner



rear mount1



rear mount2

Adam...what do you think?


Edit: added some details...

There are two 3/4" holes on each side with a cavity between the inner and outer roof, where you can shove a thin bracket in. My buddy found in his shop a small flat bracket with a threaded hole in the center, approx. 3/16" thick x 1/2" wide x 1.5" long. The rear brace is 1/16 x 3/4 x 3/4 Al angle bar and required a good amount of cutting and filing to fit right. Also, the angle bar was cut into flat bar where it meets the rear corner braces.

The four corner braces are 1/16 x 1 x 1 Al flat bar. The bends required heat and gentle hands to make a perfect curve. They are pressed between the inner and outer lip and bolted in where the bracket locations are.

All brackets were cut from 3/4 x 3/4 Al angle. I made a slotted hole in the bracket where it mounts to the lip for up and down movement to get a perfect flush fit. All bolts on the lip are #6 SS cap screws with nylon lock nuts, and I used a internal tooth lock washer to keep the bracket from moving within the slot. The factory lip has a step in it that starts at the roof line and goes down the lip about a 1/4". Several different sized washers were used to fill the gap created between the bracket and lip (once you put the vertical side of the bracket against the lip, you will know what I mean about the gap). I also did bend the factory lip out a bit to help position the bracket better. I used channel lock plyers (with small pieces of wood between the teeth and lip) to pull it out at most of the bracket locations on the front and sides.


Modified by Kool-Lude at 7:57 AM 4/27/2008

 

seals for water?

and no **** no welding.....CF does not weld to well

 

ok so where is the plug?

 

If you haven't installed a cf plug on a 5th gen prelude, then you wouldn't understand. I'm showcasing my custom mounts...not the cf plug or how to seal it.

 

Yes, our sunroof plug hardware requires some welding currently but Greg has figured out a way to do this without welding. A panel will be shipped out soon

 

Thanks Adam...I'll let you know how it goes.

For those that still don't get it, I created a mounting lip for the 4 corners and rear portion. Normally you would weld/bond in the brackets in those areas.
Also, the brackets are all custom made by me, 3/4" x 3/4" aluminum with SS cap screws bolted into the lip.

 

my bad man...i wouldnt know, i dont have a 5th gen

 

man i love using my sun roof.. i dont know why you guys want to get rid of it..

 

^ because it weighs about 60 pounds

if your trying to go fast would you rather have 60 pounds above yoru head or a piece of CF that barely registers on a scale?

 

hmmm. thats a tuff one!! i dunno but wit of you flip while youre being a dumbass and tryin to go fast..would you rather have a peice of metal that weighs 60lbs protecting your head or a peace of carbon fiber that beraly registers on the scale?..--duinno bout u but ill stick wit the 60lbs..bigger is better isnt it?

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by DCxMagus &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">^ because it weighs about 60 pounds

if your trying to go fast would you rather have 60 pounds above yoru head or a piece of CF that barely registers on a scale? </TD></TR></TABLE>

i make 400+ whp.. and my car weighs in at 3175 lbs.. i bet i would pull way harder than the next guy with a CF sunroof plug.

 

well first of all I don't know about you but my sun roof is made out of glass not metal.

Second of all When I'm "trying to go fast" I'm wearing a helmet so I think I have that part covered.

third when your trying to lighten a lude you usually take out all the unnessacry weight this includes the 60lbs.

Fourth if I was to flip my car I'm pretty sure the ******* sunroof wouldn't save my head if I wasn't wearing a helmet

fifth It's nice to know that you automatically assume that someone you have NEVER talked to EVER and have no idea about is going to flip there car if they drive fast.

sixth he asked why people do it and thats the reason, (sixth a) I never said I did the modification because I haven't yet (sixth b) thats the very reason for doing the modification so go back to trolling.

seventh just shut up and no bigger isn't always better case and point supercharger pullies smaller pullies = more boost which is better.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Mykizism &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">

i make 400+ whp.. and my car weighs in at 3175 lbs.. i bet i would pull way harder than the next guy with a CF sunroof plug. </TD></TR></TABLE>

not if the guy was running the exact same set up as you and you both drove perfectly then that 60 lbs would make a difference huh.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by DCxMagus &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">

not if the guy was running the exact same set up as you and you both drove perfectly then that 60 lbs would make a difference huh.</TD></TR></TABLE>

nah, bc i wouldnt tell him about the two bottles of nos i have in the back.. thats how you win races

 

*cough* exact same set up as you *cough*

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by DCxMagus &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">*cough* exact same set up as you *cough*

</TD></TR></TABLE>

what would happen, he would shoot his nos first, then I shout "Too Soon Junior", shoot my nos then win the race.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Mykizism &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">

what would happen, he would shoot his nos first, then I shout "Too Soon Junior", shoot my nos then win the race. </TD></TR></TABLE>


hahaahhahahahaha

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Mykizism &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">man i love using my sun roof.. i dont know why you guys want to get rid of it..</TD></TR></TABLE>



<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by DCxMagus &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">^ because it weighs about 60 pounds

if your trying to go fast would you rather have 60 pounds above yoru head or a piece of CF that barely registers on a scale? </TD></TR></TABLE>



I love my sunroof, forget a plug, I'll drop that weight elsewhere. That makes two things that will never leave my street car. A sunroof and my speakers. I must have music and air.

 

is there any way to have that cf plug attatched to the sunroof track so it acts as the sunroof?

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by rawNAprelude &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">is there any way to have that cf plug attatched to the sunroof track so it acts as the sunroof?</TD></TR></TABLE>

The majority of the weight the track system so that wouldn't do much in the weight department but sure it's possible. It all depends on your goals.

 

As far as not wanting to loose your sunroof I get it. I've heard that since we started selling the kits. This kit is about weight loss and that's all. People may use it because they like the look or whatever but our intent is for racers looking to shed some weight.

There is no other single component you can remove and replace that will give you the weight reduction of this mod...period. You loose over 50 pounds with this mod FROM THE HIGHEST POINT ON THE CAR! Dollar for dollar this mod beats a cf hood easily. Here's a little analysis on the cost/benefit ratio.

Swap to decent CF hood $500 shipped
Total weight reduction: About 20 lbs --- 20 lbs is pushing it for most of the hoods I have picked up
Cost per pound of weight lost: $25

Swap to vacuum infused sunroof plug $400 shipped
Total weight reduction About 50 lbs
Cost per pound of weight lost $8

This is to say nothing about the fact that the hood is about half the height of the roof. The higher the weight the more effect that weight has on weight transfer. So that part of the cost analysis is a bit harder to quantify but it exists.

I'm not about convincing people to dump the things they like about their car. Everyone has different priorities when it comes to their car and that's just fine with me. Back to Gregs reason for posting which is to show an alternative way to mount a sunroof plug.

 

Weight reduction off the TOP of the car lowers the center of gravity. It is a huge improvement in handling. And just like all other mods, it requires compromises. So I don't understand why anyone wishes to debate this. It is what it is....you lose the use of your sunroof and gain a better handling car. Compromise.

And it's 50 lbs, not 60. Either way, I doubt my 2800 lb supercharged lude would win a drag race over a 400+ whp ANYTHING. But let's hit the twisties (or auto-x)and then talk about that 50 lb weight reduction


Modified by Kool-Lude at 5:39 PM 4/25/2007

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by crx12 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">There is no other single component you can remove and replace that will give you the weight reduction of this mod...period. You loose over 50 pounds with this mod FROM THE HIGHEST POINT ON THE CAR! Dollar for dollar this mod beats a cf hood easily. </TD></TR></TABLE>
I experienced a CF hood with full sunroof versus stock metal hood with no sunroof within in a short period of time, unfortunately And losing the weight up top was such a hugh difference that it felt like a different car. I had to re-learn its handling characteristics. The CF hood is nice, but not even in the same league.

 

Yea nobody is arguing that it doesn't help dude.

Its just a compromise we're not willing to make for a street car. If my car was a race car, I'd pick one of these up in an instant.

 

I want a plug, but its too much work for now. cuz i dont really have anything on my car...