has anyone ever installed a sunroof in there car??? how hard do you think it would be? i have the tools and ****.its on a 92 civic 4 door...anyine ever done this??


summer project=]

 

are you trying to replace it?

or you dont have one and want to put one in?

 

I've heard aftermarket roofs can be unreliable. Some might leak. Not all, but some. It's hard to say.

You can also replace the entire roof with an OEM roof if you want the OE moonroof.

Having the OE moonroof is also good because the parts (seals, for example) can be difficult to impossible to find in the future for the aftermarket ones.

 

nah im trying to put one in on my four door civic...and thanks nofx i didnt even think of it that way..

 

BTW how would i even get the roof off tho?? i mean do you have to cut it?

 

wat.

Yes, you have to cut it. You do it with the roof on the car and the headliner out completely. I'm not sure how the aftermarket sunroof shops deal with the sparks damaging the interior... I'm sure they cover it up with something while they're cutting. Don't underestimate the possibility of fire... I've seen it happen from cutting jobs where people didn't take proper precautions.

I would advise staying far far away from aftermarket sunroofs. I haven't seen a lot of them, but I've never seen one that didn't leak. At least the OEM Civic moonroof has a drip tray around it to catch any water that makes it past the seal.

Beyond that, I can't tell you much. I've never done one. I can tell you that it's a pretty big job.

 

See now this is helpful info for me as well. I have a 2000 EX shell and picking up a 96 DX coupe. The previous owner had installed an aftermarket sunroof on it and it looks like ****. I'm stuck between finding a better(more oem looking) aftermarket to install, or cut off the roof from the EX shell I have and rewire the sunroof to work as factory, or cut the roof skin from another Dx coupe and eliminate it altogether.

What would you guys recommend in this situation?

 

It depends on how knowle knowledgeable you are on the work that needs to be done, the skills that are needed and how much down time the car(s) can have in comparison with that knowledge and skill. Not to mention if you can have the car covered for the amount of time it might take (if it's going to take more than a day to get it all sealed back up).

I figure you'd have to cut the roof panel off, which might include removal or something of the front and rear windshield seals and the roof rain gutters. Plus remove the dome light, visors, half the upper side trim within the car, remove the hangar hooks and grab rails from the roof and then remove the headliner. Remove the wiring for the dome light (and map light and moonroof for the EX). Might as well swap that map light over into the DX when you do this too. Otherwise you'll have a hole in the headliner. Cars with moonroofs have lower hanging headliners, so I don't think cutting the DX headliner will work.

Then I believe there should be a relay you have to swap over into the DX fuse box too, plus the wiring for the switch.

Though it's a lot of work, I'd do it the right way and set it up with a stock on. Otherwise with the aftermarket one you can run into issues with leaks, as mentioned before, plus locating replacement parts can be a bitch for random aftermarket moonroofs.

 

Holy hell! that is alot of work. Well I know how to do it(sort of)but to make sure it comes out flawless, I'm going to have a friend of mine (who does body work on a daily basis at his shop) do it for me. He told me it would be alot of work but will do it for 800. You make a good point though. Might as well replace it all with oem Ex if i'm gonna redo it. thanks for the input.

 

No problem. I've thought in the past about putting a moonroof in a US hatch, which never came with one. Weighing the pros and cons, if I want to keep the car long term it just seems like a better idea to do the OEM route, even though it might suck actually doing it.

 

Here's a couple of links which might shed some light on the topic. They both involve 4th Gen Civics, but the principles at work are the same. The second link is neat because he doesn't drill out the spot welds on his own vehicle, and opts for a "layered install". Think of it as cutting a large hole in your in your existing roof, then placing the sunroof skin over top of that. Less work, and greater reinforcement. You don't even have to remove the windshield.

1. http://www.performanceforum.com/wesv...roof/roof.html
2. http://www.jdmuniverse.com/forums/ho...p-install.html

 

what wire do i need from the fuse box to the swich to the sunroof