well, i have last years rulebook and i am trying to figure out something. am i allowed to remove the sunroof and related parts? i would of course replace the roof with an aluminum sheet and a new non-sunroof model headliner. it that legal? in my 2001 rulbook it states " The firewall, roof, doors, rear 1/4's, floor pan, trunk lid and hatch must remain stock" i guess i not modding the roof, just filling a hole, right? anyone know what a power sunroof and it's components weigh?

 

I heard 60 pounds for sunroof, electrical stuff, drain lines, motor, etc. Of course you have to fill the hole with something though with might weigh ~5-10 lbs. It seems to me it should be legal, but if it's not, I would think it would be fine then to replace the whole roof with one from a car that had no sunroof. That way, it's still stock, just not necessarily on your car specifically.

Hopefully someone else will reply though that knows what the heck they're talking about.

 

yeah, i was thinking of doing that too, but that is a real lot of work compared to just covering the hole. anyone else know for sure, or have seen cars with this mod at nationals like this? i emailed SCCA, but i am not going ot get a reply till afte the 25th. thanks robbin

 

IMHO, NOT legal. That is making the car lighter by means of gutting a part of the interior.

On teh other hand, was the car *ever* available without the sunroof? If so, then do what GRM did with their MR2 last year. Cut the roof off and replace it with a solid panel (they convereted from a sunroof or T-tops to a solid roof). What GRM did was legal for STOCK class.

So, I say replacing with lighter parts is a no-go, but replacing with a new roof is OK.

Scott

 

If the roof can be replaced via a legal update/backdate, then it is legal.

To determine if cars can be update/backdated with each other, you need to look at the listings for Street Prepared. If the cars are listed together, you may update. If they are not, you cannot update. I know for a fact non-VTEC 96-00 Civics are NOT listed with 96-00 VTEC Civics. Other than that, I don't remember where the Hondas are listed.

For example, all 1st gen RX-7s are listed together, so I could reskin my sunroof equipted car with a non-sunroof roof. The "new" roof would have to OEM, and I would have to use the non-sunroof headliners, etc. No aluminum (unless it is stock).

The listing at moutons.org is not up to date, so you'll have to read the rulebook AND check the FasTrack/Tech artilces.


[Modified by Crack Monkey, 6:00 AM 9/18/2002]

 

So I got you thinking about the weight up there, Now your going to be on a mission huh?

 

chris,
looks like henry got under your skin huh.....
BTW, I don't think the EG hatches are listed together in the rule book, or else I would have used the update backdate to make my DX a CSP car

jay

 

On my 5th gen Prelude the glass sunroof, frame, and motor only came out to 42 pounds. I doubt a Civic or Integra's sunroof would be any heavier. I had to do this mod because SCCA Improved Touring does not allow glass sunroofs but I would not recommend it otherwise.

 

yeah, he most definately did. congrats again for annilating me! i had it coming.... well, the 92-95 si is in a different stock and prepared class versus the non vtec 92-95's. but, we are in a mod categlory, so i think it might be possible. i emailed scca, and they are out of the office till sep 25th. hopefully they can shed light on my dilemma. that, or send me to a personal trainer to unload my spare tire.....

 

no fun having an extra 50 lbs as far up on the car as possible right?

good luck getting that out of there!

 

The sunroof frame on my 86 Civic Si weighted about 15 lbs. The replacement sheet of metal weighted about 3 lbs, and I probably added 5 lbs of bondo to make it look right, so the total weight savings wasn't much, but the added headroom was worth the effort. The glass panel was at least 20 lbs. The sliding roofs typically give you a 40 lb weight difference.

For street mod, if you can find a version of body of your car that was produced for any market in the world that didn't have a sunroof, then you can backdate your car to the non-sunroof version. On mine, I cut a section out of a DX car and welded it into the opening in the roof where my sunroof used to be. This way, the panel had all the right curves already in it. I then installed the non-sunroof model roof braces and the headliner.

-Chris

 

Nope. Not anywhere close to true.

+

=

The only roof you can use is one that is 100% original OR a legal update/backdate.

 

I'd think that from a cost-benefit standpoint this would be one of the last things to do. Surely there are other SM-legal changes that could be made for the same cash or effort that would be of more benefit. Most of us could save 15 lb just by skipping a few pizzas, and wearing lighter clothes. Of course, if you have already done everything else, it might still be better to wait for Howard to get back from his trip than to make such a radical change, only to find it's not allowed. We all have our opinions, but Howard and the SEB are the law.

 

well, my civic is quite porky, at 2420lbs without me. i know i need to lose 30lbs (i weigh 210) but i figure the car could lose about 100lbs pretty easy (rear seat, cruise, my new race wheels, etc), but after that it will be get tough. i really like my roof, but it is getting to the point where every pound is going to make difference, so i want to make sure it is legal before i cut the car up. i think it should be, seeing i have to compete against modded civic dx and cx's, which have no power roof to begin with.

 

don't u need the rear seat in sm or are u alloud to remove it as long as the car came with one?
-spenc

 

No, the rear seat CAN be removed. Hey chris, I'm not sure how these rules apply to SM but check your update/backdate rules for Items you can delete/replace with light counterparts.

 

hmm it says interior must remain stock
i was under the impression that you could run a gutted interior in SM, but i just checked and was wrong
"Except as noted by these rules and the referenced rules, vehicles must be as originally delivered including all road going components such as lights, wipers, interior, heater, etc."
Can i remove the sound deadening material then put the interior back in after that?
I can remove the rear seat, but how about rear carpet?

 

well, on civics/integras the carpet is attached to the rear seat, so that would be a yes. my itr rear seats with civic carpet weighs 27.4 lbs.