It's a street driven CRX - has no cage, it's not raced, I just wanted to make a sunroof plug since I didn't like any of the other options.

The possibility of weakening the structural integrity of the CRX's chassis was brought up in this thread (all about my progress on the sunroof plug):

https://honda-tech.com/zerothread?id=530379

I put this thread in this forum since I figured you guys would know about all sorts of chassis dynamics, where I really don't... I have seen similar plugs in similar cars, but I believe that many of them DO have roll cages, which obviously significantly stiffen the chassis.

So answer away! It's not in my car yet so I technically do still have time to back out.

Or feel free to give me ideas on how to combat this potential problem if it turns out it IS a problem.

Thanks!!

Alex

 

i dont think "structural integrity" is of any concern over the roof. other than it popping out as the chassis stretches, and that would be extreme, i dont see how it would be a problem.

btw, wanna make me one? i'd ask uncleben but his is for the civic. i need one for the CRX. or actually, can you just give me the template? then i can make my own... i offer shipping to me and back to you of course.

 

Hey, if you're paying, whatever you want to do is cool...

I have an extra piece of 22gauge sheet metal in the garage right now waiting for me to trim and bend it...

Or if you want, I can send you the template and the metal sheet I have after I trim it a little bit (if you want)...the sheet of metal cost $25, and you could pay shipping there and back?

The template isn't perfect (it's a tad on the big side) - for example, I had to test-fit the bent and finished metal panel twice before it fit inside the hole in the roof. Basically, I bent the sheet around the template with a one inch lip, and the sections that didn't fit, I placed a narrow piece of wood (a 2x4 would work) on the inside of the lip and banged inwards on it with a mallet until it lined up right.

The metal, suprisingly, is still sorta flexible for as thick as it is.

Alex

 

well, id just need the template. its not worth paying for shipping a hunk of metal i can buy locally. but i wont be back in the states til july anyway, ill contact you then. thanks.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Tyson &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">well, id just need the template. its not worth paying for shipping a hunk of metal i can buy locally. but i wont be back in the states til july anyway, ill contact you then. thanks.</TD></TR></TABLE>

That's cool, we can do that too. Let me know when.

Anyone else have any opinions on the original topic??

Or does anyone else want to buy a sunroof plug for their CRX? I have the metal laying around to make one.

Alex

 

Did the frame the sunroof slides on make a box section around the hole in the roof? If it did, then yeah, the roof will be a bit weaker. If not, then it will be stronger when you are done since your plug has a return leg being attached to the return leg of the hole in the roof. Do you have a crx without a sunroof to compare to? My only real concern would be in a rollover, how far apart are the supports that tie into the roof rails?

 

I would say the reduced weight outweighs the loss of stiffness. IF that plug is attached properly it shouldnt be a problem.

 

It's going to be attached pretty securely as far as I can tell. I'll probably use about 40 rivets all around the edge of the plug - steel rivets, medium length, 1/8" holes.

Thanks for the help guys...I'm not so worried anymore.

Alex

 

Would it not be - at the end of the day - cheaper and much easier to source a DX/HF roof skin to replace the Si roofskin? From my understanding, its a process of drilling out the spot welds under the moulding and replacing. I have heard they are only like $350 *new* from Honda, would imagine from a junkyard they'd be pretty dagone cheap.

 

make sure you drill the rivet holes twice, once undersize and the second to correct size. this ensures that your hole is the proper dia so the rivets dont move. look for paint chips around the rivet heads when you are done; if there are chips the piece is flexing!

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by phat-S &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Would it not be - at the end of the day - cheaper and much easier to source a DX/HF roof skin to replace the Si roofskin? From my understanding, its a process of drilling out the spot welds under the moulding and replacing. I have heard they are only like $350 *new* from Honda, would imagine from a junkyard they'd be pretty dagone cheap.</TD></TR></TABLE>

I would guess at a junkyard, they'd probably cost around $100 bucks at least, since I paid $50 for just a sunroof panel in the past. Plus, I'd have to take it to a shop and have them do the work - another couple hundred bucks. Finally, if the color didn't match, which it most likely wouldn't, I'd have to get it painted to stock color - another couple hundred at least.

Even if I found one in Rio Red, it would still end up costing more than the route I'm going. Here's my price list so far:

Sheet metal - $25
Sealant - 8
Paint - 15
Rivets - 5
Clamps - 3
Wood - 6
Metal Snips - 10
Jig blades - 3
Sandpaper - 4

What's that come to, about $80? And only a couple of the items can only be used once.

It's been a fun project so far, that's really what this car is about to me, and in the end if this plug doesn't work out at all then I probably will just source an HF roof skin and get it put in.

Alex

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by phat-S &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Would it not be - at the end of the day - cheaper and much easier to source a DX/HF roof skin to replace the Si roofskin? From my understanding, its a process of drilling out the spot welds under the moulding and replacing. I have heard they are only like $350 *new* from Honda, would imagine from a junkyard they'd be pretty dagone cheap.</TD></TR></TABLE>

Yeah..... what he said.

I decided to replace the complete roof skin in my car to make sure that I had as much clearance for the roll cage as possible. Removing the original sunroof/skin was a bit of a Beeeeatch tho. There are roughly 1 billion spot welds to remove. I'd suggest the Snap-on spot weld drill, it works excellent! I picked up a new roof panel for about 260 bucks if I remember right. List price was about 340 or so. I'll give a link to my Fotki account which has some pictures of the skin replacement. Roof removal pix start on Page 4 of the album. The new piece will fit like a glove as long as you don't do too much thrashing during the removal.

http://public.fotki.com/GoKart...port/