Why unsafe Eric? There seem to be many people tracking M's with this mod.

It seems like a risk could be the flexing of the car under load could move the body around a bit, but I'd bet the sunroof isnt.

 

Aaaaaaaa, never thought of the safety aspect, I could imagine there would be not much head protection if rolled apart from the roll cage, spot on Eric!

was a great idea while it lasted!

 

The glass helps prevent the flex (this is what i've been told by a few different groups), hence why I see a lot of steel welded in as opposed to CF "glued" in.

 

how would there be any less head protection between a CF piece covering the sunroof hole and having the sunroof there

 

mmmmm, don't know, I have seen a few cars sliding along the side of the track upside down with the drivers head/helmet up against the roof. I don't know, kind of stuck between a rock and a hard bit (the head, lol)

 

Think because we are talking about a temp replacement so we can convert back to stock, this would involve bare minimal components to hold in place otherwise the weight saving wouldn't be worth it, I don't really know!

It depends what kind of weight is in the motors etc in the first place

 

I guess we would need to know the difference in a Sunroof optioned car and a non sunroof options car. If there are support beams in place of the sunroof, then it's a no go, but if not, I wont hesitate. I do know the non sunroof cars have a thinner headliner.

 

Ya, i still don't understand how putting in a piece to replace the glass would change this (if you weld it in, it'd actually be stronger)

 

Sunroof cassettes are HUGE, there has to be some significant weight in there somewhere. I think the GT3 sunroof option added 75 lbs, may be wrong, but seems like I saw that somewhere. It had glass, but the glass surely doesnt weight that much by itself.

 

There is no glass, we are talking about removing the whole unit.

 

I was thinking of removing the motor and just giving my body buy to turn it into a standard roof...

 

I called the dealership and they stated a 996 sunroof with motor, guides and cables weights 41lbs.

 

41 lbs, now that is a huge saving for such a small price!
Great info
R

 

yes, so the glass would come out. Since you are removing the whole unit (brackets, etc), I will tell you.... YES you will have to put in some form of reinforcement. I've pulled apart sunroof cars before (not a 911 specifically, but the principles are the same). And there is a good amount of reinforcement in there to prevent flexing/buckling due to the large hole in the ceiling.

However, don't let this discourage you. For one, it would be interesting to see what reinforcing Porsche does specifically to the roof, I bet it's mroe then just the brackets you would be removing. Two, it would not be hard at all to weld some reinforcements in there and weld in a piece of Alum to fill up the hole...this may actually even make the car stiffer (this is ultimately why I have filled in the sunroofs of others cars)


I thought the original plan was simply to get rid of the glass (which is heavy)

 

Is it time to consider another car?? That would be a hell of a group buy!