SUNROOF on my Brick I just had Installed
03-26-2003, 02:25 PM
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SUNROOF on my Brick I just had Installed
Well, I went and did it! I had a hole put in the roof of my Z. I thought about it for a long time, waited until the convertible came out, perhaps I would upgrade to it, but alas, I didn't like the look of the convertible top. So being a SoCal native, needing lots of coastal air and sunshine on me from all sides and above, I gave in. Plus I saw those pictures someone else had posted, it looked rather well. So I called around, found a local San Diego shop (ASC American Sunroof Company), liked the people, good price ($795-a bit more then usual due to the curtain airbags, but still an excellent price and much better then the dealer charging $3900). So I thought about it overnight, tossing and turning, stomach churning...how could I let someone cut a big hole in my precious???
Somehow I found myself driving to the ASC shop the next morning (this past Tuesday), dropped off the car. It was the first Z sunroof they had worked on (nervousness kicks in). Went away to work with my fingers crossed. Got a few calls on my cell phone, oh no, I thought, did they cut too much, jig when they should have jagged, but it was just salespeople trying to sell me long distance, toner kits, etc.
Finally late that afternoon, I get the call, it is ready. I rush down to the shop.
WOW! It looks good! I like! I feel so much better!
Anyways, Kit is a Webasto Stratos 300 Med, Electric. One touch with 3 presets (2 user controlled, 1 fully open). One touch close. Auto close when turn off car. Controls very easy to use. Rather then a hard sunscreen (the piece that goes under the glass that you move out of the way). Kit is a fabric sunscreen. So you can somewhat see through it. A hard sunscreen would not fit in the slope of the Z they said. This fabric sunscreen looks excellent, most would never even notice. The sunscreen is a manual operation (just slide it back/forth).
What about noise? It does add a little tiny bit more wind noise when closed. Doesn't bother me at all. And when open, the wind noise is very normal, quieter then an open side window, same as it was in my Eclipse. Very acceptable. Drove around on freeway at 60-80, fully open, closed, partially open, wind noise a-ok.
New rattle. Well what do you expect? I already had 4 or so rattles in the car from various places. One more tiny one that seems to come from the sunroof, who cares at this point. I can barely hear it (especially over the roar of my misaligned tires). Unable to hear it with Stereo or the Sunroof open.
Headliner. When I dropped it off in the morning, they said they would have to either replace the entire headliner or re-upholstery it. Hmmm, I didn't like the sound of that. I thought the current headliner with the little bumpy design was neat. Well, when I came to pick it up, they had figured out how to re-use the same headliner! It looks good. I did lose about 1 inch of space between my head and headliner since the sunroof frame hidden under the headliner needed that space.
When fully open, the rear hatch operates perfectly, no chance of the two ever hitting. Plenty of space between fully open sunroof and fully open rear hatch.
Only complaint I actually have is that every other time I get out of the car after driving around, with key out of ignition, the door ding goes off when I open the door to get out, and open it to get back in. Next time, it doesn't do that, the time after it does, etc., so some toggle thing a little weird I think. I'm still testing scenarios on this one.
Also probably something that will go away shortly, a slight oily smell from the materials of the sunroof (metal, lubricant, etc.). I'm expecting this smell to dissipate quickly.
Stability of car, will see if I notice any differences during the next Palomar mountain run. I really doubt I'll notice any changes. There is plenty of roof left to keep whatever stability the roof added intact IMHO.
Pics in the following messages.
Somehow I found myself driving to the ASC shop the next morning (this past Tuesday), dropped off the car. It was the first Z sunroof they had worked on (nervousness kicks in). Went away to work with my fingers crossed. Got a few calls on my cell phone, oh no, I thought, did they cut too much, jig when they should have jagged, but it was just salespeople trying to sell me long distance, toner kits, etc.
Finally late that afternoon, I get the call, it is ready. I rush down to the shop.
WOW! It looks good! I like! I feel so much better!
Anyways, Kit is a Webasto Stratos 300 Med, Electric. One touch with 3 presets (2 user controlled, 1 fully open). One touch close. Auto close when turn off car. Controls very easy to use. Rather then a hard sunscreen (the piece that goes under the glass that you move out of the way). Kit is a fabric sunscreen. So you can somewhat see through it. A hard sunscreen would not fit in the slope of the Z they said. This fabric sunscreen looks excellent, most would never even notice. The sunscreen is a manual operation (just slide it back/forth).
What about noise? It does add a little tiny bit more wind noise when closed. Doesn't bother me at all. And when open, the wind noise is very normal, quieter then an open side window, same as it was in my Eclipse. Very acceptable. Drove around on freeway at 60-80, fully open, closed, partially open, wind noise a-ok.
New rattle. Well what do you expect? I already had 4 or so rattles in the car from various places. One more tiny one that seems to come from the sunroof, who cares at this point. I can barely hear it (especially over the roar of my misaligned tires). Unable to hear it with Stereo or the Sunroof open.
Headliner. When I dropped it off in the morning, they said they would have to either replace the entire headliner or re-upholstery it. Hmmm, I didn't like the sound of that. I thought the current headliner with the little bumpy design was neat. Well, when I came to pick it up, they had figured out how to re-use the same headliner! It looks good. I did lose about 1 inch of space between my head and headliner since the sunroof frame hidden under the headliner needed that space.
When fully open, the rear hatch operates perfectly, no chance of the two ever hitting. Plenty of space between fully open sunroof and fully open rear hatch.
Only complaint I actually have is that every other time I get out of the car after driving around, with key out of ignition, the door ding goes off when I open the door to get out, and open it to get back in. Next time, it doesn't do that, the time after it does, etc., so some toggle thing a little weird I think. I'm still testing scenarios on this one.
Also probably something that will go away shortly, a slight oily smell from the materials of the sunroof (metal, lubricant, etc.). I'm expecting this smell to dissipate quickly.
Stability of car, will see if I notice any differences during the next Palomar mountain run. I really doubt I'll notice any changes. There is plenty of roof left to keep whatever stability the roof added intact IMHO.
Pics in the following messages.
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03-26-2003, 02:53 PM
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Inside view, closed, with sunscreen. The sunscreen really isn't that different a color from the rest of the headliner...but the picture/flash made it seem more so. In reality, it is a close match and I like it.
03-26-2003, 03:26 PM
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That looks good, and it looks like they did a great job on the install. I can't tell you how many times I've been out driving in the mountains and wished I could look up and see the mountain-tops through the roof as I can on my moonroof-equipped Explorer.
Do you have any outdoor pics from the inside of the car with the roof open? It's a little tough to see the size of the opening from the inside when looking through to the dark ceiling of your garage.
I'll be curious to hear your thoughts on any handling impact after your next spirited driving session. My only other concern is the headroom loss for wearing a helmet during track days. I'm not sure I can give up an inch of headroom and still fit comfortably with a helmet.
Congrats on making a brave choice, and thanks for all the pics!
Gary
Do you have any outdoor pics from the inside of the car with the roof open? It's a little tough to see the size of the opening from the inside when looking through to the dark ceiling of your garage.
I'll be curious to hear your thoughts on any handling impact after your next spirited driving session. My only other concern is the headroom loss for wearing a helmet during track days. I'm not sure I can give up an inch of headroom and still fit comfortably with a helmet.
Congrats on making a brave choice, and thanks for all the pics!
Gary
