DarkriderZRS

I know they exist but they are also a rare find. Does anyone know if they tend to give the same trouble as t-tops often do, as far as leaking? I'm looking at buying a decent 91 camaro with a sunroof, but was curious as to the sunroof. Any advise would be appreciated.

yoshirocks702

i found an 85 with a sunroof but from what i understand no thirdgen can get a sunroof so if it has one it was intalled as an aftermarket item...

tony_cogliandro

iTrader: (3)

i had the same idea to put a sunroof on my 90. i went to chevy and there are a few mods that have nice looking ones - the malibu and the cobalt have full power ones that should fit our cars.

the one in the pic looks aftermarket as an escape roof for racing, - does the vin show it is stock?

strc09

iTrader: (5)

Never heard of a stock GenIII Camaro or Firebird with a sunroof...not even ASC modified. Obviously aftermarket. Although, a nice big power one would be different and add a unique touch if done correctly.

DarkriderZRS

Cool, thanks for the advise. I didn't know sunroofs weren't an option for the third gen cars. i had seen a few over the years, but not many. I have yet to check the vin for the car though.

St_Anger

here are a few shots of mine. it is aftermarket, no leaks at all. no dome light so thats a plus

strc09

iTrader: (5)

I had a similar aftermarket one on my 79 Monte. It looked good and likewise, never leaked. I'd still like to see a GenIII with a nice power sunroof.

DarkriderZRS

Well i checked out the car today. It turned out to be a beater, practically driven into the ground. The sunroof looked horrible and had black silicone all around the edges, and that was just the outside. The interior was torn up, seats, dash, leather shift boot...everything torn, broken cracked and stained. The engine wouldn't start for my first three tries, then fired up rather violently, shaking the car like a thunderstorm. Then the engine began smoking, which the owner tried to explain but at that point I was done. It was sad to see that someone had abused such a nice car so badly. Maybe it would've been a decent project car for someone who had the money, time, and knowledge to fix it up, but my budget is tight and I'm not a mechanical expert, so i had to pass. I had my hopes up, and it was a big letdown. So now my search continues for another...

1Aauto

My Sister had an 86 Camaro that she bought brand new.When she ordered it she told the dealer she wanted a sunroof in it,and they put one in.From what I can remember it looked like this one.

I was there with her and my dad when she did it.it was a 6 banger.

jraydeal

i knew the woman who bought this car new. she did order the sunroof/moonroof. she picked the car up from the dealership this way. heres a few pics

kylet8020

I had a 1990 Mazda mx-6 had a sun roof just like your st_anger. Was stock from the factory it never leaked on me and was easy to remove and run around with out it. And as many mx6s I see in the yards it wouldnt be hard to make one fit and look nice.

Ethankubala

I picked up a 91 that was in rough shape that has a sunroof, I'm trying to find a good way to convert it back to a hard top/stock roof.

navy02ws6

Guess I'll reply even though this thread is 8 years old....

Best bet is to cut the entire roof off from a donor car and have it welded into your car. Not an easy or cheap process, but pretty much the only way to do it right. There's several roofs on eBay right now, ranging in price from $100-200. All of them are local pick up only of course.

sofakingdom

iTrader: (1)

These cars were not designed to have a sunroof. The main support bar runs down the middle. Cutting that renders the car a limp noodle. DESTROYS the integrity of the chassis. That's why the person up there talked about theirs being spooged to try to stop the leaks.

"Ordered from the dealer" is NOT THE SAME AS "available from the factory". What "ordered from the dealer" means is, the dealer sent the car to the sunroof shop, who indiscriminately took their Jeffrey Dahmer saw to it. After all, as far as the shop is concerned, "that's what the customer wanted".

All of this about MCs, Mazdas, and whatever else that might have had sunroofs and they worked just fine, IS IRRELEVANT. My 04 Avalanche has one too and it's just fine. Doesn't matter. Doesn't apply to these cars.

Navy is correct: the ONLY way to unfornicate a car that's been sodomized that way, is to cut THE WHOLE top off at the pillars, and replace it. While the car is sitting on a frame jig of some sort, to keep it from collapsing in the middle. The top is designed like an arch; if it's cut, the floor will sag under its own weight, with nothing to hold the firewall and the rear fenders apart.

ironwill

There isn't one, at least for most do-it-yourselfers, even those who can weld. Just the sheet metal alone that is required to fill the opening must be formed into a compound curve; trying to duplicate that would require tools and skill not available to most backyard mechanics. Then there's the issue of the bracing that was chopped out in order to install the sunroof.

The only way to restore the car is, as mentioned above, to cut the entire top off a donor car and replace the butchered one. Of course, this will involve the glass and interior upholstery as well.

Those things (aftermarket sunroofs) were/are an abomination.

Drew

iTrader: (58)

There's probably a middle ground between removing the entire roof and junking the car. A person could remove the roof skin, say from the top of the A-pillars and from the top of the hatch opening and across the top of the quarters, then remove the center support. Salvaged center from a good rust free hardtop car, welded back in, then weld in a donor roof skin.... But yeah, crush the car, because if you're bumping dead threads to go off topic, you probably can't safely operate a screwdriver much less handle cutting and welding body panels.

Aaron R.

This really isn't true, and I say so from experience. I had a Camaro that was converted to sunroof years before I bought it. I restored the entire car and drove it for many years and miles before selling it still in good condition. The car did not sag or have any weird firewall/fender issues. I found the sunroof did not leak as long as the seal was kept clean and the glass was properly adjusted, which was much easier to do on that car than any t-top. In fact, I liked that sunroof so much that if I ever own another hardtop car I think I will have a new sunroof installed by an aftermarket company. While I love the 1980's appeal of the t-tops, the sunroof was definitely more practical. And no matter how you look at it, a medium size sunroof Camaro has more steel left supporting the roof than a t-top car. I've never owned a convertible Camaro, but I understand that they have some extra bracing underneath to make up for the lack of roof. Apparently you CAN drive a Camaro with no top and not have the floor "sag under its own weight".

Drew

iTrader: (58)

Don't deface a hardtop for your weird little fetish.

dagwood

iTrader: (5)

The bracing under a convertible is huge beams that run down the sides of the car. They are so big that the ground effects barely cover them....the beams are right behind them. You wouldn't believe the level of modification that was done to the convertibles to make a safe structure.

I work at a body shop. A sunroof is a HORRIBLE idea in these cars from a structural standpoint. A front/rear collision, or rollover are bad enough without having to worry about your roof turning into a noodle. All of the strength in the bodies of these cars is right down the center of the roof. T top cars still have the beam down the center. Unless you want brace up the floor like a convertible, I would NEVER cut a hole in the roof of a hardtop. Never, never, never.

ironwill

I'm happy for you.




My advice to anyone else reading this thread is to NEVER chop a hole in the top of your 3rd gen. Besides the fact that you'd be doing almost irreversible damage to the car (and it's $$$ value), you'd be further weakening the structural integrity of a unit body that isn't known for it's stiffness even when left in factory form. There's a reason why subframe connectors are so high on the list of recommended 3rd gen modifications when adding horsepower---or even just wanting to add stiffness to an otherwise stock vehicle.

Aaron R.

I actually had a front-end collision with that sunroof thirdgen. It happened while I was halfway through the restoration process but driving it since I just finished rebuilding the engine. I had recently bought the car and already replaced all the front end sheet metal, and after the collision had to replace it all again from all the front end damage. Yup, still didn't cause me any weird structural issues or fold like a tin can. Put many thousands of miles on it and perfectly fine.

HOWEVER, if you are reading this and are now terrified of driving your convertible, sunroof, or t-top Camaro contact me and I'll make you an offer. I'm always looking for another good deal, and I don't mind taking advantage of your fear to save you from that extremely dangerous car you are driving!

dagwood

iTrader: (5)

Think of it like this.... how many total third gens were built? And how many of those had somebody put a sunroof in? The ratio will be extremely low for the sunroof, due to people knowing and understanding where these uni-body cars get their structural strength. The people that don't know any better, or just don't care.....well.....they have a sunroof lol. And I can't help but feel like the decision making process for all of them went something like this....

"Heck yeah Billy Bob, ya don't need that big multi layered area in the center of that there roof...ya'll can just cut right through it with this here sawzall and everythin' will be just fine. In fact, I got crank window outta that there pickup camper that'll do the trick. Chicks are gonna want me now!"
"But Uncle Ricky, ain't this race car one of them una-body cars? Or somethin like that? This car ain't got no FRAME or nothin."
"That don't matter, Billy Bob. Get to chopin! Them engine ears don't know NOTHIN. Cuzin Daisy is lookin fine today, and maybe she'll want a ride in my Fur Bird once we got this fancy sunroof glued in!"

The moral of the story is.....Just because it CAN be done.....doesn't mean it SHOULD be done.

Thank you, Thank you very much....I'll be here all week!

Drew

iTrader: (58)

Anyone thinking about installing an aftermarket sunroof only has to go as far as a quick search to see how many people want to remove a sunroof, or at least make it stop leaking. No one with a lick of sense is trying to add a sunroof. It's not a feature anyone is looking for in a thirdgen, it's a feature that repels potential buyers. Save the sunroofs for Barbie's daily driver.

TransamGTA350

iTrader: (2)

The roof structure on a hardtop car comes from the perimeter. The boxed channels that connect the top of the a-pillars to the sail panels gives the roof the majority of its strength. The front to rear bracing down the middle of the roof is really only there to keep the shape of the roof sheet metal and anchor the dome light.

While I am not a fan of cutting a hole in the roof for an aftermarket sunroof that clearly looks like an afterthought and probably leaks, it likely has a minimal negative effect to the structural integrity of the unibody.

Infomanss

These artisans show how to do this right...

scottmoyer

I actually sat here and watched that video. What a bunch 'o maroons!

CKone

iTrader: (2)

I’m not sure what language these guys were speaking, but any chance I can get the last 11 minutes of my life back? 😂

ironwill

Based purely on the fact that the clown using the angle grinder is doing so without safety glasses or any other sort of eye protection at all, I'd say it's "DumbAss."

CKone

iTrader: (2)

but man those tape lines were laid out dead nuts so as not to screw up that precise cut on that beauty

jharrison5

I think it was the language the Minions speak on Despicable Me...

Also I would love to have a targa top in my camaro, but I really don't feel like building a frame for my car lol!

CKone

iTrader: (2)

Damnit I knew I recognized those voices!! LOL!!

And a targa top. Those were always cool too. On cars they came factory on, that is