1990-93 glass sunroof?
- Thread starter teej
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mnwolftrack
New member
WarTowels":3nvstaf8 said:
That picture sure doesn't resemble a stock roof. Most stock ones are just a pane of glass with rubber around the edge and they sit perfectly flush with the roofline. Aftermarket roofs have that metal lip that's about an inch wide that sits on top the car roof, and they have plastic pieces on top the glass that are the topside of the brackets that make up the front two hinges and back manual handle. The lip is there to provide a base for window sealant to get a good seal. Stock manual toyota sun/moonroofs (you have me all confused on what to call them now) do not have any plastic pieces sitting on top the glass. If you do a quick eBay search for "Toyota sunroof glass" you will likely find a few stock examples of what these old manual roofs look like. Today, I found one for an '84-'89 4Runner and one from a late '80's MR2 (both roofs looked the same).
The only Toyotas I can even recall that came with stock manual roofs were the 1980's pickups and 4Runners.
But, Toyota has had MANY a factory sunroof/moonroof over the years. It begs the question--would another model's roof fit in this same slot? My suspicion is that it actually would, simply because it would seem a little silly to design completely different glass for each and every vehicle every time. Surely, they must have used the same sizes in a few different vehicles at a time.
For what it's worth, I have always been under the impression that "sun" roofs were made of glass, regardless if they were manual tilting or powered sliding/tilting styles. I always thought moonroofs were metal roofs and you could therefore not see the sunshine through them (ever) unless you slid it all the way back. I don't think that being powered or manual or whether there is a sliding shade or not have anything to do with it being a moon or a sun roof. Quite frankly, I don't think there is a clear definition anymore regardless. These were always termed sunroofs up until the 1970's when Ford screwed it up and came up with the term moonroof. But if you go to an aftermarket accessories shop (e.g. window tinting, pin striping, etc...) and ask for a sunroof, they will give you something with glass.
I would actually really like to ditch the factory metal roof and find a pane of glass instead.
What do the non All-trac celica's of this vintage normally have? My buddy's old '86 GT had the metal roof. My '94 GT has a glass one. Hmmm, I should check the dimensions and see if a '94 would fit....
My old 94 base model Sentra, with zero power steering, no air conditioning, no spoiler, 14 or 15" hubcaps, had a pop up glass sunroof JUST like that.
So maybe it's not stock... but I do believe other companies made them like that stock as I highly doubt my Sentra's was aftermarket... :shrug:
-Towels
So maybe it's not stock... but I do believe other companies made them like that stock as I highly doubt my Sentra's was aftermarket... :shrug:
-Towels
mnwolftrack
New member
Nissan may have done something like that, but I'm just basically referring to Toyota's. Toyota has been pretty consistent in their styling of sun/moon roofs over the years. The whole roof of a vehicle is different if it has a factory sunroof vs. one without one because the factory sunroofs are molded into the roof lines, the metal is rolled downwards for the rubber edge gasket to seal up against, the headliners are molded differently and typically dropped down an inch or two, and the substructure cross-bracing supporting the roof are located differently etc.... Some vehicles are not capable of having an aftermarket sunroof installed if a factory cross-brace is in the way. A sunroof installer would not want the liability of cutting a safety feature, and even if they did, it can be difficult to cut around it and get things to line up or seal correctly.
Aftermarket sunroofs (which are common) are just a hole cut into the roof, and there are two styles to accommodate hard vs. soft headliners. With soft headliners, the headliner isn't cut open as large as the hole in the metal roof. The headliner gets tucked into the actual sunroof structure itself, then a cover is screwed in over it (sometimes there's a piece of rubber/plastic trim that then covers up the screws). I've installed this style of sunroof myself a few times. The other type of sunroof is for hard headliners, and the headliner is trimmed as large as the hole in the metal roof, and a piece of trim is screwed on to the underside of the sunroof frame that extends out passed the hole you cut (if you cut the hole too big, the trim won't cover it up).
Most aftermarket sunroofs are the basic pop-up manual style in which the glass can be removed completely, but there are aftermarket electric roofs. These typically have long brackets that will extend themselves out of the vehicle and rearwards and take the whole sheet of glass with it. Electric aftermarket sunroof panels have to go somewhere when they are slid back, and they normally go outside the vehicle because there isn't enough room under most headliners (of vehicles not equipped with a factory sunroof already).
Aftermarket sunroofs (which are common) are just a hole cut into the roof, and there are two styles to accommodate hard vs. soft headliners. With soft headliners, the headliner isn't cut open as large as the hole in the metal roof. The headliner gets tucked into the actual sunroof structure itself, then a cover is screwed in over it (sometimes there's a piece of rubber/plastic trim that then covers up the screws). I've installed this style of sunroof myself a few times. The other type of sunroof is for hard headliners, and the headliner is trimmed as large as the hole in the metal roof, and a piece of trim is screwed on to the underside of the sunroof frame that extends out passed the hole you cut (if you cut the hole too big, the trim won't cover it up).
Most aftermarket sunroofs are the basic pop-up manual style in which the glass can be removed completely, but there are aftermarket electric roofs. These typically have long brackets that will extend themselves out of the vehicle and rearwards and take the whole sheet of glass with it. Electric aftermarket sunroof panels have to go somewhere when they are slid back, and they normally go outside the vehicle because there isn't enough room under most headliners (of vehicles not equipped with a factory sunroof already).
RedCelicaTRD
Moderator
That is not stock. I have never seen any pop up sun-roofs in the EPC. People used to add sunroofs all the time back in the early 90's.
I just happen to have some...
https://picasaweb.google.com/jdmac4...&authkey=Gv1sRgCNzfzKbq_fKdPQ&feat=directlink
(sorry, Google changed the link, now updated)
https://picasaweb.google.com/jdmac4...&authkey=Gv1sRgCNzfzKbq_fKdPQ&feat=directlink
(sorry, Google changed the link, now updated)
Hotrodhendrix
New member
I prefer the look of the stock solid unit. Tilt it up and bam your sexy!
Sure I prefer the looks of the factory roof but of course I bought the car for its condition, the previous owner works at Toyota and gave it everything it needed, sunk about 12 grand in it and gave me a great deal to boot! I do like that I can have sunlight in the cabin all year round.
yea i would keep it stock, but i do like sunlight coming through... and on clear nights you can see the moon in your roof. however, my solid roof is dented in pretty bad (only on the sunroof for some odd reason) maybe was a replacement that had went through some hail damage.