Fox T-Bird/Cougar Forums

Technical => Body/Appearance/Interior => Topic started by: Jmoore87 on February 23, 2012, 11:27:04 PM

Title: sunroof
Post by: Jmoore87 on February 23, 2012, 11:27:04 PM
Hello! My cougar has almost everything i want on her except for a sunroof. I checked alot of the junk yards around me and not many cats in them at all. So i was wondering if the sunroof assembly from a t- bird or a mark IIV would work in my car. Any and all advice would be helpful. Thanks in advance.
Title: sunroof
Post by: EricCoolCats on February 23, 2012, 11:36:43 PM
Sunroof (flip up only), or power moonroof?

Essentially, from the factory our roof panels were made differently if they were to have the factory power moonroof (and sunroof on earlier cars). So it's usually not a case of cutting the hole and everything being set up for it. The dome light would need to be relocated in a lot of instances, and so would the wiring; the headliner was different, etc.

I went through what you're going through now, about 15-20 years ago with one of my older Cats. In the end I had an aftermarket sunroof put in that required no readjustments on the interior. It was smaller than the factory style glass but it was still removable and didn't compromise headroom.

I honestly don't know if a factory Ford sunroof could be installed in a solid roof car.

The power moonroof is another beast altogether. There are a few people on this board that have swapped roof panels so maybe they can chime in.
Title: sunroof
Post by: Jmoore87 on February 24, 2012, 12:52:44 AM
I could live with a flip up sunroof. I would just lke to have some sunlight entering the top of my car. If you dont mind could you walk me through the steps you took to get the sunroof to work in your car?
Title: sunroof
Post by: Beau on February 24, 2012, 01:57:17 AM
If you pay to have my roof chopped off, and your roof welded back onto my Sport, you're welcome to it.



Yeah, I'm effin' serious too. The headliner is almost 2 inches lower than a solid roofed '87-'88, and I have put in the manual seat tracks, so I have no up or down adjustability in my seating. I hate leaning back like a "gangsta" too....I can barely slide my fingers between my head and the ceiling of the car...and I took the headliner out awhile back.. I'm also 5'10" for reference.

I thought it was cool at first. Now, it's a huge PITA...but at least the  thing works still.

Honestly, I'd rather brace the living hell out of the bottom and cut the roof clean off, but that wouldn't fit into my ultimate goal with the car.
Title: sunroof
Post by: vinnietbird on February 24, 2012, 08:25:14 AM
Gayle had a car a few years ago we bought. She wanted a sunroof bad (Now every car she drives has to be factory equipped with one)....anyway....she went through, of all places, JCWhitney, and bought a sunroof kit. It was solid and well made. We took the the car downtown to a body shop, and they did the measuring many times, took the template that came with the kit and marked the pattern on the roof. cut it out, and got busy installing the kit. The hole in the headliner is cut smaller to allow the material to be folded up for a "finished look". A bead of sealant was applied to the edges of the hole, the frame was placed in the hole from the top, then the bottom of the frame was installed from the bottom (it sandwiched the roof and headliner), then it was fastened together with supplied screws, then done. Just slide the glass in. It could be raised in two positions manually, or removed altogether. Not really a hard installation at all, but once it's done, it's done. No going back. It looked good, and never leaked for the two years we had the car. Now, all her cars get a factory power moonroof.
Title: sunroof
Post by: daminc on February 24, 2012, 08:40:17 AM
my Towncar has a moonroof..... my head also touches the headliner, and I'm also 5' 10"..... I will never again get one.... in 6 years it was opened aprox 2 times. glass on a roof defeats the purpose of air conditioning.... it's a constant battle cooling the heat trying to get into the car... so the panel is always closed to cover the sun coming through
Title: sunroof
Post by: Jmoore87 on February 24, 2012, 09:20:51 PM
Thanks fellows for your assistance. Im going to go with the manual sunroof option. That would seem to work best for me.
Title: sunroof
Post by: sarjxxx on March 12, 2012, 10:55:22 AM
I meant to tell you I was planning the same thing

[thread]33276[/thread]