Looks SWEET!!!!! BTW, I ordered my MINI without sunroof just cause of the weight. Also, I have a ragtop and sunroofs just don't do anything for me anymore.... Really, the guy who made that could offer it for a pretty penny and sell a bunch! Matt
He does plan on selling them. He races BMW's and makes a bunch of carbon fiber roofs and sunroof fillers for them. I contacted him to see if he would be interested in making one for the MINI. He was so I sent him my sunroof so he could make a mold. He definitely intends on selling more of them.
Yeah, I remember. I also remember there being some concerns about using carbon fiber as an insert--apparently it can shatter, causing issues with nasty shards, unless it has a proper underlining. I was never 100% clear on this; as I never got a straight answer one way or the other on it, I lost interest. The other issue is apparently the seals weren't 100% waterproof; I still drive my car around town, and it would have to be water tight. All that being said, that piece shown in the picture on this thread looks well designed--it's a beautiful piece of work. Be interested to know if it's designed to be water tight, and if there are any concerns with it in a rollover with regard to throwing shards.
I don't believe the panel comes with any type of seals. In fact the stock sunroof has drain tubes in it. I plan on using some black RTV to seal the panel when I install it. I read up on the shattering thing as well, I just don't remember what I found out about it. I know that most BMW racers use them, I would feel certain that someone had to wreck one of those cars. I found an add on ebay where he is selling them now. Here: Carbon fiber sunroof pannel for MINI cooper 2007 up: eBay Motors (item 380271917018 end time Oct-02-10 15:28:33 PDT)
I'll be following this--be interested to see how it works out for you. What I'd really like is a leak proof carbon fiber insert that I could quickly put in and take out, but that's probably unrealistic. I do like to drive with the sunroof open; might end up just leaving it the way it is.
Having taken the sunroof assembly out, I don't think that is a realistic goal. It isn't super difficult to remove, but it does require removing the headliner and all handles. Even if you got really good at it, it would probably take a couple of hours. If you are considering putting a cage, or even a roll bar in your car, you will want to make up your mind first. That makes if very difficult to remove the sunroof, if not impossible.
Rollbar is already in...Looks like the sunroof is permanent! I have the autopower bar in though, it might be able to be partially disassmembled without removing the base--I'll have to take a closer look at it.
I have a roll bar in as well. It was possible to remove the sunroof assembly, not easy, but possible. With a cage, it would be pretty much out of the question.
Getting close. The head port work is completed and Endyn is finishing up the CNC machining. Larry with Endyn indicated that there were nice gains in the flow numbers of the head. I am interested to see what that translates to in terms of HP numbers. I hope to have the head and engine back within the next couple of weeks. I will keep everyone posted as I begin the reassembly process.
I spoke with Larry earlier this week and he expects to have the head finished next week. Here's for hoping.
trust me, its worth the wait. Endyn does great stuff. I got great numbers when i did their head, i am very excited to see what they do with the 56 head.
So... after what seems like forever. I finally have the car back together. I have been racing Spec Miata so it has been hard to keep up with putting this car back together as well as the building, racing and maintaining that car as well. I picked up the head from Endyn and Larry said the porting showed a 28% increase in flow through the head. I have the Schrick cams installed and the engine is back in the car. I did discover when I first cranked it (yes it started and sounded fine) that I have a pretty decent oil leak in the oil line that goes from the block to the top side of the turbo. So, I will have some additional work to do in order to replace the line. I got the carbon fiber replacement for the sunroof that I removed, it looks and fits great. I have some work to do to get the interior buttoned back up, but it is very close. Here are some pics of the head work: