sunroof removal or exchange

[90 red rover]

oh, have a question here. looks like i could gain about 2" of headroom by eliminating the sunroof in my 90 rrc (i cant seem to find a sunroofless roof). i was thinking about removing the headliner and taking a look at getting rid of the rails and etc for the sunroof opperation. but i have a few questions:
does the roof actuall have a pressed in rail or flange for the sunroof?
has anyone done this before?
could i possible remove all the power rails and replace with a simple cam latch?

i really need the head room and am looking at doing both a seat swap and the roof mods. any other good ideas for generating headroom?

[roverandom]

Nope. It's a self contained unit affixed to roof panel. You can remove it easily enough as a unit, and then 'improvise' a new, manual opening/removable unit of course but you will still be left with sourcing a non sunroof headliner and adapting it to fit.

I would look for an old 1987 Range Rover. These all came to NA with a solid roof.....and a LT230 T'case. Many will be rusty by now and in the wrecking yards but seeing as the bits you need (roof and headliner) won't ever rust chances are good if you can find one those parts will still be ok, well, perhaps the headliner will need recovering but that's far easier than making your own from scratch.

Hit up Paul Grant or PT on here as they regularly break old Rovers and may have the very bits you need. They are pretty fair with pricing too as far as I know.

[90 red rover]

ok, thanks. i didnt know that all the 87's had solid roofs. i will direct my search more that direction. i wonder what shipping is on a roof?

[troverman2]

You can definitely remove the sunroof easy enough, the whole thing just unbolts as 1 piece, as above poster said. I've swapped a non-working for a working on mine. Are you 7' tall? I'm 6'6" and have adequate head room. Make sure seats are fully lowered. Contact DAP (They sell new Rover parts in VT) it seems they had a brand-new non-sunroof roof for sale not that long ago; maybe they still have it. rover@dap-inc.com is the e-mail address.

[90 red rover]

Thanks for the info troverman. I am 6'4" and I defiantly don’t fit. I was having back trouble a little while ago and started to see a chiro dude. Basically I have had terrible posture and I have been surprised by how many vehicles I don’t fit in when I am sitting properly. The rover needs a good 2" more just to clear me and then what will happen when I hit a large bump or drop - wham. I would like to get at least 3" out of it. You might be right about the seat switches I haven’t spent too much time on them but they are also not working at this moment - they are frozen where I had them before.
I will check dap and see what they have but I was hoping to convert the sunroof from a price standpoint.
i will check dap and see what they have but i was hoping to convert the sunroof from a price standpoint.

[HeadlinerExpress]

Was this issue ever resolved?

[90 red rover]

no. i got side tracked by engine mods and suspension updates. i was just about to investigate it further. what are your thoughts? i am thinking about corbeau baja seats should give me a little space and then get the rest by removing or converting the sunroof. i cant seem to find a sunroof-less roof anywhere?

[HeadlinerExpress]

Changing the seat sounds like a good alternative as many of the seats have low profile seat tracks sliders and can be mounted easily in your RRC

Procar by Scat makes a nice seat. I have installed a pair of their Sportsman-1610 into my Mercedes Unimog for the same reasons you’re asking about.

Low profile additional headroom & Comfort

80-1610-51L | PROCAR

[John C]

You mentioned that your seat switches weren't working, why not fix them and try lowering the seat (unless they are lowered already)?

Just a thought.

I have a sunroof from a 91 RR and a pop-up moonroof from a DI, I'll compare them and see if you can install the moonrof in place of the sunroof.

[HeadlinerExpress]

was this issue ever resolved. Bill