Moon Roof Install

[90fastcat]

I want to install a moonroof in my cougar. I was wondering if anyone else has installed one from another car. If so, was it easy/hard?

luvmysc

trev

[thunderbirdboi]

yea i dont think any one has ever tryied this because i have got no replys either

[ricardoa1]

Originally Posted by 90fastcat

I want to install a moonroof in my cougar. I was wondering if anyone else has installed one from another car. If so, was it easy/hard?

luvmysc

trev

Unless its aftermarket, you are in for big money. The stock sunroof has the edges of the opening rolled reinforced and finished. You would need the whole roof of a donor car to do it right.

[Ddubb]

Its been done, I helped to install a moonroof taken from a Mark 8 into a Thunderbird.

You can either cut off the whole roof and graft one to the other car .. or take the whole sunroof tray and it is attached to the underside of the roof with adhesive. Like mentioned above, the edges will need to be rolled, or you can graft that onto your hood which will be quite a bit of body work, and tricky to get all lined up perfectly and have the moonroof glass so it does not bind up at any point.

- Dan

[txsc]

This wouldn't be as hard as you might think. If you have a good donor car, and someone who can perform moderate body work.

You'd need to pull the front and rear glass from the donor, as well as all the mouldings between the roof panel and quarter panel. Gut the interior of pieces related to the headliner/moonroof. Then, drill out the spot welds and lift the roof assembly off.

Do the same to the recipent car, and swap roofs. You would probably want to set the body on jack stands and shim to align to factory specifications before separating the roof; it give significant strength to the body structure.

Then, align and weld the donor roof onto the recipient. Measure twice, weld once. Since the seam is hidden by the reveal, very little body work would be required. After installation, alignment, welding and sealing, just paint the roof using normal bodywork tecniques. The roughing and primering could happen off the car.

Then swap in the moonroof sub-harness and button it all back up with the donor headliner and original interior panels. That would be a good time to replace the old cracked/chipped/sparkled windshield, and while they're at it, reinstall the backlite. That's it - done.

I'll bet with some pre-planning, a good donor car, and the proper skill set and tools, that would be a weekend project.

Take pictures, and post here when finished...

JD

[scbird1]

Look for a sunroof moonroof on ebay thats brand new. Go aftermarket. You wont have a power moon roof unless you pay a lot extra but a pop up and lift off sould be about $125. I have put a few in my vans. You can get a realy big one too.

[scbird1]

Look under (pop up sunroof) some for $50.

[Ddubb]

Im not a fan of the pop up sunroofs .. they arent as nice as the fully electric sliding roof that actually goes back into the headliner.

As far as cutting off the whole roof .. dont even attempt it if you dont know what you are doing or with somebody who has experience swapping body panels, etc .. you will need to weld cross braces in between the A pillars and B pillars and / or at other points inside the car's body to keep it from flexing when you remove the roof .. this is necessary anytime you cut out a large portion of the vehicles roof or floor, especially if it is part of the vehicles structural integrity.

- Dan

[scbird1]

Lets put this way, If you only installing a aftermarket your not cutting anything stuctural just tin. If your car came with the expensive moonroof about $800 thats great but some did not come with it and its a lot of money to buy and have it installed. I had no problems with the pop ups as they do there job of letting light in and heat out. They are easy to remove so you have a giant hole in the roof.
There is a size that you will not want to exceed so get one that is close to the stock size so your not cutting into the braces. There are no drains to run. Im going to put one into my 96. I have a aftermarket in my 93 that slides back just like the stock unit but someone paid a lot of money to have this done as it needed a whole new headliner installed. Dont ask me why but its not the stock board type its glued to the metal.