DGI

Called around to the local Porsche shops

Between them and body shops they recommended, i've gotten prices ranging from $5-7K.

I saw considerably cheaper prices thrown around the forums and it gave me hope.

Am I shopping at the wrong shops?

I'm 6'6" and figured a slick top conversion would be cheaper (and easier?) than going through the which seat/bracket/slider vs fixed dance of picking a new seat setup. Plus if anything it may add interest to the car down the road should I decide to sell it.

Might have to ditch this idea and go back to seat hunting.

Barn996

I would focus on lower seat brackets and a seat that might have a lower profile than the stock seat. My guess is that changing seats should be cheaper than your sunroof delete costs.

NuttyProfessor

The previous owner on my last Porsche must have been tall too because he ordered the car with the seat lowered than normal stock. I didn't know they could do that.

rileyracing1

Lower seat ...no different than requiring the extra head room when racing and wearing a helmet .

bplein

I'm interested in seat lowering as well. Is there any way to lower the '04 996 comfort seats further?

DGI

I talked to an upholstery shop and they suggested I bring my factory seat by to have a look. Theres about 4” of foam in the seat bottom apparently lol

i could deal with 1 or 2... i’ll bring it by later this week or early next week and report back in my build thread.

This would be the best option for me as I want to retain height adjustments for when my wife wants to drive the car

Optionman1

i'm 6'2" and in my 03 c4s, with a helmet on at HPDE, there was almost no room left before i touched the ceiling unless the seat was reclined more than you'd want it. i can't imagine someone 6'6" fitting with a helmet on, but good luck.

Blue Chip

From my understanding - $3K plus the cost of the roof skin is about right. That's what someone local here paid.

I'd actually consider doing it myself. I don't think (short of removing the glass) it's a very hard job... there's a DIY somewhere here....

DGI

I've seen the play-by-play in the CLR build and the glass removal is the riskiest part. I understand Porsche glass can be very expensive should it break (if you require OEM replacement). I wouldnt have an issue drilling out spot welds and would prefer to use a CF roof skin like he did (lighter and no welding necessary for reinstall).

More research needs to be done for sure and nothing is ruled out yet but baby steps lol

Blue Chip

I decided that will be the last part of my weight reduction... but that's also when I fully cage the car.

sweet victory

Just as an FYI, you must use the steel skin if you intend on running in the SP996 class.

cds72911

I've done the sunroof to no sunroof conversion on a VW that I raced. I know, not a 911, but it is the same thing if you ignore the badge .

It takes a bunch of disassembly removing anything in the way (glass, seals, trim, etc.), drilling a crap ton of spot welds (buy spot weld bits), grinding, welding lots of little "spot" welds, then more grinding and painting. No magic, just work.

I've read here that you can order the steel roofs from the dealer for a reasonable price. Don't forget that you'd need a different headliner for a non sunroof car (if you are putting one in).

One of our current members (the guy with the green 996 with the home made body kit) welded in a home built steel filler panel instead of replacing the entire roof. This could work too, but I suspect would destroy resale. Perfect for a car you'd literally keep forever, or a dedicated track car. Related to this, I saw an ad recently that Rennline is selling a steel filler panel just like this for earlier cars.

If you go carbon, you might consider a full cage first.

garrett376

I've done it on my 02 996 Carrera and am considering it on my 03 996 turbo too. Currently the roof skin 996-503-501-00-GRV from Porsche is about $500. Labor in Southern Cal is 19.4hrs @ $65, paint 2.4 @ 45. I have not obtained an estimate from an upholstery shop to recreate a headliner, but it should not be too difficult if you give them the original to copy or patch the opening.

ttt123

I'm not sure I've heard about a sunroof conversion.. is there a kit or something or just talking about taking out the guts and to the sunroof?

Either way I did both to my 996 I took out the sunroof and welded it back in minus all the stuff below and I also swapped out for some different seats and fabbed up my own brackets which lowered my seats. you can view build thread if you want the full low down on what/how I did it. the short version.. couple pics.

Brian

cds72911

The rennline kit isn’t for the 996, but same idea: http://www.rennline.com/Rennline-Sun...oductinfo/E55/

I was talking about welding in a new roof skin.

ttt123, I like what you did as a pragmatic solution. I’m impressed with your fabrication skills. I still don’t see how you bridged that huge gap... did you use any sheet metal to fill it? I could be wrong, but I do suspect filling in the panel versus full roof skin replacement could impact resale on a street car that was less custom than yours.