78 caprice sun roof repair/replacment in southern Cali

spearwarrior wrote:I have a 2 78, one impala that i'm making a donk and a caprice that I'd like to be my daily driver.  The caprice has what seems like a stock sun roof that moves but needs to be repaired.  Any Idea where to take it in southern california? Thanks in advance.  I'll take post pics shortly.

spearwarrior wrote:<snip> That is a 80s header, good eye, it will be replaced with an original.

Gooched78Caprice wrote:
P.s. A 1978 caprice is not a Donk. The 2 doors have tons of other names, but a true Donk is the 1971-1976 body style. I know this is nitpicking but putting big wheels will just make it another aerocoupe, fishbowl, glasshouse, etc.... just with clown shoes.  

Sweet Seventy9 wrote:

spearwarrior wrote:<snip> That is a 80s header, good eye, it will be replaced with an original.

Have you considered keeping it?  I think it's a fantastic way to set your car apart from the rest.

Here's the only one I've seen before:

 

solo79 wrote:

Sweet Seventy9 wrote:

spearwarrior wrote:<snip>
NICE!!  That's actually done pretty well.  Most of the ones I see, the header doesn't quite match the fenders enough because the body work isn't done to it.  I've seen too many where it's just bolted right on and those later headers just don't mate with the 77-79 Fenders very well.

Fact that it doesn't match up correctly is original reason I planned on switching it, but that pic does look really good.

Gooched78Caprice wrote:

spearwarrior wrote:I have a 2 78, one impala that i'm making a donk and a caprice that I'd like to be my daily driver.  The caprice has what seems like a stock sun roof that moves but needs to be repaired.  Any Idea where to take it in southern california? Thanks in advance.  I'll take post pics shortly.

Welcome to the forum! Without pics or more detail I am taking a stab in the dark but here's my two pennies...
I am hoping for you that the motor is working and you probably will just need to have it realigned on its tracks. I am not in SoCal so I'm not much help for shop recommendations but I would recommend to start hitting the auto yards for some relief from future headaches for having these rare sunroofs. Start looking for the late 70s to mid 80s gmc cars with the body by fisher lower door kickplate, I believe it's 76-84 that interchange but not 100% positive.

My roof guy explained that there should be 2 different sizes so just measure diagonally and if it's the same they should interchange if they both have the fisher kickplate. I found my original parts donor off a 2 door cadillac and now have a spare hidden away that came off a buick that I have for any future problems and both were identical. Either way if it needs replaced or hopefully just aligned I would ask to have the seal replaced just as a precautionary measure while they are messing with it.

For a replacement headliner, fixing my sunroof and adding a new seal it was just under $500. I had to find the parts myself since my guy with over 20 years of connections was not abe to locate one anywhere on either coast so after months of looking I felt like I struck gold when I found the first one to make mine work properly. I wish you the best on your task at hand.

P.s. A 1978 caprice is not a Donk. The 2 doors have tons of other names, but a true Donk is the 1971-1976 body style. I know this is nitpicking but putting big wheels will just make it another aerocoupe, fishbowl, glasshouse, etc.... just with clown shoes.  

P.s.s. I might be in the minority around here but some of these cars with the 22" rims look amazing when done properly. So to each their own. If YOU love it and its how you vision your ride then who cares about what anyone else thinks! I look forward to seeing your progress with these cars.

spearwarrior wrote:Thanks for this post! this is what got me a replacement sunroof and en extra motor that i need to have rebuilt

HeavyChevy77 wrote:Where u at in so cal in here in san Diego county closer to the border
It might be tough to find parts occasionally a doner will show up ..usually missing the parts you go looking for ..
The was a place but up in san Jose ..somthingautosport... parting a 77caprice four door but Idk if it had a sunroof ...I think it did
I was gonna get rear doors but to expensive to ship of weight and size but different case with u

kansasboy wrote:

HeavyChevy77 wrote:Where u at in so cal in here in san Diego county closer to the border
It might be tough to find parts occasionally a doner will show up ..usually missing the parts you go looking for ..
The was a place but up in san Jose ..somthingautosport... parting a 77caprice four door but Idk if it had a sunroof ...I think it did
I was gonna get rear doors but to expensive to ship of weight and size but different case with u

hey bro I'm in san diego and I have a sunroof but it's mad rusty. I cant find anyone with replacement parts. so I'm considering going to a hardtop. Do you know anyone that can do that?