As I began to dive into collecting OEM restoration items for my S13, I found that the sunroof assembly is much more complicated than I had anticipated. I’ve never really had any leaking issues from the sunroof that many people often talk about with these cars, but I thought it would be a good idea to replace as many components of the sunroof as I could.

I of course began with the obvious items that I mentioned in my previous posts about moldings and weather stripping– the glass panel spacer that runs around the glass itself, and the interior weather strip. When inspecting the sunroof from the outside, I found that the hinge covers and other items on the glass itself were in rough shape, covered with chips and other paint blemishes. I was surprised to find that these items were still available. There are four in total- two hinges at the front, and two rectangular pieces in the center.

Each of these items also has a gasket associated with it that rests between the piece itself and the glass. There’s a gasket for each item on either side of the glass- both the interior and exterior. The highlighted items below are the ones I purchased:

On the interior side, I picked up some front hinge covers as the plastic on mine was hazy and faded. I also grabbed new circular covers for the rear sunroof holders to tidy things up a bit.

I recently found that my sunroof handle is cracked, so I purchased a replacement unit from Nissan. I was also able to source the plastic bezel that goes around the handle as mine has seen some abuse over the years.

Focusing so much attention on the sunroof made me want to look into sourcing a sunroof shade. From the sounds of it, all S13s with sunroofs came with this cover, as well as a storage bag and a set of straps in the rear hatch area to keep it safe while not in use. I chose to buy one from a 180SX as it looks a bit cleaner without the instruction/warning label on it like the USDM cars had. My friend Jimmy has a spare sunroof cover bag that I am going to grab from him which will be a nice addition. I used the cover on the drive to a friend’s house last Friday and it made a huge impact on keeping the temperature a bit more bearable inside the car. Pretty nice piece to have!

Speaking of last Friday, I got my car buttoned up and made the hour and a half long trek to my friend Tim’s house to help him work on his car. He’s currently in the process of reassembling it after having the whole thing painted. We installed the fuel tank, rear subframe, and front suspension so that we could sit the car on the ground and get a peek at what it will look like when it’s completed. There’s still a lot of work to be done, but I think it was motivating for all of us to see it on the ground for a bit.

Finally, I had to include a couple shots of the LED garage lighting my wife and daughters got me for Father’s Day. I have been working under two light bulbs for the past eight years, so they’re a welcome addition to my garage. Shoutout to my friend Jimmy for the recommendation- these were purchased from Amazon.

Summer break kickoff celebration with a bunch of our neighbors now that my oldest daughter is officially done with kindergarten:

That’s my update for this week- hope you enjoyed it! Have a great weekend.

Damon