Sunroof snags?

[Gareth Wales]

I'm about to remove the sunroof to get at rust on the frame. Any snags to beware of, and which might necessitate re-alignment on refitting?
BOL says that "if required" the three retaining screws on the front edge of the mobile frame should be remove, and then goes on to say remove the three retaining screws each side. I can only see two of these - will the third appear after releasing the front edge?

[Stewart (oily!)]

Yes Gareth, I have painted them with hammerite before now, I think the actual holding it on screws go into brass inserts, from memory the screws were rather tight, eventually succumbing to a small pair of mole grips, on the later cars they will likely be torx which at least will allow you to put a little more force on.
Stewart

[ken newbold]

The last sunroof I removed with visable rust on top, to my dismay once the unit was out of the car, the front corner pieces where the cables run in tracks were totally rotten and could not be refitted. BEWARE. I dont think I would attempt this again unless I knew where I could obtain a complete replacement from in a hurry.

[Vanny]

Hmm, i'll confess i just hamerited what my paint brush could reach! I've taken a sunshine foor out bfore and it was a bit of a pig even with the interior removed from the car! I'd suggest maybe playing with a scrap yard car first!

[Gareth Wales]

Many thanks guys - Life's too short!

[DLM]

Gareth - good luck! I've hardly seen a BX where the sun-roof wasn't decaying in some way, and the ones I HAVE seen have been impractical for sunroof removal for one reason or another (normally a scrappie car with a car-sized "roof-rack" on top).

Ken - I've replaced rusted cable-track covers before now in a planned operation, and may well take the ones that I fitted out of the car they're currently in, as it's due for parts disembowelling. I've got some pics tooo, somewhere. I think Gareth's just referring to the glass sun-roof itself, plus the metal mounts for it.

[Mike E (uk)]

Removing the whole roof liner is probably the only way to permanently sort roof problems. (For 10 years perhaps.)

It is not too bad a job though. (Octopus replacement is 500% worse.) At least you do not have to lie under a dirty car for ages!

The whole thing can be lowered down and removed, but take out the glass bit 1st, coz it is heavy.

Put some foam around the cables behind the passenger sun visor- these always seem to rattle annoyingly.

With the roof lining out of the car, you can clear the drain holes and lubricate the mechanism. Any significant rust then replace those parts.
Probably best to get a donor roof ready 1st.

On mine, the metal edging around the front aparture was very rusty, so I replaced it with a better one. I had a complete roof lining from a donor car, but I only needed that part. Job took a whole evening, but I work quite slowly on my car, often doing 'while I am at it ' jobs too.

All my roof problems are now gone, even in the most torrential downpour.

Mike

[DLM]

Put some foam around the cables behind the passenger sun visor- these always seem to rattle annoyingly.

seconded - possible to deal with from the sunroof motor aperture, but too fiddly by half! One of those "rattles in all the right places" noises.

[Oscar]

aahhh - Hah! So that's NOT the spare allen key rattling!...

[Gareth Wales]

I've dropped the roof-liner frequently to clear pine needles from the drain channel. The glass IS very heavy, but I've found it best to place a rachet-strap around the whole thing enabling the lining to be gently lowered to where you want it. Dropping the liner this way, though, does not give access to a lot of the rusty metal but it will enable you to clear the drainage tubes.