Sunroof cable repair and new seals 87 911

[jhubs]

I was very hesitant to start this project, but found that it was quite easy with the help of fellow Pelicans and Wayne's 101 Projects. Thanks Bill R. as your idea of bending a thin 1" putty knife to pry down the sun roof interior headliner panel at the front corner of the passenger compartment... genius.

I tried starting at the center of the panel and found that to be impossible, so I took Wayne's advice and started at the corner above the passenger side. The headliner piece is simply pressed into place by spring clips and this tool pulled the corner of the headliner panel down disengaging the corner spring clip. I proceeded across the front of the panel and pulled down all 7 clips. Once the clips were all pulled out of their holes, I slid the panel back toward the rear of the car and proceeded to take out the small bolts that held the roof down.

The Sunroof was stuck closed, so this was the only way to get the panel out of the way to access the underside of the sunroof.





Swing this bar out of the way.



Remove this clip.


Remove a total of 8 small bolts on the passenger and driver's side and gently push up on the sunroof from the inside. Then go outside and pull the sunroof off the car. Be CAREFUL NOT to scratch the sunroof or your car roof!

Unscrew and take out the three screws that hold the track down and slide the track up and forward.



The unit that holds on to the cable will slide out the back of the track as you pull the track up and forward and out of the roof. Here is what it is supposed to look like.



Here is the problem on the driver's side cable holder.

[jhubs]

I simply cleaned everything up with Goof Off and inserted the cable back into the crimped tube (along with a good coating of JB Weld, recrimped the tube and reassembled everything.



I ordered new seals from our host. And, while I had the sunroof off it was time to put the new seal on the removed sunroof. I covered the exposed roof near the rear seal with blue painter's tape, pulled off the rear felt seal and the rear rubber seal and used Goof Off to clean off all of the old glue.



I applied a thin layer of 3M black weather strip adhesive to 3 inches of the edge of the area where the new felt was to be applied (3-4 inches at a time) and a thin layer to the felt seal. Start in the center and work toward the corners. I let it dry for 2 minutes and pressed the felt into place. Then I taped it down to hold it there.



I angled the ends of the felt strip down slightly as it rounded the corner. Note the way the rubber water seal is applied.


It took 5 hours total and if I can do this anybody can! I'll post photos of the finished roof tomorrow when there is more daylight. Gets dark here at 4:45 PM.

Jerry

[jhubs]

The new seal at the rear of the sunroof and the old seal on the front and sides. A big difference in the appearance. I will replace the front one tomorrow as I don't have to remove the sunroof to get to it.

[jhubs]

Here is the installation of the third sunroof seal that is mounted on the car body and goes around the front and 2 sides of the sunroof opening.

I marked where the OLD seal began to angle down and where it disappeared with painter's tape.



Here is what the new seal looks like...it has a rubber tube and an aluminum strip inside the felt cover. Flat felt side against the car body.


There will be about 1 inch of seal that will angle down and disappear back and under the edge of the sunroof opening. Align the dotted lines. DO NOT CUT this seal.





And remove the wind flap.

Next I taped the seal in place to make sure it fit evenly around the opening.


Then I untaped 1/2 of the seal and spread 3M black weather strip adhesive on the edge of the opening and then on the seal with a small brush. A little cement goes a long way. Try to avoid getting glue on the round part, or top part of the seal. I waited 2-3 minutes and pushed the seal against the edge of the opening. The TOP of the seal should be level with the TOP of the car's roof. I just pushed 3-4 inches of seal at a time..go slow as the almost dry glue acts like contact cement and is difficult to reposition or remove.
Start at the center and work towards the corner and end..then do the other side.



Not too difficult, about 2 hours. Looks really nice! Thanks again Pelican people!! Jerry

[poorsha]

Great article.
Thanks for posting.

[KS120196]

Truly OUTSTANDING documentation. I wish they were all like this.

Thanks, Jerry!

[Goosh]

Great job!!! - you should submit to Pelican so they can post in the Tech Info Center. I've done a few of these on older Mercedes, but most of their seals were press fits, so the info you provided re adhesive and use of tape is very valuable!!

Thanks, Goosh

[kilodawg]

Great job!

I did this a year ago myself and the real key like indicated is to work just a few inches at a time and secure with painters tape as you go....

[Rick V]

I need to do the same thing this winter. Thanks for the idea on removing the headliner. Much better way than what I was thinking.

[OSI930]

Great job. Very informative. Thanks.

[Nickatnyt]

Thanks a million for showing us how you did your project. This is definitely one that I have to do now that I decided to keep my SC.

[pozee]

Thanks for an excellent and relevant post! Appreciate the documentation.

[burgermeister]

Wow - what a great writeup! Thanks!

[billybek]

I thought the top of the perimeter seal was smooth and shiny like fender welting on a beetle.
This stuff seems to be fuzzy all over.
The reason I say this is because the PO of my car power polished the roof and didn't mask of the edges of the seal. Needless to say it doesn't look very good.
Thanks for the very detailed replacement procedure and photos, they were great.

[rayporsche]

Hi jhubs, "Outstanding" !!!! Well let's see, from Dallas to Denver is about a 1000 miles give and take, would you do mine ? Yeah right, thank you...RAY....

[nut11]

Thank you. Will be doing my cable fix this weekend. Excellent docs. Again, thank you.

87 blk coupe

[bcoats]

Great post, thanks for that, one other item to add for others. If you take the rails out to clean like I did, remember to make sure the s/r headliner fits back into the tracks on the side of the rails, I had everything buttoned up and ready to go only to find I couldn't get my headliner back in the tracks. . .had to undo everything but just another tip that hopefully helps others, thanks again.

[nameisbauer]

Question#1: Do you NEED to remove the sunroof to do the rear seals? (wishful thinking)
Question#2: You refer to the sunroof being stuck and "so this was the only way to get the panel out of the way to access the underside of the sunroof". If mine is not stuck, it there a better way to start?

thanks
JIM

[jhubs]

Yes on #1 and No on #2. You have to remove the panel to get to the roof off.

Jerry

[tquaglino]

Now, after 2 years of ignoring my dysfunctional sunroof, I have the confidence to dig in and fix it. I appreciate how thorough you were in documenting the repair.

Thanks. Tom