911sc sunroof air deflector broken hinge - fix/hack!

[aldente295]

Like many before me, today as I was working on my sunroof, I leaned against the deflector and broke the left hinge. This is the second time it's broken, and after a quick search revealed that the replacement part is even more unobtanium than when I last replaced it, I decided to see if I could hack a fix - and I think I've had a win.

The hinge in question was the far left hinge, which you can see in the below picture. (This is actually post the 'fix'!)




It broke right at the base of the hinge, where it inserts into the aluminum bracket that screws to the roof. You can see the broken hinge to the left of the deflector and bracket. (This is after I removed the broken hinge 'stub' from the bracket):



To remove the hinge stub from the deflector, you will need to pry the wire spring up and away from the body of the bracket far enough to pull it free from the hinge. I used a screwdriver and a pair of needlenose pliers. The base of the hinge has a flat slot that slides through the wire spring; there's a slight kink in the wire which is where the spring tension is applied to the hinge.

Here's a picture of the wire spring from the top; you can see the kink:



For the repair, I figured that the left middle hinge was strong enough to flip the deflector up on its own, so I decided not to worry about trying to build a 'springy' hinge - I just focused on making a pivot point for the deflector, to hold it in place and allow it to fold up and down properly.


From a spare keyring I had lying around, I used the small 'jumpring' that connects the main ring to the fob. This became the new 'hinge'.

Holding it up against the section of deflector, I estimated where I'd need to drill a hole in the deflector to allow the ring to pivot in the right spot. I test fit the deflector without the chrome hinge piece, then drilled a hole through this as well.

Here is the ring connected to the wire spring and the deflector:



And the finished product, with the chrome hinge. The old hinge piece is held in place by the ring and the clip over the top of the deflector







Hope this helps others in the same boat!

Al

[Andnkuhn]

Alan,
You made my day! I just spent the past hour on the internet looking for these NLA parts and thinking of "less than stellar" ways to fix my identical problem.

Great idea! Thank you.

[Andnkuhn]

Does anyone have a scan or file with the shape of the left or right aluminum "wing"? I am missing mine.

[aldente295]

Glad it worked out for you!

[keverson]

Exactly what I needed. Thanks for posting this!