Tried to find someone here who has had the same issue I am having, havent seen anything yet. I have been going through the car little by little repairing / rebuilding electrical. When I got to the sunroof I could hear the motor trying to work but nothing would happen. Pulled the motor and the gearbox and found the motor shaft more or less had rusted in place, easy fix. Cleaned it all and regreased and re-installed. Works like a champ! Now to the problem. I re-install the sunroof and it is not going. It is almost like the guides have been moved out and are binding. I cant figure it out, nothing looks out of place, and all I did after I removed it was clean it and re-grease and set it aside. Any pointers are greatly appreciated!
If your sunroof does not move, either the cable that is connected to the frame behind the sunroof is detached, or the motor is detached from the retraction cable.
I figured Stef would step in soon. He is the resident sunroof "expert." Also, when you get it fixed, do not ever operate it again, lol! Alden
Motor, cable, and the roof mechanism work fine. The sunroof itself is binding, one I drop the 4 rear white tabs into place it starts to get tight, I have to force it back far enough for the front to drop into the slots. I though maybe it would pop into place but it doesnt, cant figure it out.
Have you engaged it onto the cable correctly? The end plug on the cable tube by the motor needs to be removed, the cable run ALL the way back. The push top all the way back and run motor forward to engage cable in slot on top.
I cant even get to that point, I thought it would "pop in" after pushing it back a bit but nothing, I have actually scuffed/scratched the paint on the roof a bit, normally that would have bothered me but the paint on the car isn't exactly perfect and I think I can buff it out for the most part until it is re-sprayed.
Photos This is where it begins to bind. I did figure out last night that it is the right side that is causing all of the trouble. I was able to get it in and re-engage the drive motor and with a lot of help get the sunroof closed all the way. I literally had to pull the sunroof by hand a little bit then bump the sunroofs motor. Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
My seal swelled/hardened and rubbed badly, the new ones arrived this week and are much softer and seem like they will fit better. I am just waiting to get the roof panel repainted due to a rust scab then try them out. Have you tried fitting without the seal and checked the operation? Dave
Have not tried it, good idea though. Mine seems to be grabbing on the passenger side though, the drivers side seems to be free.
On the third pic (right inner side of the space where the sunroof fits in), I don't see the metal guide rail, do you have it? The procedure to put the roof back in is: Lubricate the white 4 plastic pieces that fit on the metal guide plates well enough 1. Put the plastic pieces over the 4 metal guide plates of the sunroof and attach the 2 back plastic pieces to the metal pins of the frame that fits in the rear of the roof. Doing that, you have run the 2 back metal guide plates through the left and right 'white plastic hands' (see pic 3 to the right) 2. Put the back of the sunroof nicely in its place 3. Put both rails on their position on both sides and retract the roof a bit so that the front 2 guides also slide in the inner space, aligned in the rack. By retracting the roof a bit (manually operating the motor by preference) the front of the roof will slide in position, so make sure the rails are in there.
I had the roof mechanism retracted back as far as it would go manually. I put the "rail" that raises the back up once it is closed first and then the back two white guides. After I had the back four white guides in I moved the top back to position the front two guides in the track but it gets very tight and has to be forced to get it to move any further.
Another question related to this, On the gear box, what size and pitch is the clutch adjustment nut? Mine is all but stripped and will barely hold enough pressure engage the clutch to move the cable!
and the white plastic pieces that go over the metal guide plates are not cracked? Can you confirm that you have these rails installed on the left and right side of the sunroof (somewhat dirty on the pic)? Image Unavailable, Please Login
I think those are the two that you remove to get the sunroof out, right? If so they are not installed yet. The two I have look to be polished stainless steel.
These have to be installed first because the white plastic pieces have to fit in them so the sunroof can slide between these rails smoothly
Lift the front of the sunroof up, a couple of cm above the roof, then insert the rails and then retract the roof a bit so both front plastic guides will fit in. Finally, attach the rails to the body with the 2 small screws when the roof had been retracted as far as possible.
Still no luck, I was able to get the sunroof in and was able to close it. That project is on the back burner for now. I am getting closer to getting my brake master/ booster back from White Post Restorations and actually being able to drive the car for the first time. I have had the car since December and have driven it maybe 1/8th mile VERY gently to get it up the hill where it was dropped off. Ever since it has been in and out of my garage being serviced and cleaned.
So I have been driving the car A LOT! Having fun with it but the sunroof is bugging me! One thing I realized as I was putting the roof back together, the clutch adjustment nut is stripped and I will have to replace it, so I am looking for a whole unit to keep for parts, until then, does anyone know the size and thread pitch of the nut?
