Sunroof seal

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spireman
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Sunroof seal

Post by spireman »

Has anyone removed and fitted a new sunroof seal without taking the sunroof panel out, if so was it easy to do. ?
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Bug
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Re: Sunroof seal

Post by Bug »

Yes! No! But do-able, with a bit of patience.
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Re: Sunroof seal

Post by Peter-S »

:agree: :)
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Re: Sunroof seal

Post by jackinthegreen »

I did it. I found it easy to do but a bit fiddly and time consuming. I used a damaged bonnet support rod I had lying around in the garage as an improvised fitting tool, being careful not to damage the new seal or scratch my paintwork.

You can remove the old seal and press on the new seal if you're patient, just by tilting and sliding the roof to successively gain access to different areas to press on the new seal. You will find you need to do this from both inside and outside of the car, from all sides/angles, depending on what gives you best access to the bit you want to press on. So do it in a garage with enough room to work on both sides of the car (and get in and out of it on both sides), or do it outside on a day you know you've got nothing else to do and no rain all day!

The construction of the seal is a bit like a door seal in the fact that you have rigid plastic/rubber in a U-shape, with the soft rubber that does the actual sealing moulded on to that. The soft rubber that does the sealing is what you see running round the outside of your sunroof panel. The U-shaped rigid grip part presses up from underneath, on a lip formed by the edge of the metal sunroof panel. Like I said, straightforward but a bit fiddly and time-consuming.

For the best and tidiest visual appearance you should probably remove your sunroof, fit the new seal, and refit the sunroof; however such a task (particularly the adjustment of your sunroof after refitting) is a very dark art indeed, and one best not dabbled in, or it is sure to result in failure, heartbreak and dispair... not to mention confusion, frustration and scratched paint... and an ill-fitting, unusable, potentially leaking sunroof.
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Re: Sunroof seal

Post by 80s-new-man »

I’m glad I finally found this.. thank you!
I couldn’t tilt / slide after I started putting it on either way as the unfitted portion would jam the sunroof.. I had to give up after ruining a brand new seal, which is so annoying. It’s a shame there’s no instructions.
Now there’s a seal-less roof and -30 quid so I’ve decided to ask my local garage to do it when I ask them to fit the new dash. Overtime me up !! :banghead:
Cheers
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