1985-1998 [Subscribe to Daily Digest] |
Members do not see ads below this line. - Help Keep This Site Online - Signup
Greetings!
A fellow TSNer just emailed me to ask how to remove the sunshade panel in order to re-cover it with new headliner material. Thought I'd post the procedure I provided him in case anyone else needed it.
Removing the sunshade requires removing the actual glass panel and partially disassembling the roof mechanism. You'll need a torx bit set, and I BELIEVE the specific size you'll need is 25mm -- there are three torx screws on each side of the glass frame. You'll also need an extension for your socket wrench to be able to do this job.
Allow yourself a couple of hours to do this job, if you've never done it before. I'd DEFINITELY suggest you do this job indoors, since if anything goes wrong, and you're outside, you run the risk of not being able to close the roof. THAT wouldn't be good if you were to get a rain storm!
First thing is to slide the roof open JUST enough to expose the down-facing front edge of the glass panel. There's a plastic frame in which the glass sits, and at the front edge you'll see something like eight philips head screws that attach the plastic frame to the glass. Remove these screws, and put them someplace safe (I always use a magnetic bowl).
Next, slide the roof closed again. You may be able to leave the plastic panel where it is: As the glass panel moves forward, the plastic frame will not need to slide back with the glass.
Now tilt the sunroof up. Look under the raised glass on each outboard edge. You'll see two torx screws on each side's raised ends. Remove these and put them in that magnetic bowl.
Now manually pull back the plastic frame to allow you to peer under the FRONT of the glass. On each side, you'll see one more torx screw. Remove these screws. It's a bit of a pain in the ass, but you'll get them. DO NOT try to slide the roof backward to give yourself more room to reach these screws. Won't work, since you've already removed the other screws on the glass.
With all the screws removed, you can now lift the glass panel off the car.
The next steps are more tricky. Might be good if you had a digital camera to take photos of the roof mechanism BEFORE you take it apart, since if you put it together wrong, you'll have all sorts of problems. (I made that mistake -- NOT fun.)
Close the roof setting from the tilt position. Take a photo of the brackets. You'll see that the brackets that move the roof along and facilitate the tilt are where the two rear-most torx screws go.
Now unscrew the metal plate running the length of the sunroof track on each side. These are all philips head scews. Be SURE to note where these each lived -- there are one or two LONGER screws, and if you don't note it now, it'll be difficult to determine where to put them back in later. You'll also need to take out one philips head screw at the front edge of the bracket where the two rear-most torx screws attach the glass panel (the metal plate actually extends under the bracket, and both the bracket and plate are secured by a common screw).
Pull the metal plate away. There's a double-faced adhesive between the plate and the frame. You'll likely pull this away and distort it; consider that you'll likely need to dispose of the double-faced stuff upon reassembly.
Now the most tricky part. On the rear bracket, where the arm lives that raises the roof's rear edge when tilted, you'll see a metal plate securing the bracket/car. You've already removed the front-most screw. There are two more to now remove. Do so, and take off the plate. Again, note where the longer and shorter screws go, for ease of reassembly.
Again, BE SURE you've noted the position of all the parts on the bracket/trolley BEFORE going any further. You MUST put the trolley back in the EXACT SAME POSITION it was in when you removed it. Specifically, on the outboard edge of the trolley, there's an arm with a white plastic bushing, and the bushing will be in a particular position, relative to a rectangular indent in the plate you just removed from over the trolley.
If you're SURE you've adequately noted the trolley mechanism's component positions, slide the trolley forward and extract it from the slider channels in the frame. Rest the trolley on the roof of the car or something. It will remain attached to the cable.
Do the following steps on both sides. Then, pull out the plastic frame, the one whose eight philips screws you removed from the front edge of the glass panel in your first step. Again, NOTE how the panel originally sits in the track -- back end has a tab that goes into the channel, and the front end actually sits ON TOP of the first, longer metal plate that covers the channel for the guide cable.
With the plastic frame out, now slide the sunroof shade forward, up and out. It has a rear tab on each side that runs in the same channel as the plastic frame. Again, be sure to note how the shade's tabs work in the channel before completely removing.
Peel off the old headliner material, and then be sure to scrub off the old material's foam residue from the panel. I used a wire brush. Also, be sure to note where the headliner wraps around the top of the panel on each side; I believe it only wraps around on the front and back; the sides need to be trimmed flush with the panel's side (but check that on yours; I'm going from memory here). You need to get this right, or the panel may fit too tightly and bind up once installed.
Re-installation is the reverse of the above steps. Biggest thing to be careful about is getting those roof bracket/trollies (with the two torx screw bracket) back in place correctly. One all the parts are in place, put the roof in the TILT position -- DO NOT slide the roof mechanism BACK VERY FAR at this stage -- JUST enough to observe whether the trollies are operating in the correct manner and not binding. DO NOT yet reattach the plastic frame to the glass panel with the philips head screws. (You'll still need access to the front torx screws on the glass panel at this stage.)
With the roof mechanism all reassembled (including the plastic frame), set to the TILT position, and replace the glass panel. After you get the glass panel back in, don't tighten the torx screws too much. In fact, on the two REAR torx screws, I'd leave the forward-most of those two screws especially loose, and tighten the rear one more. (This makes it easier to tweak and adjust the roof's flushness in the following steps.)
Now, lower the roof from TILT to closed. From outside the car, note whether the glass panel is flush with the roof of the car. To adjust and tweak the flush setting, push the glass panel either up or back, which will be possible to do since you didn't tighten the torx screws too much. Once you have the roof flush to your liking, tilt it open again, tighten the torx screws on the rear, pull the plastic frame back to gain access to the front torx screws, and tighten those.
Close the roof again, be SURE you're happy with the flush setting. Then, slide the roof back JUST ENOUGH so that you can now pull the plastic frame forward and screw it back in to the underside of the glass panel with the philips head screws.
That should do it! Good luck, and I hope that helps!
--Peter Ingram
'93 Aero 5 spd.
posted by 68.219.162...
No Site Registration is Required to Post - Site Membership is optional (Member Features List), but helps to keep the site online
for all Saabers. If the site helps you, please consider helping the site by becoming a member.
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
