My Beetle Restoration

Tag: sunroof

Sunroof, Door Panels, and Several Dash Components

by on Oct.09, 2010, under Disassembly

Tackled removing the sunroof components today. Most of the pieces are in good shape, considering the years of exposure to the elements. There is almost no rust in the roof structure of the sunroof opening which I find amazing. All of the components will need to be disassembled, cleaned, and painted. All the plastic rollers and maybe the Teflon slides will need to be replaced. Most of them are cracked and worn.

Sunroof, left side view.
Sunroof, front left angle view.
Sunroof, front view.
Sunroof, front right angle view.

 

The cover hold-down plate on the rear side is very rusted and pitted on the top side and I broke off one of the studs that bolt it down to the roof. Rather than pay $50 for a replacement, I think I will treat the rust and braze a stud back on it. Since this plate is completely covered by the sunroof cover, it doesn’t really matter what it looks like as long as the rust is removed, the metal is treated and protected, and it is suffiently strong enough to anchor the cover in place.

Cover hold-down plate, bottom view.
Cover hold-down plate, broken stud view.

 

Having never disassembled a sunroof mechanism before, I always wondered why the aluminum guide rails were made in two pieces on each side with a short piece around 6” long on each end. The reason is that the front spring bar is designed so that the rollers and the Teflon slide fit over the top and bottom sides of the channel and when the two smaller pieces of the guide rails are removed, the spring bar can be moved to the gap and removed.

Guide rail, short piece view.
Guide rail, short piece removed.
Guide rail, front spring bar removed.

 

After removing the sunroof components, I removed both door panels. The door handles and winders are all there, but the chrome plating is pitted. They will either need to be replated or replaced.

Door and winder handles, left door.
Door and winder handles, right door.
Door and winder handles, removed.
Door and winder handles, removed.
Left door, inside view.
Right door, inside view.

 

I then started removing the dash components. I removed the speedometer, the speedometer guide tube, and the speedometer cable.

Speedometer, cable, and guide tube view.
Speedometer, front view.
Speedometer, rear view.
Speedometer guide tube.

 

Next, I removed the ignition, the ash tray and holder, and the radio. There appeared to be a mouse nest on top of the radio. I’ll determine later if any of these components are worth keeping and refurbishing. I wonder who Valerie is?

Dash with ignition, ash tray, and radio, front view.
Dash with ignition, ash tray, and radio, rear view.
Ignition.
Ash Tray.
Radio.
Radio, with mouse nest.

 

I then removed the glove box. At some point, someone installed a toggle switch in it to control power to the radio. I’m not sure why…

Glove box, front view.
Glove box, rear view.
Glove box, rear view with toggle switch.

 

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