P38A P38 Sunroof Woes

JamesBB · May 28, 2020

Hi All
Long time no posting...... Odd for a P38 owner.

My sunroof started to refuse to close and stayed up one side. I decided to remove the entire thing and work on it out of the car. I have ordered some new plastic guides for both sides as part of a repair kit but they have not arrived yet. While waiting I decided to tackle the fact that the glass has become unbonded to the frame and rust has started bubbling up. I took the seal off and have given it all a good clean and treated with rust stabiliser and then a paint ith zinc primer before a satin black over the top. Looks ok, just need to bond the glass back to the frame and fit the seal.

That is where I come unstuck as it were. Test fitting the old seal back to the frame before bonding the glass in I have found that it no longer wants to grip the frame.

I have 2 Questions:
1. Are these seals re-usable? I am starting to suspect not. Shame if not but the old one does look like its seen 24 years of weather. Searching about I have found the part number EEQ100400.

2. Are there any specific tricks that need to be done when fitting this seal? Island4x4 web site says professional fitting only. Can it be that hard? I have 2 plastic corner radius pieces that were on the seal and look like they need re-fitting. If its anything like attempting to refit the old seal then I am waiting for a potential nightmare. All this before the joys of fitting the plastic bits to the slide and tilt mechanism.

Until then I have a wooden sheet on the roof.

Thanks in advance.
James

Henry_b · May 28, 2020

Mine unbonded due to rust, i just forced Arbomast sealant between the frame and the glass, this also held the seal.

As mine too wasn't playing ball and staying on!!

To be fare it is probably a better job all round to fit a replacement cassette, one which is in better nick..

there is a guy who supplies good'uns on ebay, he goes by the name of "Dave East Coast Range Rovers"

In fareness you could probably separate the glass from the frame and fab a new metal piece, but it would be easier all around to put another cassette in.

JamesBB · May 28, 2020

Henry_b said:
Mine unbonded due to rust, i just forced Arbomast sealant between the frame and the glass, this also held the seal.

As mine too wasn't playing ball and staying on!!

To be fare it is probably a better job all round to fit a replacement cassette, one which is in better nick..

there is a guy who supplies good'uns on ebay, he goes by the name of "Dave East Coast Range Rovers"

In fareness you could probably separate the glass from the frame and fab a new metal piece, but it would be easier all around to put another cassette in.

Thanks for the tip. I wondered if a cassette would be a better option. The problem is all of the cassettes I can find on ebay at the moment are in really rough condition. Some show rust under the glass edge, so I fear I will be back to this same point in a year or so. Looks like the guy you mention does not have any at present :-(

I suspect you cannot re-use the seals as the grip has gone. Years of being forced wider due to bubbling rust made it difficult to pull off the frame and end result it will not re-grip.

I will think about the cassette option if I can find a good one and maybe check scrap yards for a glass and frame that is not too bad. Other than that I see no choice of a new seal. At least I know the rest may last a little longer.....

Cheers

Henry_b · May 29, 2020

The sunroof "like the rest of the car" is a poor design and water seeps under the seal and sits on the bare frame and rots it out..

I used these spring clips to hold mine while i sealed it..

JamesBB · May 30, 2020

I think I have possibly found someone that has a good glass and frame.

However, I must say that to refer the entire car as a bad design is not entirely fair.

Thanks

Datatek · May 30, 2020

JamesBB said:
I think I have possibly found someone that has a good glass and frame.

However, I must say that to refer the entire car as a bad design is not entirely fair.

Thanks

Maybe not an entirely bad design, but badly made.

JamesBB · May 30, 2020

Datatek said:
Maybe not an entirely bad design, but badly made.

Now that would be fair. "That'll do!!" " An unbelievable piece of design, ruined by minkies......"

Henry_b · May 30, 2020

JamesBB said:
Now that would be fair. "That'll do!!" " An unbelievable piece of design, ruined by minkies......"

That would be the classic

P38 is a mixture of Rover 800 - BMW 7series - RRC etc etc

Grrrrrr · May 31, 2020

Most cars have a lifetime of 15 years. My P38 is 25 years old and still going strong. At that age parts are bound to be failing, especially seals and parts exposed to the elements like brake pipes. They're past their design use by date. Doesn't mean the car is junk, just expect some TLC required.

Most houses have a design life of 50 years. Mine's over 90 so electrics and plumbing are the same as my brake lines on the p38. And the windows. And ...

Datatek · May 31, 2020

Grrrrrr said:
Most cars have a lifetime of 15 years. My P38 is 25 years old and still going strong. At that age parts are bound to be failing, especially seals and parts exposed to the elements like brake pipes. They're past their design use by date. Doesn't mean the car is junk, just expect some TLC required.

Most houses have a design life of 50 years. Mine's over 90 so electrics and plumbing are the same as my brake lines on the p38. And the windows. And ...

Houses have a design life of 50 years

Crazy, mine is coming up to 400 years old and still good.

kermit_rr · May 31, 2020

Grrrrrr said:
Most cars have a lifetime of 15 years. My P38 is 25 years old and still going strong. At that age parts are bound to be failing, especially seals and parts exposed to the elements like brake pipes. They're past their design use by date. Doesn't mean the car is junk, just expect some TLC required.

Most houses have a design life of 50 years. Mine's over 90 so electrics and plumbing are the same as my brake lines on the p38. And the windows. And ...

Some of the new builds seem to have a design life of 15-20 years

JamesBB · May 31, 2020

All great points and I do keep up with maintenance on my cars knowing they are all way way way beyond the intended life of the manufacturer and other than the P38 which at present just needs a sunroof (or seal) the only car off the road has turned itself into a long term project due to a combination of it being near 35 years old and the most unreliable POS I have ever owned. Having said that I do not want to give up on the poor thing after near 20 years of ownership.

Back to the P38, fingers still crossed on finding a replacement sunroof first.

JamesBB · Jun 27, 2020

Update time.

The sheet of wood is now removed from the car's roof.
I have a re-built sunroof made from some of my original parts, a RR Classic slide and tilt rail (they are the same) and a new used glass that is is really good condition (came with good seal). It operates really well manually.
Now the only issue is the sunroof motor spins but does not turn the gear that the manual T shaped tool/key goes into. I understand this to be a broken gear accessible through the hole behind the courtesy light cluster (where you manually operate the roof).
Does anybody know which replacement gear I need? I see a few commonly sold on ebay.
Long and short of it is it's easier to get the replacement cassette with no doubt, I just did not fancy being beaten and left with a huge chunk of metal lying around for the next few months/years.
Cheers

JamesBB · Jun 28, 2020

JamesBB said:
Update time.

The sheet of wood is now removed from the car's roof.
I have a re-built sunroof made from some of my original parts, a RR Classic slide and tilt rail (they are the same) and a new used glass that is is really good condition (came with good seal). It operates really well manually.
Now the only issue is the sunroof motor spins but does not turn the gear that the manual T shaped tool/key goes into. I understand this to be a broken gear accessible through the hole behind the courtesy light cluster (where you manually operate the roof).
Does anybody know which replacement gear I need? I see a few commonly sold on ebay.
Long and short of it is it's easier to get the replacement cassette with no doubt, I just did not fancy being beaten and left with a huge chunk of metal lying around for the next few months/years.
Cheers

Another quick update. Managed to find other sunroof motor related posts on here, found out how to re-engage motor by twisting back a quarter turn. All now ok. Not the smoothest at tilting (by manual or motor) but it all seems to work and did not seem to leak in the recent heavy rain.

On to the next issue.........

Henry_b · Jun 28, 2020

A dollop of grease on the rails helps with the rough sunroof.

Mine was drier than a dry thing..

Some silicone LUBE and it improved tenfold

P38A P38 Sunroof Woes

JamesBB

Active Member

Henry_b

Think outside, no box required.

JamesBB

Active Member

Henry_b

Think outside, no box required.

JamesBB

Active Member

Datatek

Well-Known Member

JamesBB

Active Member

Henry_b

Think outside, no box required.

Grrrrrr

Technician, Bodgit & Scarper Ltd

Datatek

Well-Known Member

kermit_rr

Very

JamesBB

Active Member

JamesBB

Active Member

JamesBB

Active Member

Henry_b

Think outside, no box required.

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