1937 Rover 12 Sports Saloon Sliding Sunroof Removal

[AFPU]

The vinyl on one of the front corners of my fixed sunroof section (left-hand side of exterior picture) has come away on the underside, so I need to remove the sliding sunroof to stick it back under. I have the workshop manual explaining the process, but having never done it before I wanted to check a few things. So, I am guessing I need to remove the sunroof handle (which is a temporary item fitted by my garage as the new one I had purchased did not fit).
1) I have no rexine panel to remove, so no visible locking bar, so is that an issue?
2) If the above is OK, then is it simply a matter of lifting the front edge of the sliding sunroof and pulling it forward and out?
3) How are the rear sliders sprung off the runners?

[SHyslop]

Good morning, I read your post last night, thought I knew the answer and then realised I didn't and so I have been and looked and thought a bit more this morning. Your design of sun roof is right enough, although the workshop manual detail is maybe brief in this particular.

I am going to attach some photos taken this morning but it takes me a little while to make them small enough for the website so written text first . You have no rexine panel to remove. That is a correct design. The WSM mentions early 34 cars regarding this but this may be somewhat misleading and could be an extrapolation from the particular to the general. I am attaching a photo of a 1935 14SS with this design, but I am also attaching a photo of a 1936 non Rover with exactly the same design of sunroof. Knowing more about the actual date of your car and whether it has been slightly/extensively restored in the past might help to explain why it has what it has, I am also showing a picture of a 1935 and 1937 Rover with the sunroof of the later design, and this continues through 38 and 39 onwards.

The WSM says to "prise up the aluminium beading on the roof to reveal the screws that secure it". This I have not yet had to do and so hopefully someone who has done this will give us the benefit of their expertise. The advantage of the later design is that it is much more readily taken apart and attended to but I have also been thinking of the cars I have had with this earlier design and the good news is that, when working ok, they appear to give very little trouble.

The rear sliders (I have worked with) are on spring steel arms. They can bend down from their fixing points and so can be reinstalled by holding the roof panel at an angle, locating them in their guide rail and pushing back. They will pull straight off once the front slides are off their runners.

If the damage to the vinyl is small and localised, and everything else is all right, I am wondering if some judicious work with something sticky that would set and could be lightly embossed to duplicate the vinyl finish might be possible until more dismantling was more justified? Years of taking things apart to remedy some small deficiency which has then resulted in major effort in time money or frustration , all three at once sometimes, has taught me to be more careful in taking things further apart than necessary.

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[AFPU]

Many thanks SHyslop for the pictures and the text.

I am currently trying a repair to the very slight tear in the corner on the leading edge of the fixed roof section using a leather sealant/filler, which I am hopefull will do the job. But ideally I would like to glue the underside of the overlap (if that makes sense), hence my desire to remove the sliding section.

I am unsure as to how much my car has been restored but I think it has been in the past in the nineties.

I am still at a loss as to how to uncouple the front guides on the sunroof to enable the sliding section to be lifted up and forward; so any guidance on that aspect woul dbe much appreciated.

[AFPU]

With the sunroof open and viewed from the top I can see a series of fixing holes around the perimeter, so am I missing a seal or something?

[SHyslop]

I don't know if these two pictures will show you anything you don't already know already. In one of them, you'll see a rubber seal of hollow round section the restorer of this particular car added. Some have sponge sections, some none. The other photo shows the line of screws along the roof .
Not totally relevant, but in a recent edition of Car SOS, Fuzz and Tim were restoring a 30s Wolseley and I was slightly surprised that Fuzz fixed the sunroof with three very visible bolts through the outside of the roof. It is the first time I have seen him make a visible repair in this way and I was saying to my wife, the night it was on, how sunroofs can be awkward things and that was proof of it, because if it was easy, he would have done iot invisibly !

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