Thread: Sunroof blind removal... what the???

I wish I could. I repaired mine years ago when the tilt/lifting arm/lever broke and I had to replace that side.

Here are some annotated photos I took for the RangeRovers.net page that I wrote but I can't find what I wrote.

P38A_Sunroof_01.jpg

P38A_Sunroof_02.jpg

P38A_Sunroof_03.jpg

P38A_Sunroof_04.jpg

BTW, do you have the tool for opening the sunroof manually? It should be in the car if the PO hasn't lost it.

sunroof_handle1.jpg

sunroof_handle3.jpg

sunroof_handle5.jpg

Thanks Ron - appreciate the effort you took to dig out the pics.
Looks like you took out the cassette - much easier way to get to the blind it seems.
I did manage to remove the blind by removing the same screws on the pass side as Rave suggests for driver’s side This gives about 2mm extra to play with (!) using a plastic trim removal tool I got the blind out and didn’t break the clips. I’m not looking forward to putting the blind back by the same method. I’ll give it a go and if no luck remove the cassette.

I also took out the blind later when I removed the roof lining to get it and the blind redone in new cloth. So I have a number of pics of the inside. While I had it out I replaced the kinked sunroof drain tubes.

What a bear of a job this is.

I read somewhere online that you could replace the headliner in an afternoon. Maybe after you've done a few P38s, but I couldn't with my first go at it, that's for sure. About 2 days in and still not quite finished putting all the trims back on. I did an E36 BMW headliner a few years ago and it was heaps quicker and easier than this. Maybe a P38 w/out a factory sunroof fitted would be a lot less strife.

The actual cleaning the old foam off and gluing the new material on the fibreglass/foam board is the easy bit. It didn't turn out too badly. One thing I'd do differently is wrap the material around the board a little where it sits above the rear side windows -- there's no trim to cover a dodgy trimming of the material on the sides of the board here. Not that anyone's going to look there much I suppose.

In part it's taken me so long because I've been taking my time (got plenty of it ATM!), cleaning all the trims and adding felt tape to some edges to stop rattling etc, but still broke a tooth or two in the sunroof motor by turning the motor clockwise with the key as Rave says, while in tilted mode (you should turn the key anti-clockwise) -- it now emits a bang from the motor when tilting the sunroof using the power switch. It still slides back and forward as normal, and I don't really use the sunroof much anyway. I need to take it apart to see how bad the damage is, but that's a job for another day...

Pushing into this evening and getting a bit tired, I've also broken a small section qround one of the clips of a parcel shelf side panel -- they are a pain in the neck to refit. Gluing it and re-inforcing the broken bit overnight...

Figured out with the other shelf side panel that the best way is to start at the rear of the car and go forward, clipping the window-side clips and remembering to line up the rear seat release button.

Getting the sunroof blind back in w/out removing the cassette wasn't as hard as I thought it would be. I just had to release one side of the rear drip tray (2 screws) and that allowed the track to move over enough (having already taken out four screws on each side that secure the track/ cable covers) to re-fit the blind and the blind clips.

I lost a fair bit of time trying to see why the tilt mechanisms weren't rising out of the slides when I was refitting the sunroof panel (using the manual key method). Eventually I tried using the motor - it spun without engaging cables at first, but I put the key back in and wound the mechanism back a little then tried again -- that worked.

Sorry about the long post but maybe this might help anyone considering doing this. I now know why the trimmer I bought the material from said he charges $800 for the job. At least I saved a bit of money and the headlining looks real pretty now

I took my headlining out fairly easily. The motor trimmer charged $110 to strip the old fabric and recover it. I refitted the headlining.

Originally Posted by p38arover

I took my headlining out fairly easily. The motor trimmer charged $110 to strip the old fabric and recover it. I refitted the headlining.

THe material alone was $105 2 months ago. A thinner foam backing to ensure the sunroof blind doesn't bind up and a wider piece of material is needed as the rear section is unusually wide.