When i bought my Polo the sunroof was sealed shut with some horrendously ugly (but ultimately effective) black silicone sealant. It wasn't a deal-breaker so I decided if its not leaking then I can just live with it.

 

However as I've been tidying up the rest of the bodywork this monstrosity on the roof is starting to look increasingly crappy by comparison and has started to stick out like a sore thumb! The paint needs redoing on the roof and the colour of the steel sunroof is decidedly off compared to the rest of the car - wouldn't mind sorting that. Not to mention the fact that the weather has been great recently which got me wondering what it would be like to have a sunroof...

 

So I think I need a bit of a reality check really! Is it worth hacking away at all that black silicone and re-doing the sunroof seal? Am I just going to indroduce a new leak further down the line? I'm also wary of how much it would likely cost for what is basically a small hole in the roof on a sunny day...Haven't found any sunroof seal parts apart from on VW Heritage for ~90 quid. I guess you should also ask why someone decided to silicone up the roof in the first place - Was it leaking like a sieve? Was the leak due to a rotting roof and they couldn't be bothered to repair it? Were they just another idiot with a sealant gun and an itchy trigger finger?

 

The bogan in me says if I want a smarter roof I should remove the silicone and fill in the gap around the sunroof smooth with body filler and paint over the whole thing as if its a plain roof. I could probably do with being told this will be a terrible idea also...

 

 

yeah the steel roof seals are £90...cheap ones are rubbish

 

from new they were designed to cope with a little leakage as theres drains for any water that gets past the outer seal....id guess theyre blocked or rotten

 

can be fixed with some effort ....bodging it with silicone is the mentality of alot of polo owners

24 minutes ago, steveo3002 said:

can be fixed with some effort ....bodging it with silicone is the mentality of alot of polo owners

 

I guess its just a case of cost/benefit. My gut feeling is that in order to do this properly its going to take a not insignificant amount of time (and potentialy cash). Doesn't help that I don't have a garage to do the work in either - can't really be leaving the car out on the streets of Brum with a hole in the roof for any extended period of time!

 

How much of a faff would it be to check the drains from inside the car? I've attempted to peel back the roof lining on a couple of occasions for different reasons and stopped both times when it was evident it wasn't going to budge without a lot of swearing / ripped liner! If the drains aren't rotten I'd definitely be tempted to spend the cash on a proper new seal and do a decent job of it.

 

 

most of it is fixed via the hole ...so lid comes out and you see all the bits n bobs

 

shared with a mk2 golf if that helps the search for spares /info

21 hours ago, steveo3002 said:

most of it is fixed via the hole ...so lid comes out and you see all the bits n bobs

 

Is there a simple way to see and get at the steelwork for the rear drain holes? It sounds like with the hatch open you still cant see the rear drains from the outside.

 

Waiting for some sunny weather again to start opening the hornet's nest and cutting away this old seal

no dont think theres an easy way

 

ideally need to poke something down the tubes or an airline to make sure theyre all clear.

6 minutes ago, steveo3002 said:

no dont think theres an easy way

 

ideally need to poke something down the tubes or an airline to make sure theyre all clear.

 

I think I'll start with cutting the old silicone free to inspect everything in the tray as best I can - maybe a torch and a phone camera through the gap will be enough. Worst case scenario there's heaps of tinworm and I'll just have to re-bodge the silicone again until a better plan can be developed! You never know, might be perfect up there and the rear lines are just blocked at the exit with road gunk. Wouldn't be the first time the metalwork on this car has pleasantly surprised me.

 

once the sealer is off...open the roof a bit then unclip the lining , slide that back and you can unbolt the lid easily

You can use a spray called ct1 multi solve . I use it at work for removel of silicone sealant. It softens the sealant and makes it easier to remove.

Edited 25 April, 20197 yr by 1vw2many

53 minutes ago, steveo3002 said:

once the sealer is off...open the roof a bit then unclip the lining , slide that back and you can unbolt the lid easily

 

Fab, thanks. Probably strip the lid down and give it a respray while I'm at it too.

 

5 minutes ago, 1vw2many said:

You can use a spray called ct1 multi solve . I use it at work for removel of silicone sealant. It softens the sealant and makes it easier to remove.

 

Interesting!

Edited 25 April, 20197 yr by zob

Today I cut away at the black silicone and took the sunroof off - the good news is the mechanism is sound, aside from a rather rotten wind deflector. You can see the state of the hatch hole here - someone must have used a wallpaper scraper on it in the past...

 

 

The bad news is the drain holes are predictably rusty - here is a view of one of the front holes and the deflector:

Looks like just surface rust and its accessible so easy enough to remedy.

 

 

And a tricky shot with a torch and my phone of the rear drains:

 

Play was suspended as its started raining again so I've closed up the hatch with clear gorilla tape in the meantime. So the question is - can I do anything about those drain holes, the rear ones in particular? As far as I can tell the only way to properly repair them would be to remove the whole sunroof pan by grinding off the spot welds that hold it in place....not something I'm prepared to do. Even accessing them in any way would involve removing the headlining which on a Mk2f involves taking the bloody windows out. Even I have my limits!

 

I'm not going to shell out 90 quid for a new seal only to introduce more water to those already fairly rotted drain bosses and risk a proper leak in the near future (and lets be honest - its likely this bodge happened because of a leak in the first place!). Problem is I've now cut away at the original bodge so need something more permanent (and smarter!).

 

Any help is greatly appreciated!

 

i think all you can do is drop the headliner and clean up the drains , then fibre glass any holes , would last a few years if you cleaned the rust off first 

6 minutes ago, steveo3002 said:

i think all you can do is drop the headliner and clean up the drains , then fibre glass any holes , would last a few years if you cleaned the rust off first 

 

Is it technically possible to drop the headliner only at the back? I.e. avoid taking the windscreen out?

yeah should be able to , warm the edges with a hairdryer or heat gun to soften the glue

 

it doesnt look too rusty ....why dont you dribble some water in the tray and see where it goes ...really anything that passes the outer seal should run one one of the drains and not enter the car....rear drains should exit under the rear bumper , think the fronts are at the base of the A pillar so will run out behind the front tyre

27 minutes ago, steveo3002 said:

yeah should be able to , warm the edges with a hairdryer or heat gun to soften the glue

 

it doesnt look too rusty ....why dont you dribble some water in the tray and see where it goes ...really anything that passes the outer seal should run one one of the drains and not enter the car....rear drains should exit under the rear bumper , think the fronts are at the base of the A pillar so will run out behind the front tyre

 

The rear ones are pretty bad - It may not be fully rotted through but judging by the spread and roughness of the rust I'd say its pretty comprehensive.

 

I'll give them a wet test next time I get some dry weather (the hatch is thoroughly taped closed at present to survive the weekend!). If they pass water down the tubes reliably then I guess I could always refurbish the hatch and get a new seal and deal with the headlining if/when the channels rot through in the future.

 

I

Quote

On 26/04/2019 at 14:22, zob said:

 

The rear ones are pretty bad - It may not be fully rotted through but judging by the spread and roughness of the rust I'd say its pretty comprehensive.

 

I'll give them a wet test next time I get some dry weather (the hatch is thoroughly taped closed at present to survive the weekend!). If they pass water down the tubes reliably then I guess I could always refurbish the hatch and get a new seal and deal with the headlining if/when the channels rot through in the future.

 

 

It could be the pan has rusted at the rear drain holes.

As mentioned before it could be worth checking them with a watering can, or just wait and see what happens when it rains?

I have an issue with mine there, I've siliconed up the roof for now, but I have a complete polo roof in the garage to swap the tray over/take sections from when it gets respayed.

 

Before I siliconed mine, water would run into the boot.  The water would run along the headlining, down the rear pillars, or just down the middle ones, giving me a wet seatbelt.

 

 

 

1 hour ago, schneil said:

I

It could be the pan has rusted at the rear drain holes.

As mentioned before it could be worth checking them with a watering can, or just wait and see what happens when it rains?

I have an issue with mine there, I've siliconed up the roof for now, but I have a complete polo roof in the garage to swap the tray over/take sections from when it gets respayed.

 

Before I siliconed mine, water would run into the boot.  The water would run along the headlining, down the rear pillars, or just down the middle ones, giving me a wet seatbelt.

 

 

 

 

Forgot to update this thread - I installed an original VW seal, removed all the black silicone and re-conditioned all of the sunroof mechanism. Water seems to freely drain where it should so looks like a win for the time being! If it ever starts to properly rot through the rear drain holes I'll figure out a proper fix but happy to leave as-is for now

good stuff