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Car Forum / Mercedes-Benz Cars / March 2007Temporarily Sealing Up a Sunroof
Has someone semi-permanently sealed up a sunroof? I have a 123 with the sunroof leaks from hell and until I find the proper pan for a manual sunroof, I'd like to seal the thing up (the PNW weather will take the smallest leak and make your car a mobile swimming pool). I know silicone will trap water and eat into metal if I use it around the sunroof. I do not wanna weld it shut since that would mean the millisecond I weld it, a new pan will drop into my lap. Also, I'd like to leave the sunroof option open for the next guy who buys the car. I was looking at getting a piece of sheet metal a little larger than the sunroof hole and gluing it in place. Is there an adhesive that will seal this thing up but can eventually be removed if at some time in the future the sunroof wants to be resurrected? Since headliners are running about $300, I can do a less expensive custom headliner until/ if the sunroof lives again. Thanks for any ideas. Use 3M 5200 Marine adhesive sealant...this stuff is great but will take a few days to cure completely Peter > Has someone semi-permanently sealed up a sunroof? I have a 123 with > the sunroof leaks from hell and until I find the proper pan for a [quoted text clipped - 10 lines] > running about $300, I can do a less expensive custom headliner until/ > if the sunroof lives again. Thanks for any ideas. > Use 3M 5200 Marine adhesive sealant...this stuff is great but will take a > few days to cure completely [quoted text clipped - 16 lines] > > - Show quoted text - NEVER use 3M 5200 unless you NEVER want to take the sunroof apart again. 5200 is an extremely strong adhesive that the boat building industry uses in areas on boat that must never come apart. 3M 4200 is more of a sealant and less of an adhesive. Gary C What I would look for is a thin sheet of plastic. what I am thinking about is something as thick as a 2 liter coke bottle. Cur this about 4 inches longer and wider than your sunroof hole, leaving 2 inches on each side. Step one would be to put several globs of silicone about the size of a nickel on the metal part of the sunroof and set the plastic in place. Weigh this down. You want the silicone to squish down to about 1/16 of an inch. leave this sit overnight. Now you can run a 1/4 bead of silicone under the edge of the plastic about 1/2 an inch from the edge. Press this down over the roof of the car until the silicone just starts to ooze out at the edges. Temporarily hold this in place with some masking tape while the silicone cures. This should give you a nice waterproof seal and when you do get the parts you need to fix the sunroof, the plastic will peel off and if the silicone is sticking to the paint, you should be able to peel it off with your fingers. I would not recommend using sheet metal as if that flies off for some reason the results could be fatal, also you would probably scratch the snot out of your car.  SignatureRoger Shoaf If you are not part of the solution, you are not dissolved in the solvent. > Has someone semi-permanently sealed up a sunroof? I have a 123 with > the sunroof leaks from hell and until I find the proper pan for a [quoted text clipped - 10 lines] > running about $300, I can do a less expensive custom headliner until/ > if the sunroof lives again. Thanks for any ideas. > I would not recommend using sheet metal as if that flies off for some reason > the results could be fatal, also you would probably scratch the snot out of > your car. you would think after 30 years on a motorcycle, i would'a thought of this... thanks for all your replies. Never use silicone on a painted surface. There's removeable clear goop like, but not silicone that you can use to just run a bead along the gap. You can get it in any decent hardware store. SignatureNeed Mercedes parts? http://parts.mbz.org Richard Sexton | Mercedes stuff: http://mbz.org 1970 280SE, 72 280SE | Home pages: http://rs79.vrx.net 633CSi 250SE/C 300SD | http://aquaria.net http://killi.net > Never use silicone on a painted surface. Why not? What, pray tell, will happen? SignatureRoger Shoaf If you are not part of the solution, you are not dissolved in the solvent. >> Never use silicone on a painted surface. > >Why not? > >What, pray tell, will happen? Well, the liquid silicone that vulcanizes is full of acetic acid (vinegar, you can smell it) that is presumably not great for paint. cheers, guenter >> Never use silicone on a painted surface. > >Why not? > >What, pray tell, will happen? Couple of things. First, you'll never be able to paint over any painted surface you apply it to next, the acetic acid that's outgassed while curing causes rust problems. SignatureNeed Mercedes parts? http://parts.mbz.org Richard Sexton | Mercedes stuff: http://mbz.org 1970 280SE, 72 280SE | Home pages: http://rs79.vrx.net 633CSi 250SE/C 300SD | http://aquaria.net http://killi.net > >> Never use silicone on a painted surface. > >> [quoted text clipped - 3 lines] > > Couple of things. First, you'll never be able to paint over any painted surface you apply it to I find this to be a bit hard to swollw. A 25 year old car with a rusted out sunroof and assumably a 25 year old paint job first off is probably never going to get repainted, and if it were to get repainted, a good cleaning and sanding will allow the new paint to stick just fine. >next, the acetic acid that's outgassed while curing causes rust problems. Well there is already rust problems on the car so this is kind of far fetched. I can see your point if you were trying to seal up a windshield as you are dealing with a lot of cracks and crevasses, but I have used silicone to attach emblems and trim to cars and there has never been any rust issues. It seems to me the important thing in the OP's car was to stop the water from getting in, and not so much to worry about a little discoloration on the paint film. Silicone glue would do the job effectively. Also if a year later she wanted to remove the patch because she found the parts, peeling the glue off with the finger tips would be quick and easy. SignatureRoger Shoaf About the time I had mastered getting the toothpaste back in the tube, then they come up with this striped stuff. Use Gorilla Duct Tape from Home Depot and seal the sunroof at the seams. I knew a girl in Mensa that used duct tape to seal hers. SignatureNeed Mercedes parts? http://parts.mbz.org Richard Sexton | Mercedes stuff: http://mbz.org 1970 280SE, 72 280SE | Home pages: http://rs79.vrx.net 633CSi 250SE/C 300SD | http://aquaria.net http://killi.net Just get some 20 or 25mm PVC tape. Four strips around the edge will do it. You can get it in a range of colours, maybe even something close to your car I don't know. It won't look pretty, but it will seal fine, and you can get it off again to do the work when you have the parts. Just a thought... Rob. >Has someone semi-permanently sealed up a sunroof? I have a 123 with >the sunroof leaks from hell and until I find the proper pan for a [quoted text clipped - 10 lines] >running about $300, I can do a less expensive custom headliner until/ >if the sunroof lives again. Thanks for any ideas. |
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