Sunroof open stuck parts plastic cover cables FAQ

[Wasted youth]

Probably. Look up into the engine air scoops on the upper rear corners outside. If you see a metal tube on the inside, near the top, about an inch or two in length, then that's it. One per side. The rear tubes do not extend to the bottom of the bus like the forward tubes do. My 1977 bus has four drain tubes, so yours should too.

[makin' boost]

I'll have a look today. Thanks for the info ...................

[makin' boost]

It appears my '79 sunroof bay has drain tubes between the slider and passenger door and drivers door and the panel, at the front jack location, with another pair at the extreme rear, left and right
I looked at a '71 sunroof bay today and it has 3 drain locations. similar to the '79 with another, left and right at the rear jack locations.

[Wasted youth]

By your description, am I correct in thinking the rear drains on your bus extend down to the rocker panel level? My rear drain tubes end just inside the air scoops, about 5 1/2 - 6 feet off the ground.

[makin' boost]

[SGKent]

I had to replace one panel on my bus during resto and the replacement came off a donor that they cut right down the middle of the B pillar. The tube is steel, like electrical conduit, comes down and makes a bend inside the pillar then exits at the bottom where there is a black plastic piece called a valve in the parts book.

The tubes rust and get thin. POR15 should work, The only other solution I can think of unless you cut the B pillar open (what a mess that would be) would be to run thin wall plastic tube inside it or POR15 it before it rusts thru.

Once it is open you could float a piece of nylon string thru it with LIGHT compressed air and use that to pull on the thin wall plastic tube while someone fed it in at the top maybe with some grease on it.

[makin' boost]

Doing the surgery on one of the drain tubes would be ugly, way beyond skill level and pay grade.
Today I took some tubing and a funnel creating a "beer bong" type device and poured 1 gallon of water down each side. The drives side has some debris in the pan, the passenger side was pretty clean. I concluded two things;
#1 The drain tubes are solid and don't leak.
#2 The application/theory of a material such as Por-15 should work to seal and preserve the drain tubes. Even though this bus spent most of its life in the Pacific Northwest, probably outside, its pretty clean with only minor surface rust. It has lived inside since I have owned it and will continue to do so.
The short rear drain tubes on the passenger side just flow down into the area where the battery is located. I think the simple solution going forward will be to feed some plastic tubing up from the battery area and slip it over the drain tube. I cannot see up the drives side due to the gas heater. I assume the same procedure will work once I remove the gas heater.
What were they thinking at the factory with external water draining down into the location where the battery was located. No wonder so many of those corners are rotted out.
So going forward I have a couple of questions;
How do I get the sunroof panel out ?
How do I get the aluminum track out, that is covered by the rear "tray or shelf" that the sunroof slides into ?
The end goal is a 911 powered bus with Porsche hubs and brakes.

[Wasted youth]

Yes, draining the sunroof onto the battery tray...or anywhere into the engine compartment... is unwise, in my opinion. That does seem to be where it goes, but there is also a drain for the battery tray, so maybe VW figured it would be OK to do that? I don't know, maybe there is more to this than meets the eye?

As far as getting the roof components out, the subject is covered in the Bentley, Sect. 1 Body and Frame, Item 8 -Sliding Roof, pages 41 through 45, and also see SGKent's thread on this subject.

I just did all of that about a week ago. Just be patient, and get a helper to lift off the roof panel when that time comes. You can PM me if you like, while this is fresh in my mind.

[jakokombi]

The rear drain tubes on my '79 extend about 3" - 4" below the "gutter" rail ?, inside the air scoop area. I'm not sure yet where the water exits from the air scoop area.[/quote]

Really?? On my 70' they run all the way down to, and through the engine room floor.
Was this a late bay change?...
_________________
70 Sunroof Kombi
85 Motherfukinvanagon
73 Thing
72 Baja

[makin' boost]

[HarryFD]

[SGKent]

it isn't like a flood of water gets in there. If it is raining, water is coming in thru the air vents anyway so what has one accomplished by extending the tubes? A 1/2 gallon of rain water comes in thru the vents and a teaspoon thru the sunroof drain...

[makin' boost]

[type2much]

My cables are broken just like in this picture. Is this how they normally break? Can a casting like this be fixed? Maybe with JB weld?

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Gnarly Goat Rancher

[type2much]

what are these "sunroof plates" and where do they go?

http://www.thesamba.com/vw/classifieds/detail.php?id=1452839
_________________
Gnarly Goat Rancher

[Wasted youth]

[Wasted youth]

[HarryFD]

I have discovered that one of my front drain tubes is plugged and for the time being I do not have the time or energy to clear it. The roof appears to work (slides forward and back and pops up into position).

In the past, I had the gaps taped shut with metal tape the HVAC guys use to seal ductwork. It has worked well for the past 2 years but over time, it degrades and needs replacement.

Seeking a permanent solution to keep water out of my bus while not preventing me from attaining full operation in the future, I decided to do the following:

1-Remove the remnants of the Factory seal;
2-I got 20 feet of 7/64" Vacuum/Washer hose which seems to fill the gap tightly;
3-Using WD-40, I pressed the tubing into the gap to make a seal.

I will wait 2-3 days for the tubing to settle into position and then test with my garden hose. Hopefully, it will keep the water out.

Wish me luck.
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1970 Deluxe Sunroof Bay Brilliant Blue/Cloud White
1973.5 911 Targa
2009 MB C300

[SGKent]

the pieces in the photo are not for a bay

the tube needs to be cleaned from the bottom with a vacuum and a piece of copper wire. Do not use compressed air. The tube is inside the B pillar and near impossible to replace as it was installed when the B pillar was welded in. The tube is steel. It will and is rusting inside out. When it perforates the water will come out near the seats. Clearing it is the easiest job there is. Simply pull the lower plastic valve loose behind the front wheel and use a vacuum and wire to clean out the rust and mud that will be at the bottom as that is where it usually plugs up. Be gentle lest you break it since it will be thin from rust.

The original seals are available, or you can use 3 bug seals.

[HarryFD]