Many people who have cars with sunroofs will tell you how much they love them. They allow plenty of beautiful light in, and can also simulate the ever popular effect of convertibles when they are opened up on a gorgeous day. If you have such a sunroof in your car, then you know all too well their one drawback. You wish they would seal up properly when it was time to close them back up. No doubt you have already looked into the seal around the sunroof to determine if it is going to pieces, and you found that it was either coming unglued from the perimeter of the sunroof, or it was shredded, or it wass cracking and all dried out. Whichever is the case, you have to replace it now. The good news is that sunroof seals are easily found at auto parts stores. Furthermore, they come standard with a pre-glued adhesive backing which makes them so much more workable. This article covers the step by step directions to installing a new seal on a sunroof once you have purchased one.
Materials Necessary for the Project Include:
- A permanent market
- A sunroof seal
- Either a sharp knife or a good box cutter
Prepping for the New Seal
The first thing that you will have to do is to take away the old seal by peeling it off of the place where the two ends touch at the sunroof cutout’s back. The older seal’s adhesive has to be cleaned away. You can utilize a gentler cleanser for this task, so that you do not strip away the paint. Once this has been accomplished, you will next need to use a permanent marker in order to draw a mark on the halfway point in the sunroof cutout’s back.
Applying the Seal
Now you will begin applying the seal which you recently purchased. Start it at the mark which you made with the marker. To do this, begin peeling off a little of the backing tape. Now press it starting at the halfway mark. Begin pressing down this new seal. You will have to peel the tape away little by little as you work along. It is essential that the wider part of the seal itself is facing upward. This ensures a true water tight seal is applied.
Next, attach the seal along the cutout’s edge. The seal has to be kept level with the sunroof. Keep it straight; do not stretch it as you work along. You will see that there is more than a sufficient amount of seal to cover the entire distance around the sunroof.
In fact, once you reach the original starting point again, you will see that there is some overlap present. To address this issue, simply align the edges and cut the overlap with a good box cutter knife. You must make sure that the seal fits securely together.
Additional Reading:
Associated Content: How to fix a Leaky Sunroof?
Auto Media: Sunroof Rebuild
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