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where to get a moonroof outerseal and why to use one


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Here is some basic info on why its good to have a sunroof seal installed . First off we already know its " not needed" and we already know "many have removed it without issues". Basically its about keeping you car in as nice shape as possible for years to come. The parts behind the outer seal are vulnerable to weather. When it rains that channel fills with water. When it snows it fills with snow flavored slurpies from 7-11. Yes it does have a drain x4 but the drain can get clogged and actually lets water pool at the rear even when not clogged. You also have a wind deflector and a sunroof regulator in there that can get messed up from exposure. Ever pulled a sunroof regulator from a car? Those 4 screw are usually a major pain to get out from rust. Here are pics to tell the story...http://i1187.photobucket.com/albums/z388/starionkiller/sunroof%20seal/th_2013-05-23102601.jpg See the holes? Those are where the water is supposed to drain...when you drive in the rain that channel and those holes keep the wind forces from dumping rain right in (like if you crack the sunroof a little during a light rain) This sunroof has the wind deflector removed because is was so rusty under the chrome the chrome would actually flake off in your eyes) Next ups here are each of the four drain holes...notice the paint chips and cancer rust under the paint.http://i1187.photobucket.com/albums/z388/starionkiller/sunroof%20seal/th_2013-05-23102524.jpg http://i1187.photobucket.com/albums/z388/starionkiller/sunroof%20seal/th_2013-05-23102538.jpg http://i1187.photobucket.com/albums/z388/starionkiller/sunroof%20seal/th_2013-05-23102507.jpg http://i1187.photobucket.com/albums/z388/starionkiller/sunroof%20seal/th_2013-05-23102456.jpg Next thing you wanna keep rust free is the hinges..http://i1187.photobucket.com/albums/z388/starionkiller/sunroof%20seal/th_C360_2013-05-23-11-33-23-560.jpg http://i1187.photobucket.com/albums/z388/starionkiller/sunroof%20seal/th_C360_2013-05-23-11-33-33-316.jpg Here is a shot of my 87 parts car , that rust is getting close to the paint...and that little drain pipe joint can rust through and deliver rain water right into your car..http://i1187.photobucket.com/albums/z388/starionkiller/sunroof%20seal/th_C360_2013-05-23-11-31-21-150.jpg Next up is my 89 TSI the previous owner gooped the chips with fingernail polish. I think a seal would have blocked whatever did that to the paint..http://i1187.photobucket.com/albums/z388/starionkiller/sunroof%20seal/th_C360_2013-05-23-11-30-13-417.jpg And how about the sunroof wind deflector? http://i1187.photobucket.com/albums/z388/starionkiller/sunroof%20seal/th_2013-05-23102740.jpg This one I polished up , but the little hinge extensions where not so lucky http://i1187.photobucket.com/albums/z388/starionkiller/sunroof%20seal/th_2013-05-23102829.jpg Edited by JohnnyWadd
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Next: are all outer seals the same size, work no matter where or what size sunroof was installed? The sunroof on my 89' doesn't use the "knob" style interior release. Many moons ago, looking @ a schematic of the very same style "pull style" release in a Mits dealer near me; there were parts available. Naturally, not so now. But it did tell me... that I had a factory style sunroof. Soooo... back to the original question? Thanx, sure hope I'll be able to get (1). As on my 88' I need a rubber inner seal that apparently fits under the upper glass?
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Next: are all outer seals the same size, work no matter where or what size sunroof was installed? The sunroof on my 89' doesn't use the "knob" style interior release. Many moons ago, looking @ a schematic of the very same style "pull style" release in a Mits dealer near me; there were parts available. Naturally, not so now. But it did tell me... that I had a factory style sunroof. Soooo... back to the original question? Thanx, sure hope I'll be able to get (1). As on my 88' I need a rubber inner seal that apparently fits under the upper glass?

I don't know, but I am confident that you have a aftermarket sunroof

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I don't know, but I am confident that you have a aftermarket sunroof

This. All sunroof SQs came with a turn crank. If yours is not turn crank it's not factory. If you saw pics of another style Mitsu sunroof parts, those were for a different vehicle.

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Very informative and kudos to you for making a great explanation for those that truly do want to keep their cars as close to stock as possible, and want every bit of possible protection they can. That said, I'll copy a quote from the thread that started this to explain why I was claiming they didn't serve much purpose...

http://www.starquestclub.com/forum/public/style_images/master/snapback.pngJohnnyWadd, on 23 May 2013 - 03:04 PM, said:

 

 

 

Gonna have to disagree with everyone one this from my own personal experience. I'm kinda surprised you don't think that it's a seal Burton. Being a body guy and putting the attention to detail I see in your work. Its a seal as much as the taillight gaskets and antenea seal and seals around the doors and rear hatch are. Keeps things out of the elements and keeps rain and debris from entering or building up. I think the original poster of this thread wanted one for his car not to told if people think they are needed or/not. Considering this is in the parts wanted section.

 

I agree you could probably run a car for years and never notice an issue and the fenders would rust first but still it nice to have the seal in there...so instead of winding up a debate and getting a locked thread I will just make a case in a separate informational thread. Lionbull I think if I pull the seal off my 87 parts car I can get a pert number off it. Its one of the rodeo/passport new ones. I will post up the p/n

 

I consider a "seal" something that keeps water out. Tail light gaskets keep water out of the tails and keep them from getting rust damage. The inner sunroof seal keeps your lap from filling up with water. Door and hatch seals keep your floorboards from filling with water. Removal of the outer sunroof trim (I prefer to call it trim as it's not a true seal) will not result in a wet lap unless your inner seal is junk. I saw your other thread and found it very informative, but many of the things you say result from the absence of this trim piece, can easily be explained from other causes too. I've seen both cars with and without that trim piece, with damage to the spoiler and rust in the sunroof jamb like you speak of.... 9 times out of 10 it was on a car that lived in a salty climate... either living by the ocean, or in places where salt is used on the road. Nobody ever thinks to clean in there when they wash their car, and nobody seems to maintain the spoilers by keeping the joints lubed and such. All it takes is some salt water to get in there, create a film of salt and then never get washed. That salt will fester in there, and soon rust will be starting to pop up anywhere the paint is weak, and all over the spoiler because it's made of metals that rust super easy and has little protection. If people took a little more time to clean their roof jambs and protect the paint by keeping it clean and waxing occasionally, as well as keeping the spoiler piece waxed and lubed, I bet almost nobody would have rusty roof jambs and spoilers, wether they had that trim piece or not. Could the cars you've seen this damage on be cars that came from the NE where they salt the roads, or even just cars that lived within an hour or two of the ocean? If so, that may have more to do with it than that trim piece. As far as my attention to detail... I appreciate that compliment, but personally, I find that trim piece SUPER ugly so my attention to detail will not let me put a wart on something I just made look beautiful LOL I was not trying to discourage the OP from replacing it... I told them what a replacement might come from, but given that many SQers like to do things on the uber cheap, I was just informing them that it wasn't "needed" to keep water out. I still say that with proper care of the sunroof jambs, drain holes, and sunroof spoiler, you shouldn't ever have a problem wether you're running that seal or not

I'm not trying to start a debate or anything, but as a body guy I feel that kind of damage has more to do with improper car maint. than it does that trim piece. I'm not here to discourage people from buying this trim, as much as I'm here to encourage people to maintain the bodies of their cars properly. So many people wash the outsides of their cars but let the crap in all the jambs stay. They wax the outside, but leave the jamb paint alone and allow it to degrade to a point that water can get theu the paint and cause rust. The nooks and crannies need the most care... that's where the water sits and takes forever to evaporate. Edited by Burton
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Wow okay was trying to avoid the debate. Sounds good, 'preciate the input. My whole purpose was to stay on topic that's why I didn't go after the maintenance aspect and decided post up real world info in the body section. My red 88 would fill up the channel with snow. Then melt to water when i drove it out sledding and refreeze in there when I parked it. I cant imagine that's good for the paint. Then i'm putting my bike on the bike rack and dropping squirrel hair and red gravel and chain lube down in there to mix up and grind on my paint some more. So why not seal it from all that? Now we got guys that park there cars out in the snow and rain all the time , aknorthstar in Alaska? Ya I bet his fills with snow all the time. I agree with your advice about maintenance 100%. it just when i'm trying to talk about the sunroof seal when a member ask if they are available and I get 3 or 4 guys jump in and say something Like "OH YOU DONT NEED IT ITS NOT EVEN A REAL SEAL!" I'm not gonna stick around in that thread and have it be me versus everyone else just because I found a good reason to use a sunroof seal. I hope that make sense. The maintenance aspect is kinda obvious. To me replacing that seal would be a maintainence item. Would meticulous care of the sunroof like using wd-40 on the metal and waxing that little strip of paint and wiping out the dirt and bee's and tree leaves daily be almost as good as the seal ? Edited by JohnnyWadd
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as a body guy I feel that kind of damage has more to do with improper car maint. than it does that trim piece.

 

Well I guess the only way to prove it would be got back to 1987 and remove a sunroof seal from one car and let another car have one. Then go back to the future and see if the car with the seal was any better off. Provide the seal less car was given maintenance. But again it would have to be pretty q-tip immaculate with lots of attention to detail.

 

 

 

 

http://i1187.photobucket.com/albums/z388/starionkiller/random/th_2013-05-24012030.jpg

 

 

That's back when I didn't know you could get the seal. That channel would fill with packed snow and since I was running the heater it would freeze in there solid water and not drain. When I open the sunroof inside slush would get in there from inside the clogged channel. Lotta times it was crap off my mountain bikes down in there and open the sunroof and it gets blasted down into your face grit and dirt that kinda stores up in there. Open the sunroof and instant sandblast of gunk (depending on speed and if you had the window open but you what I mean)

 

So three points

1. the seal is available and is functional to a degree small or not, but still functional.

2. having it would help especially if you use you car daily and don't garage it or ever expose it to the elements.

3. I made a little info thread over here to avoid a me versus others in the wanted thread that you quoted and brought over here. I was trying to not make it about belittling or arguing down any one persons idea about maintenance or looks in the thread and make a neutral how to post.

Edited by JohnnyWadd
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So what is that part number you were going to get?

I pulled the seal expecting to find a part number and got nothing. So I am looking on the other forums and asking around. Trying to look up a parts manual for the rodeo to see if there is a Isuzu part number too. Will update.

This is what it looks like...

http://i1187.photobucket.com/albums/z388/starionkiller/sunroof%20seal/th_2013-05-25090246.jpg

 

Only other update I have is this overnight dew buildup.It didn't even rain. That light frost melted and dew buildup in there.

http://i1187.photobucket.com/albums/z388/starionkiller/sunroof%20seal/th_2013-05-25065747.jpg

 

And the car with the Isuzu seal this morning same time its dry in there...

http://i1187.photobucket.com/albums/z388/starionkiller/sunroof%20seal/th_C360_2013-05-25-08-55-55-141.jpg

http://i1187.photobucket.com/albums/z388/starionkiller/sunroof%20seal/th_C360_2013-05-25-08-55-09-495.jpg

http://i1187.photobucket.com/albums/z388/starionkiller/sunroof%20seal/th_C360_2013-05-25-08-53-38-364.jpg

http://i1187.photobucket.com/albums/z388/starionkiller/sunroof%20seal/th_C360_2013-05-25-08-53-12-382.jpg

Edited by JohnnyWadd
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Again, I was not trying to start a debate. Just a different point of view. When I was in MI, the car never saw snow or rain, so I didn't bother, and now in TX, even if it was outside all year it would only see rain a few times and no snow.
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Again, I was not trying to start a debate. Just a different point of view. When I was in MI, the car never saw snow or rain, so I didn't bother, and now in TX, even if it was outside all year it would only see rain a few times and no snow.

 

I know. You just got me started. I have this wet weather sometimes.

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Yeah, I know how it goes up there.... I spent the first 13 years of my life in WA. People shouldn't be leaving their SQs out in the rain or snow anyway ;). Oh, and you don't have to maintain the jambs daily or anything... I wipe the dirt out everytime I wash the car, and slap a little wax in there and WD on the spoiler once or twice a year. Basically, I just treat the jambs in the same manner as I do the rest of the body. Another seal tip... if you coat your seals with spray silicone water repellant once a year or so, it will help keep a good seal, and keep the rubber from degrading.
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Honda part number 8-94256-386-0 WEATHERSTRIP, SUNROOF (OUTER)

 

http://www.hondapartsnow.com/interior_bumper/b__3690~1994~honda~passport~4dr_ex_4x4_v6~4at~ka~sunroof.html

 

http://www.rx7club.com/2nd-generation-specific-1986-1992-17/pacific-glass-sunroof-replacement-mounting-hardware-weatherstrip-764006/

 

so I think that's the one in the thread there^^ wich looks a littile chunky compred to the one I have the looks pretty smooth...so more searching is required

 

Edited by JohnnyWadd
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  • 1 year later...
  • 2 weeks later...

I've never seen this type of seal/trim before on one of our sunroofs....

http://i1187.photobucket.com/albums/z388/starionkiller/sunroof%20seal/2013-05-25090246.jpg

 

What i'm used to seeing is.....

http://shop.advanceautoparts.com/wcsstore/CVWEB/staticproductimage//N3456/large/10017551_mri_15800_alt1_larg.jpg

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I've never seen this type of seal/trim before on one of our sunroofs....

http://i1187.photobucket.com/albums/z388/starionkiller/sunroof%20seal/2013-05-25090246.jpg

 

What i'm used to seeing is.....

http://shop.advanceautoparts.com/wcsstore/CVWEB/staticproductimage//N3456/large/10017551_mri_15800_alt1_larg.jpg

 

first pic look like outer seal, second pic looks like inner

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The inner seal is really crazy looking because it also "trims" the hole in the headliner. The 2nd pic above is what I've seen on the sunroof glass itself, just turn it 90 degrees to get a better sense of how it goes onto the glass, the open round part would go against the roof metal where it turns down into the sunroof cutout. The one that you have would also eventually leave a ring in the paint where it sits on the top of the roof, I've never seen a roof with this witness mark. Also, the Honda/Rodeo piece shows to be similar to the 2nd pic.
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