Stien

Hey guys I am sick of my power sunroof not working and I am thinking about converting it to manual. Who has done it/how hard/how costly? (85.5 944)

tomrc

I put a small hole in the carpet in front of the sunroof motor, I have a big slot screwdriver that I stick in there and manually turn the motor. I'd really hate to lose the tilt function since I use that function 90% of the time. Some day I might get the gumption to repair the sunroof.

arbeitm

I did it when I had my 85.5 944. It cost me $ 15 and was real easy to do.

I was really happy with the result and didn't miss the power tilt-up feature at all.

yellowline

You don't lose the tilt feature by going to manual. You rest the latches in the rain gutter, and install a leather strap going from the roof to the body- that locks it in if you stop fast. It's in my 83's owner's manual, so I'm pretty sure Porsche approves.

V2Rocket

I did it too. It's a very simple process. You pull out the sunroof panel (if your motor isn't working like mine was, you will have to take apart the sliding arm mechanism) and unscrew the plastic piece that the arms slide into. Then you screw the manual latches in their place. You will need to cut some of the particleboard out of the sunroof panel and might want to do some upholstery work (ie taping the vinyl out of the way) if you want the latches to sit flush.

Takes maybe a half hour.

arbeitm

Your right. I never got around to installing the strap though.

V2Rocket

I went to Home Depot and got a length of chain that I attached to the sunroof and the other end on a hook that replaces one of the headerpanel screws. It's certainly not sophisticated like a leather strap and a snap button (which I plan on eventually), but it will hold the sunroof down in case I brake from 140-0 or something like that.

It's also gold and matches my wheels

chrly924s

I did it. Real easy to raise/lower; I just reach behind me and do it. Rest the latches in the rain gutter. W/O the strap it tends to lift the latches out of the rain gutters at around 125 mph. Mine also pulled the panel up at that speed when it still had the one good gear in there and made a bang noise as it stripped the good gear out too.

V2Rocket

Anywhere north of 100 I'd recommend either removing it altogether or closing it. However, removing it may make alot of noise.

KuHL 951

That's odd neither one of mine have ever lifted above 125 mph w/o a strap; it didn't lift at 145 either. It makes a huge difference if you have the windows open also. I don't like driving at high speeds with the windows down anyway, it causes too much turbulence inside the car. I use the manual tilt function constantly while driving and the worst that has happened is a lever bounced out of the rear channel on a very bumpy road. If you look at the early 924 and 83 944 factory manual SR you'll see that the strap has lots of slack in it so Porsche must not have been too worried. I suspect the strap is more for security when parked. It's an easy cheap conversion if you've given up on getting the electric one to work right. The early 84-86.5 had the funky setup with the micro switches on a bar. IMO that type is much harder to get working right and keep adjusted.

Matt Pfankuch

Does anyone have a link to a post that has pics and goes into a step by step process. I too have had it with my power set up.

Thanks,

Matt

redmund

http://www.sidv.org/manualsunroof.htm