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Newbie question can a rusted sunroof be repaired?

Kris80

New Member
Joined
Jul 20, 2022
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8
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malta
Hi everyone, apologies for what may to you be a total newbie question, but I am a total newbie about to buy my first LC.

I set my eyes on a 1990 HDJ81 4.2 litre model which has a terrific smooth engine and good state of exterior and interior. All seems great except for the sunroof which although it works well, is rusted in two parts on the metal part that bonds with the glass. In fact when looking into the frame there was a pile of rusted metal flakes which I cleaned out, and it seems that the frame underneath which the sunroof slides in, is ok at least as far as I can see with the sunroof in place in the car. So the problem is possibly (hopefully) just the metal frame of the glass panel which is rusted in these two places. In one place the plastic molding has broken due to expansion of the rusted area, as can be seen in the pics. The first pic is without flash, the others with flash which show the rust as a nice and horrible brown monster.

I need to know that if this problem can be solved before considering buying the LC. My panel beater repair guy has not yet seen it but he reckons it needs to be replaced. Problem is that so far my internet searches have proved futile to find a replacement sunroof for this model, so my question is this: in the worst case scenario of not finding a replacement, can this panel frame be repaired so that I will have a sunroof that continues to work, does not let water in and the rust stopped from continuing to spread?

Any tips or advise from your vast experience would be appreciated.
 

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Replacement parts are still available - not sure if this is what you're after, but for example:


Or try Toyota direct - may seem odd on a 30 year old vehicle, but you may get lucky.
 
Garry at 80 breaker or Karl Webster on here or Chapel gate all sell parts and break 80 series cruisers. Could buy whole sunroof complete. Headlining out and it doesn't seem to bad a job.
 
Not a common issue even here in the UK where it rains most of the time so i'd guess its a very rare problem in Malta and so the question is how difficult are second hand 80 parts to source locally ?
 
Thanks guys.
That linked item doesn't fit the 1990 80 series unfortunately Dave.
Gav I contacted a couple of the names you gave me but where do I find Garry of 80 Breaker, that name doesn't come up fin my search? And I didnt understand "Headlining out and it doesn't seem to bad a job", you're referring to the option of repairing it?
Shayne the 80 was imported from Japan by the dealer as practically all of them are here. It's small here, not really many dealers so most import the parts they need.The woes of living in a small island :)
 
Incidentally been reading posts raving about Aquasteel, in the event I fail to find a replacement sunroof, after scraping off the rusted chunks of rust would something like this do the job for me to seal the sunroof from spread of rust you think?
 
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Hi Kris - sorry about that - TBH I thought all of the 80 Series sun roofs were the same.. maybe someone else on here can confirm/deny. Have you tried Toyota out of interest? Good luck!
 
Try 80 breaker on ebay or google. The whole sunroof mechanism will unbolt and a good used one to replace it bolted in. With the interior headlining removed I don't think it's too technical a job
 
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