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Dc311vw@aol.com wrote: > > Hello! My ' 70 Squareback has the factory crank sunroof and it doesn't want > to close all the way. I've taken it apart and found that the little gear > attached to the handle may be worn out. The roof piece will move but the > last quarter inch where the back end raises to seal it doesn't happen. If I > give it a tug it goes fine, but the spring type coiled wire that the gear > moves is slipping when the gear is near the closing position. Does anyone > know of a place that sells this little gear or the cables that run the roof > back and forth? WCM carries them for a bug but nothing for Type III's. Any > ideas? > > Derrick > ' 70 Squareback > ' 61 Beetle RagtopHi Derrick, I know the problem and it's pretty annoying. I took the whole sunroof apart including the guides and the cables. Clean them thoroughly to get all the old grease out. Do the same with the cables. I filled the guides with moly grease and for the cables I used chain grease. That's the stuff you use for the chain of a motorbike. You heat it till it becomes liquid, put the cables in, let them soak and then take them out to cool. Messy job, but the best way to get grease in the cables. Thoroughly clean and grease all the other bits and pieces and put it all back together again. The gear is almost never worn, neither are the cables. What does get worn, or bent is the metal plate that goes on top of the gear where the cables cross. This should lock the cables and the gear. Bending untill the cables are tight to the gear takes a while but was for me the way to go. Finally you have to adjust the lift of the roof. At the end of the cable where it hooks into the roof there is a nut and screw on both sides. Close the window and push the roof up, then adjust the srews and nut till it remains closed, but the cables can move another quarter inch. It is important that the roof is positioned straight and that both cables are lifting the roof at the same time. If one side starts lifting earlier then the other, that cables moves over the teeth and the window won't close. I took the roof out about fifty times before I finally got it right. It can be done though. The original manufacturer of the sunroof (Golde) still exists and is based in Germany. Don't try to ask them for any parts. I tried it and had a hard time trying to explain what kind of car I had. When he finally understood and heard it was from the sixties he almost laughed. They don't have any parts anymore. I don't know of any other supplier that sells them and I've tried (not in the US though). Like I said, the gear and cable are very rarely worn, unless someone tried to close the window with force several times. Good luck Theo Thepen@pi.net