I love the W123 Big sunroof. I also enjoy the comfort & safety of my '96 Aerostar truck. The one thing I miss most when I drive it is having a nice open sunroof. I am not at all interested in the typical aftermarket glass flap-roof.

Anyone have any input they can provide if I were to find a good donor car with preferably a manual W123 sunroof so I don't have to do any electrical work / wiring? I am thinking manual sunroof - cut clean off the roof of donor car - smooth the edges & square them - measure slightly smaller opening on my Aerostar roof - and have the sunroof metal rest on top of the truck roof - then sheetmetal - weld ......

Aside from new paint which is needed anyway, then what? * Aside from that I do not have any sheet metal / cutting experience other than a wire or 2 , this sounds like a do-able DIY job to me.

Thanks,

Austin

__________________
'87 924S
'81 280SEL

Sold ->

81 300SD -
93 300E w/ 3.2
85 300D-
79 300SD
82 300CD
83 300CD - CA
87 190E 5 spd
87 Porsche 924S

"..I'll take a simple "C" to "G" and feel brand new about it..."

I have two complete manual W123 sun roof assemblies setting here.
I might be able to get it to Port St Lucie, FL.
Contact me, and we can discuss a price.

.

__________________
ASE Master Mechanic
https://whunter.carrd.co/

Prototype R&D/testing:
Thermal & Aerodynamic System Engineering (TASE) Senior vehicle instrumentation technician.
Noise Vibration and Harshness (NVH).
Dynamometer.
Heat exchanger durability.
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1985 300SD
1983 300D
2003 Volvo V70

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[QUOTE=JB3;3160838]lots of complexity and you have to build a whole mounting frame and ect ect.

What I am proposing is to use an entire already complete sunroof by cutting around the whole thing on a junk W123. I think then I have alot less work and less chances of getting leaks by just having to seal it on top of the truck.


..

__________________
'87 924S
'81 280SEL

Sold ->

81 300SD -
93 300E w/ 3.2
85 300D-
79 300SD
82 300CD
83 300CD - CA
87 190E 5 spd
87 Porsche 924S

"..I'll take a simple "C" to "G" and feel brand new about it..."

Never heard of an "aerostar truck' just these crappy little excuses for vans.

If that's your wife in your picture have her give me a call tonight.

__________________
'87 924S
'81 280SEL

Sold ->

81 300SD -
93 300E w/ 3.2
85 300D-
79 300SD
82 300CD
83 300CD - CA
87 190E 5 spd
87 Porsche 924S

"..I'll take a simple "C" to "G" and feel brand new about it..."

[QUOTE=Austin85;3160945]
Even if you keep the sunroof closed, the water will get into the seals of the sunroof and drip down. Even if you cut around the sunroof, the water will get in and then just drip into your headlining.

OK so how do I run drains?? There will be room for a couple of tubes pretty sure...

__________________
'87 924S
'81 280SEL

Sold ->

81 300SD -
93 300E w/ 3.2
85 300D-
79 300SD
82 300CD
83 300CD - CA
87 190E 5 spd
87 Porsche 924S

"..I'll take a simple "C" to "G" and feel brand new about it..."

[QUOTE=Austin85;3160945]OK.
What I have are the complete tray assembly, no roof metal.

.

__________________
ASE Master Mechanic
https://whunter.carrd.co/

Prototype R&D/testing:
Thermal & Aerodynamic System Engineering (TASE) Senior vehicle instrumentation technician.
Noise Vibration and Harshness (NVH).
Dynamometer.
Heat exchanger durability.
HV-A/C Climate Control.
Vehicle build.
Fleet Durability
Technical Quality Auditor.
Automotive Technical Writer

1985 300SD
1983 300D
2003 Volvo V70

https://www.boldegoist.com/

I have a complete sunroof that I cleaned rust proofed and rebuilt. Only to find the sunroof from a w123 wagon is NOT the same as a W123 sedan! Ild love to see somebody do somehting funky with it like this unless NC Friend wants it back for his wagon!

I agree with the others , the water drains are key.The original construction seemed to be such that there is a thick very spongy gasket that is very oily/tary around the back half. I assume to keep the water in the pan and not leaking out the back of the pan into the headliner. Oddly enough EPC does not show this thicker piece of gasket as separate. I would think you could build your own possibly thicker gasket if you needed to.

__________________
1978 Mercedes 240D
1981 Mercedes 240D
1982 Mercedes 240D

Manual? Wait just a second here.... I have a manual in my 85 TD and it's needing a few things.... like the little flap air dam in the front does not flip up any more... needs the felt etc.... how much for yours? I swear... I'll bite you if this ends up in an mom van....


I do however have a complete manual sunroof that I got from Vstech, I believe out of a sedan sitting here....

Think about sunroof drains - there are four on the W123 sunroof tray - one at each corner...

__________________
1992 W201 190E 1.8 171,000 km - Daily driver
1981 W123 300D ~ 100,000 miles / 160,000 km - project car stripped to the bone
1965 Land Rover Series 2a Station Wagon CIS recovery therapy!
1961 Volvo PV544 Bare metal rat rod-ish thing

I'm here to chat about cars and to help others - I'm not here "to always be right" like an internet warrior



Don't leave that there - I'll take it to bits!

I have an entire manual sunroof ---- minus the frame. Yeah, what would you do about drains?

__________________
daw_two
Germantown, TN

Links:
Sold last car --- 05/2012 1984 300D Light Ivory, Red interior
No longer selling Cluster Needles Paint
No longer selling New Old Stock (NOS) parts

Past:
3/2008 1986 300SDL "Coda"
04/2010 1965 190D(c) "Ben"
& many more

lots of complexity and you have to build a whole mounting frame and ect ect.

id go with an aftermarket ragtop personally. This is eventually what im doing with my 115

40 x 70 sliding ragtop aftermarket sunroof

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Thinking about the drains... So what if I didn't install drains? Keep sunroof closed in the rain. What moisture accumulates in the rails when it is closed?

....

__________________
'87 924S
'81 280SEL

Sold ->

81 300SD -
93 300E w/ 3.2
85 300D-
79 300SD
82 300CD
83 300CD - CA
87 190E 5 spd
87 Porsche 924S

"..I'll take a simple "C" to "G" and feel brand new about it..."

As we can be reasonably sure that Mercedes did not assume the purchasers of its cars would be driving them in the rain with the sunroof open... I think it is safe to conclude that the sunroof drains are there to channel away the inevitable moisture that will make its way past the sunroof seals....

__________________


Mac
2002 e320 4matic estate│1985 300d│1980 300td
Previous: 1979 & 1982 & 1983 300sd │ 1982 240d

“Let's take a drive into the middle of nowhere with a packet of Marlboro lights and talk about our lives.” ― Joseph Heller, Catch-22