Pagoda SL Group

W113 Pagoda SL Group => Body, interior, paint, chrome, and cosmetic items => Topic started by: Nate on December 24, 2011, 22:05:42

Title: Holes for Installing Hardtop Garnish Mouldings
Post by: Nate on December 24, 2011, 22:05:42

Hi,

I'm restoring my hard top and decided to add the garnish mouldings, sometimes referred to as the ski rack attachments that run along the top of the roof. My hardtop did not have that trim option but I like the look of them and now would be the time to have them installed.

I want to be sure that the mouldings are installed spot on in their correct place on the roof which means drilling the holes in the precise locations to install the mounting hardware. Has anyone had experience doing this before and what methods were used to do this? Did you use tape to layout a footprint around where the mouldings should be located? Did you make a template and use that as a guide for drilling the holes?

Any suggestions or advice to help get this right the first time will be much appreciated!

Merry Christmas!

Nate

Title: Re: Holes for Installing Hardtop Garnish Mouldings
Post by: dtuttle123 on December 25, 2011, 02:09:51

Nate -

This doesn't directly answer your question - but instead of drilling through the roof, and replacing the headliner - how about glueing the garnish moldings on the roof?  If they are just for show (and not a roof rack) - this could be a quick, and inexpensive option.  It also would allow you to remove them at some future date.

...just an option.

Title: Re: Holes for Installing Hardtop Garnish Mouldings
Post by: IXLR8 on December 25, 2011, 04:02:51

Hi--

The hardtop ski rack moldings have slots in their undersides which contain small nuts. These nuts--4 on each side I believe-- can be slid along the channel. That means that the holes for their mounting need not be exactly equidistant as the nuts can be slid into place to accomodate the mounting bolts.


the other Joe

Title: Re: Holes for Installing Hardtop Garnish Mouldings
Post by: gnj588d on December 25, 2011, 12:43:58

I glued mine to iliminate the worry of water leaks.Happy Christmas everyone.Mike

Title: Re: Holes for Installing Hardtop Garnish Mouldings
Post by: Nate on January 13, 2012, 21:12:11

Gernold at SL Tech was kind enough to send me the measurements for drilling the holes as well as a photo showing how the measurements were taken.  I'll keep everyone updated on the restoration and will post pictures when it's completed.

Title: Re: Holes for Installing Hardtop Garnish Mouldings
Post by: Benz Dr. on January 15, 2012, 23:39:48

From what I remember when I removed a set last year, the rails are held in place by plastic inserts. They pop through holes in the hard top roof and there's nothing on the under side to keep them from pulling back through.

Title: Re: Holes for Installing Hardtop Garnish Mouldings
Post by: stickandrudderman on January 16, 2012, 08:20:48

I certainly would not advocate simply gluing them on for fear that at some time in the future someone might actually want to use the mouldings as an anchor for a roof load with obvious and disastrous consequencies.