Ron Dame

Ah HA! a clue!

Mine are NOT Recaro. They have an integrated headrest and no adjustability. I suspect GM or AMC.

Mine is similar, however there was no indication of which wire went to each terminal ( they are unnumbered in both the diagram and on the switch) and I never got it to work again. I ended up using three of the wires on a toggle switch, and it functioned fine. I never did understand what the other wires were for.

Looks great!

And who made those seats?

Sorry, I meant who supplied teh front seats? I can get a rear seat cover from SI or another vendor.

These upholstery guys around here... they don't want to touch my car or want crazy prices... like $3500 for the back seat ONLY! And that quote, he didn't want to do, saying that they were AMC seats and you can get covers on line. I'm not convinced. First, these 1980 seats don't look like any AMC seats that I recall, but I also don't really recognize them as anything familiar. So who supplied the seats to Avanti?

Has anyone *successfully* replaced the vent window division seal without removing the vent window assembly?

I wish the photo links worked, maybe it's my machine, but I'd love some photos to help understand.

Thanks, Ron

I'll double check the antenna, and the radio ground as well. Thanks!

Do you recall what brand lights you used? Interestingly, these Holley bulbs work with the stock flasher!

I bought some Holley Retrobright 1157 type LEDs to improve my rear visibility on braking and turning, but whether it's brakes or turn signals, the RFI over my radio is horrible. Interestingly, the stock mechanical flasher works just fine, and trying the electronic LED type made no difference. JEGS suggested I buy a pack of ferrite chokes off of Amazon ($10 for a bag full) and that would fix it. I popped one on the antenna lead, no improvement. Since I had a bag full, I put a few more on, some with the cable looped around since there were various sizes in the bag. No dice. What the heck, I put them on the tail light power and grounds, nuh uh. Next I called Holley, and they want me to buy some LED load resistors. So now, I have a LED type flasher and a bunch of chokes, and nothing is any better. Well, OK, but am I just continuing to throw money at the problem, or might this really be the fix? (Note: I originally posted this on the SDC forums, but other than checking the radio ground, I've gotten no answers)

My 1980 has a flare fitting. And I agree, you have to pull the carpet back to find the screws.

No, it was just so foamy that the drains couldn't work. The water flowed out, the foam expanded and went everywhere!

Which Allen heads? the ones at the wind deflector are on the piece of stainless trim just at the front of the glass. They are easy to see and access. The other ones, on the hinge-like linkages at the rear would require me to plug the motor back in, nurse the glass back, try and get a nearly impossible angle photograph, and then nurse the glass back into place.Given the whole fiasco of my car's mechanism, I'm not willing to do that. Also know that this applies only to the Skytop moon roof, not the earlier ASC sunroofs. The name for the Skytop is on the handle for the sun screen. But best of luck to you!

In a prior post I noted that I replaced the broken moon roof glass and weatherstripping. A garden hose test indicated all is well. Well today the local drive through car wash was having a special, and since the paint is far from pristine, (and the water at the house is so hard it's like washing with gravel), I took Thea the Avanti for a true test. And the roof does not leak. Success! However, I got a fine shower from both windows and better yet, the carpets got shampooed from the foam flowing in from both cowl vents! Foam everywhere! 2 inches deep! so I drove home at 70 MPH with the windows and back glass open, letting all the fun blow out everywhere. It must have been a sight. Parking in the sun to dry out, I noticed there was foam even coming out of the hog trough drains! Thank goodness the hot wax at the car wash isn't the same as the ladies use, or I'd be bald everywhere!

I'd check on some boat forums since they often deal with fiberglass. But I'd think resin or penetrating epoxy sounds good from an amatuer's standpoint.

Well, it's done. Sort of. It does not leak, but it was quite a chore given other problems with the sunroof, primarily a motor that chooses to quit mid way, and the inability to push the rear of the roof up completely, despite cleaning and lubing the hinges at the rear. In the end, I decided I didn't like using the sunroof anyway, so got the glass situated and unplugged the motor. This is the end of my write-up of how to replace the weather seal!

Today's progress: #*&(@!$##!! &^*()%)$#! &&*(@#!!! Grrrrr... MF%$&*$&&*! I hope tomorrow is better!

Thanks ronmanfredi. There is an access panel for the motor, I'll take mine out and see what is going on. I did get the rear headliner out with the glass in, but my rubber seal is still quite pliable. Silverstude, thanks for finding those pages. I looked and looked, but often got distracted by another article here and there, so missed what I wanted!

As there are no instructions out there on the Sky Top moon roofs (starting in 1980) I'm documenting what I am going through just to replace the glass. Here is what I need help on: Dan Booth says to just spray some lube on the worm gear as best as you can, and you are done. I still have to pulse the motor just to move the mechanism forward or backwards without the glass. Does anyone have any hints on how to get everything clean, lubed and moving? Or is the motor simply undersized? (PS, if someone has any idea how to remove the roll bar cover and headliner, I'll add it. Dan says EVERYTHING with the later moon roofs are done from above without removing those, but I still have this issue of cleaning and lubing it all.)

I was able to remove the glass without the headliner and roll bar cover being removed. It is rather simple. There are four Allen screws where the wind deflector attached to the glass. These come out. After cutting all of the silicone and butyl crap someone before me used, and with coaxing of the motor and some additional hand pressure, the glass slides up and forward. Then you have access behind the glass to two hinges, partly obscured by rubber. There are two more Allen head screws on each hinge that come out, and you lift it out, easy peasy! I just spoke with Dan at Nostalgic, and the original weather seals are NLA. He sells a different one that requires some modifications to both the car and seals, but it doesn't sound bad. This addresses my main problem, but doesn't answer have the headliner and roll bar covers come off. It seems to be totally installation different than the earlier Avantis, and I forgot to ask Dan.

It's time to address the moon roof issue in my 1980. The glass is cracked and it has also been sealed closed, but of course it still leaks. (I do have a replacement glass if I do repair rather than remove the moon roof) The glass has NOT dropped down, so I'm hopeful that everything is still bonded in place and that rust isn't beyond repair. The sunshield is firmly stuck half open/closed, further hampering access. Though I thought I saw directions for removing the roll bar cover, headliner, and moon roof glass at one time, a search on this site, Nostalgic Motors site and Bob Johnstone's site has not turned up the now elusive instructions for removing these items. help please!

Thanks my friend. I may head over next week or so, and will stop by to see you too!