I need to replace the spring loaded bar assembly that is under the front edge of the sun roof of my '86 GXL. An unrepairable plastic piece of it broke.

1) Does anyone have any idea where I could get ahold of one of these?

2) What exactly does this thing do? I removed a screw from the other side of the bar so that this bar lays down flat and the roof seems to work fine. The alignment is fine and it is watertight.

Thanks

 

Talking about the bar that runs across the roof and should pop up when the roof is open?
It's a wind deflector. Just makes a bunch of wind noise if you ask me.

 

yeah, I'd be willing to take my OUT.

 

Think of that thing as a wind deflector for your sunroof, I know it might not seem like it does much, but it does a good job of keeping wind from flying down into your cabin at high speeds. Try it, drive 60 mph and hold it down with your hand and notice how much more turbulant the air inside your car is

 

These two plastic pieces are there to retain the wind deflector of the sunroof to the body of the main roof. All the RX-7 2nd gen. that I have seen have these plastic pieces broken because of the excessive pressure put by the lift-up springs. I wonder if Mazda has ever made a recall for these pieces because this was really a poor design. Judging by the number of external plastic wind deflectors installed on RX-7's (which, to my taste, degrades the original look and impacts the refined aerodynamic design of the RX-7), this spring-loaded wind deflector has not worked very often.

I am also looking for a metal equivalent of these plastic pieces so that it can stand the pressure of the springs.

Thank's.