I just received the replacement end caps for my Schaeffer traveler on my '86 E30+. The old ones were crumbling. The new ones have a squarish shape, versus the rounded old ones, but look fine. (I got them from Rig-Rite in RI - www.rigrite.com at the suggestion of a poster here. Thanks for the tip!)
To install the new end cap the rigger told me to remove the old screw in the disintegrating old cap, and put the screw back in through the hole in the new end cap. Sounds simple, eh?
The problem is that the screw won't come out. It simply turns and turns. That leads me to a couple possible conclusions: (a) the screw is stripped, or (b) it's set into a nut under the deck that's turning too. I tried lifting the screw while turning it using needle-nosed pliers, but that didn't help. I had the same problem on both sides of the traveler.
It would seem like no big deal to check to see if there is a nut there by looking underneath the vinyl headliner. However, the zipper on the thing is so corroded that it seems destined to remain frozen in the closed position. I tried removing the wooden edging that holds down the headliner so that I could bring down the whole side of the headliner, but the vinyl is secured with staples (on top of which the wooden edging is screwed on) and I really don't want to start down the road of removing the staples and replacing them later on unless I absolutively have to.
Has anyone had experience with removing the screws that hold in the end caps? (Or maybe some experience in persuading a corroded zipper on a vinyl headliner to move?)
Thanks.
- Rob
To install the new end cap the rigger told me to remove the old screw in the disintegrating old cap, and put the screw back in through the hole in the new end cap. Sounds simple, eh?
The problem is that the screw won't come out. It simply turns and turns. That leads me to a couple possible conclusions: (a) the screw is stripped, or (b) it's set into a nut under the deck that's turning too. I tried lifting the screw while turning it using needle-nosed pliers, but that didn't help. I had the same problem on both sides of the traveler.
It would seem like no big deal to check to see if there is a nut there by looking underneath the vinyl headliner. However, the zipper on the thing is so corroded that it seems destined to remain frozen in the closed position. I tried removing the wooden edging that holds down the headliner so that I could bring down the whole side of the headliner, but the vinyl is secured with staples (on top of which the wooden edging is screwed on) and I really don't want to start down the road of removing the staples and replacing them later on unless I absolutively have to.
Has anyone had experience with removing the screws that hold in the end caps? (Or maybe some experience in persuading a corroded zipper on a vinyl headliner to move?)
Thanks.
- Rob