Planet 9

Out of curiosity, has anyone had trouble with the roof rail(s) getting pulled off during a car wash?

Over the weekend, I went through a DeltaSonic car wash, and somewhere between those big hanging cloths that drag along the top of the car and the dryer, the right roof rail must've been pulled loose from the front. As the dryer/wind picked up speed it sounded horrendous as the rail smacked against the rear windshield (thought it was my rear wiper at first, but it was on the wrong side ).

Once I was out, we were able to (sort of) reattach it, but it's clearly damaged from hyperextension on the back of the rail. (paint chipped, etc)

Has anyone else had to replace one of these? Do you need to order one with a specific color, or do you have to have it painted later? Are there hinges or something I might need to replace, too?

I would never put my CS thru a car wash.

So you're the guy with the rear wiper!!!

AFA replacing the track (channel insert/cover or whatever its called), I would imagine you would have to have it painted body color - just like any other replacement body part. Humm, I wonder what it would look like in flat black? What color is your car?

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Belleair Beach, Florida
2010 Cayman

Uh oh, was I supposed to have it removed to stay cool? Everybody seems to get clear side markers too?

It's Midnight Blue. I have no idea what color they are when you order replacements. But yeah, I'm expecting it'll need to be repainted to match the body. :-/

I hadn't had trouble with any car going through those before, but obviously I can't have this happen each time. They have a deal where you can run through as many times as you want per month (once per day), so the plan was to just keep it consistently clean that way, but it's not quite worth the repair process, I agree.

+1....what's a car wash?

Sorry you had that mishap. I wasn't being critical.

Sorry to hear about this.

Can you post a photo of the damage? I'm kinda slow today (happens a lot now) and I'm having a hard time trying to understand the issue.

I assume the rain gutter portion of the roof is slightly bent?

Someone with access to the parts manual should be able to look up if that part is replaceable or is part of the roof structure.

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Pete
2008 Meteor Grey Cayman S
2007 Blue Slate Infiniti G35s 6-speed

Its called a Roof Edge Strip - it comes primed
Left = 987 559 401 00
Right = 987 559 402 00

Were you able to salvage the two little "doors" that snap into it? Looks like they are additional parts.

Front 987 559 501 00
Rear 987 559 503 00

Note: these part numberes are from a 2008 catalog, but it should be the same for 2006.

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Belleair Beach, Florida
2010 Cayman

Good stuff, thanks for posting this!

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Pete
2008 Meteor Grey Cayman S
2007 Blue Slate Infiniti G35s 6-speed

Here's a link to the parts page: Porsche Cayman Porsche Parts And Accessories Parts

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Belleair Beach, Florida
2010 Cayman

Ooh, this is wildy helpful..

So, on there, part 6 ($237.01, apparently) is what came loose from the front-side of the roof, bent backwards so that the other end (the end nearest to part 8 in the diagram) had its paint scraped off.

I'll see if I can get a decent enough picture of it. This will help order specific parts though, thanks!

As far clips, part 11 is clearly still in there -- that's what helped it clip back on, though it didn't truly clip snugly, because the Roof Edge Strip itself seems a little bent. Parts 9/10 seemed to freely move back and forth along 7, so i think that's still present too. 12 is depressed into the strip, and doesn't pop back out.

Once you have a list of all the parts you need, contact sponsor SunCoast to get better pricing.

Last year I removed that rail to clean and re-position the rubber seals. I don't remember the details, but it seemed easy to replace. So is yours damaged beyond repair?

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Belleair Beach, Florida
2010 Cayman

I had good luck on a bumper coverette in the rear of my 86 CS which I trashed using Bumperplugs who is linked on here. Perfect match!

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2006 CS
Softronic Plenum and Flash
EVOMS V-Flow Intake
DREAM 1 and Sport Tips
Sprint Booster - Manual (Yeahh)

Makes 2 of us -- I guess cool was never me

I try to stay away from car washes but I'm sorry to hear about your trouble.

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'06 Cayman S - SY, SY Seat back/front lips/Console, Sports Seats, Sport Shifter, Full Leather, Xenon, Sport Chrono, PASM

Sorry to hear about that.

I actually love my car wash.. Enough that I married her

Keep smiling and have a great day!



---
I am here: http://maps.google.com/maps?ll=27.321442,-82.418332

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Dan Ribar
Sarasota, FL
2010 Cayman

Up close on the back of the strip, cracked from hyperextension,
you can sort of see that the rubber strip now isn't where it belongs


Side by side, right side vs left side: (left side is horizontally mirrored
for comparison purposes )


So now, the front of the strip doesn't really seal:


And the little tab thingy is stuck:



It's obviously not terrible, but it's still a bummer

Last week I got on a guy on here for asking about should he drive his new Cayman in the rain. (Yes, they work good that way, especially since a coupe / GT car). However, drive through car wash? Really? The family fleet consist of spouse Infinity EX35, sons Acura TSX and my '06 CS. NONE of those get anything but hand wash. Those car washes are for SUV's, Pickups and the company car. Those things are famous for the sort of mishap you experienced. Stay out of those things.

While I prefer a hand wash -- and to be truthful, I have never actually taken my Cayman through a car wash -- I would have to say that every year it becomes a temptation. Here in the midwest, we get a lot of frigid, snowy winter days, but we also get some moderately warm, sunny days in the 40s and 50s which are the siren song to take the car out. However, it's a trap, because the minute you do take it outside, it picks up all kinds of salt, sand, cinders, road film, and brake dust residue. Your choices are (a) leave it inside and clean, (b) drive it and leave it filthy, (c) drive it and try to hand wash it, or (d) run it through the car wash.

Dunno about you, but leaving it filthy is not an option. Thus far I've chosen to ignore the siren song and leave it inside and clean, but it really irks me to have a $40K indoor sculpture that continues to cost me tax and insurance for six months for nothing. I want to drive it, but I'm not crazy about racing to do a hand wash at 40 degrees with a 30 mph wind as the sun goes down on the short winter days. You lucky Southern Californians and Floridians and Texans should give this a try some time and see just how enjoyable it is -- NOT! The only real choice would be to run it through the automatic car wash -- assuming didn't rip apart my car like the OP's. So, for those who can hand-wash year round I say "bravo," but I have no criticism for those who do use the automatic car wash.

Until I saw this unfortunate misshap, I never thought about how to remove the rails to clean any wax build up and repostion the seals. Please elaborate on how you did this! Thanks!!!!!!!!!!!!

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In2Esses

2006 CaymanS - Black/Black
2010 BMW 135
2012 Mercedes GLK 350 4Matic