1978 Mark Rodent Issues

Hi Bill,
I have a Mark V that was in indoor storage a long time and I believe that mice have made nests inside the power moonroof housing which are blocking the moonroof from opening more than about 1/3 of the way.
What is the simplest way to get inside it to clean it out?
It looks like I have to remove the headliner and loosen/remove some bolts that hold the housing to the roof to hopefully lower the housing enough so I can reach inside it to clean it out.
Do you agree the headliner has to be removed or at least detached from the roof?
I’ve been able to unhook about the rear 1/3 of the headliner just by pulling it off the sharp tack-like spikes it is impaled on and by removing a few plastic modlings along its edge.
But the rest of the headliner looks like a problem to remove and I need some advice on how to do that.
It seems that there are stiff metal pieces that run along the outer edges of the headliner above both of the doors. I have no idea how to detach those from the roof. I hope I don’t have to remove the drip railing that retains the two rubber moldings that the two power windows seal up against. Do I have to remove them? If so, how can I first remove the rubber weatherstripping that is attached to those drip railings without ripping them?
It would be great if you knew some sort of shortcut so I could somehow vacuum out the mice nests, dead mice, and whatever else is jamming the moonroof.
Thanks very much for any advice you can give.
Bob
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Hi Bob –
Those varmints sure can make a mess and create a stench. I can’t easily tell from here how extensive they have damaged your headliner along with the insulation and I have never had to remove a headliner in order to correct such damage. Experience in other areas of vehicle interiors tells me though that you may need to remove much of the headliner along with the unusable insulation in order to sanitize and deodorize the interior. A visit to a local automotive upholstery shop or two in your locale may confirm this. I will also ask George if he would send you the headliner removal procedure text along with drawings from the Body section of the Shop Manual. Do you have a set of Shop Manuals? All of the above information should help you to determine how far you need to dig into the headliner. Keep in mind though that if you don’t go far enough the odor will remain for a long time.
Sincerely,
Bill