Has anyone ever used Molly fasteners in place of the two bolts that hold the sunroof latch to the roof?

After adding a shim to my sunroof latch, I over tightened the two bolts and pulled them through the holes in the roof. Took a hammer and reshaped the holes. Then reinstalled the factory bolts. Assuming that they're going to pull through again, I was trying to come-up with a better, more solid way to attach that latch.

Any suggestions?

I had to adjust/fix my vent last month and found had weak holes too. Yes, OE bolt holes suck but I have no clue using better bolts.

Problem is OE bolts have small heads and not enough metal to hold them.
And you can't get at back side w/o mod'ing the vista vent or taking roof plastic off etc.

If the lower latch "wobbles" when bolts are tight, the holes in the car are failing.
Short term use a hammer, or ball end of ball peen hammer, to carefully fix the holes.
Many just think adding extra plastic "shim" does help but does not fix the real bolt problem.

Vista vent doesn't need much to close but the latch is easy to damage. If the latch is ok the bolt's holes are weak and then you often have seal leak when latch doesn't close right.

Vista vent and many OE sun/moon roofs are design to have small seal leaks. The drain(s) will handle the leaked water. (Older Fiero many need to add drain holes to the track.)

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(Jurassic Park)

The Ogre's Fiero Cave (It's also at the top and bottom of every forum page...)

Thanks Ogre. I've tried every adjustment possible and multiple attempts of repositioning the seal. I could not get the glass to cinch tight to the seal at the rear. The only thing that made it tight was to add a shim that I made out of Dynamat.

So far, the bolts are holding and the glass is sealed. But I have a feeling it's temporary and I don't want to put too much tension on my brand new latch.

I was thinking that I may be able to fit two really small butterfly moly screws but I don't know if they make em small enough for the space.

I did the same thing, shimmed it too much and pulled the bolts almost all the way through. Now, if I recall correctly, I scrounged up some bolts that fit the bill and also some washers to sit on top. Everything was just the right size to where I could get the bolt with washers on it up through the holes and then "persuade" the metal back to its original state. The tricky part was getting the sunroof latch back on and tightening the nuts down without the bolts spinning. I somehow managed to do it and recall telling myself never to take that apart again.

Sunroof still leaks air at speeds but no water. Annoying?? Yes, but I'm not starting another thread on here about it. I'm convinced a number of Fieros' roofline has a different arch to it that creates this annoying leak, many say otherwise.

[This message has been edited by fastblack (edited 08-17-2014).]

Fastblack, thats a great idea. I think i'll hit the hardware store. Ive been searching online and I dont think i'll be able to find a moly that's short enough to fit through but not hit the roof before being able to open.

I don't understand why GM would use this type of gasket/seal on a roof like this. I would think that a seal that's hollow in the middle allowing it to collapse when the glass is pressed-up against it would have made far more sense. I've never been able to eliminate the wind noise.

Currently, mine does not leak water. If I close and latch the glass on a dollar bill. On the pass side, I cannot pull the bill out from under the glass. But on the driver side, there's tension, but not as much. Whatever, as long as I stay dry.

quote Originally posted by donuteater306: I was thinking that I may be able to fit two really small butterfly moly screws but I don't know if they make em small enough for the space.

Problem is most metal and maybe plastic butterflies are likely too big for the space. I don't know if enough free space is available.
If you find ones that work...
If you have to service them later then its easy to loose metal ones. Try installing w/ string/wire "leashes" so you can remove the screws if needed.

I'm thinking using some kind of clip nuts and short bolts/screws/etc but again that needs some free space above the weak holes.

I'm in no hurry to take apart mine again just to see what might work or not.