Freelander 1 5-Door Sunroof

I didn't think it was going to be possible but every window on mine now works... well, except for this one. The sunroof motor seems to want to work but the sunroof itself has rusted to a state where I'll have to fork out for a new glass panel and seal - the rust in turn has stopped the mechanism going beyond the "raised" and "lowered" positions. I also seem to have antagonised the issue and now the previously stable seal has leaked through, with water appearing just behind the glove box and draining onto the mat on the passenger side. D'oh.

So I'll just replace the sunroof mechanism, surely? Well, I'd make a start but all guides I've tried to follow seem to insist there are two plastic inserts at the side that I'd take out, with three torx screws behind on each. This would be pretty simple, but I don't seem to have plastic inserts; what I've got are two metal railings on either side that the shade seems to slide along and those don't appear to be willing to come out under any amount of force. Has anybody seen this kind of configuration before and if so, how could you dismantle it?

No pictures for now I'm afraid, I'm a bit nervous about breaking my duct tape repair

The plastic bits are on the glass and frame itself. It comes unclipped then you can take the screws out and the whole glass panel lifts out the top.

Ahh got you now, thank you very much! On the day I'd pulled the panel back thinking it would let me take it off easier not realising it was attached

I expect you'll find the leak is because of corrossion of the metal glass surround bubbling up around the seal. If you're lucky you might find a reasonable one at a breakers. I paid £3 for one and gave it a bit of a rust coat and a spray up. It's a two minute job to remove the glass, and then you can get in and clean and lube alot of the mechanism.

Nothing at the breakers so I've had to settle for the expensive option

Still, I'm excited to see it work at last!