Safe removal/installation of sunroof cover

[Rural]

So my sunroof cover was sticking enough that I made a point of opening it by hand before opening the sunroof. A few days ago, I reached up to press the button to open the crystal light covers and instead hit the sunroof button. The cover jammed before I could figure out what was going on.

I was lucky enough to remove the cover (by bending it) without doing any damage, but am having a heck of a time putting it back in. It looks like the sunroof has to come off before you can get the cover properly installed.

Does anyone have any hints as to how to properly remove/install the sunroof cover?

[jessef]

what cover are you talking about ?

The fabric covered sliding shade on the inside that you pull to close/open ?

[Rural]

Yes. That one.

The sunroof itself and the cover have tabs that cause the cover to be pushed open as the sunroof opens. (At least, I can see no other point for them, other than to make it agonizingly hard to reinstall the covers.) If the cover moves smoothly in the rails, all is well. If not, the sunroof will push the cover askew and everything will jam up. Ask me how I know this.

Those tabs are what make it difficult to reinstall the covers. At least, without bending the covers completely out of whack first. The problem with bending them out of shape to get them back in place is that you can't get the covers properly unbent once the are installed, especially the parts that slide in the rails.

If the sunroof is removed. Installing the covers would be a piece of cake. But in my frustrated state, I haven't been able to see how to take the sunroof off.

There might be another trick to it too.

[jessef]

Maybe our dictionary's are different.

Can you take a picture of the 'cover' ?