The-T-Bar MGF Forum

The seal at the top of the cheater on the passenger door has become deformed by a previously misaligned window glass.
Although the glass is now correctly adjusted, the stretched seal allows rain to penetrate.



In the photo above you can see that the stretched seal tends to be over-ridden by the glass.

Below you can see the seal pulled into the correct position. It also shows where the previous window position has stretched the rubber.



I decided to replace the cheater, and here is how I did it.

First you will need to remove the door card. It is fixed with 6 screws, 1 near the hinge.



1 in the handle escutcheon.



2 in the door pull.



and 2 in the lock side of the door.



Once the screws are removed, You can slide the escutcheon off the handle.



And remove the door pull



Pull out and rotate the end rubber out of the way.



There are also several plastic snap fixings along the bottom of the door. Correctly, you need to use a special tool to release these. Or just slide your hand between the card and the door to pop them out.

Now you can lift the end of the card up off the door lock pin and slide it back.







The card is now only attached by the tweeter cable.
The plug pulls out of the speaker socket.



Put the door card to one side.

You will now need to remove the door mirror.
First locate the connector and disconnect the mirror motor from the loom. Pull back the plastic water proofing. Then, lift the locking clip and pull free.





Feed the cable back through into the door



Remove the two plastic caps to expose the screws that hold the mirror in place. (Don't lose them! )
Remove the screws while supporting the mirror with your other hand.





You can now remove the mirror and gently pull the cabling free of the door. Set aside.

The cheater is bolted to the front window glass channel, so they need to be removed in one piece.
First pull out the plastic plug holding the front of the cheater to the door.



Remove the 2(adjuster) top bolts.





You will need to remove the main door speaker. It is held by 3 screws.



Pull the speaker assembly forward to reveal the cable plug.





The plug pulls off.



Raise the window.
Remove the locknut from the bottom adjuster bolt.



You can now push the adjuster into the door cavity, and release the entire channel/cheater from the window glass by pushing towards the hinges.

You can now unscrew the adjuster from the channel


Carefully drop the window glass.
Now the cheater/ channel will come out through the top. You will need to turn the channel to allow the bolt fixing to come out.





Here is the cheater with attached channel.

Here are the two cheaters to compare.



To (re)fit the cheater, you need to feed the channel back in from the top

Through the speaker hole, refit the bottom adjuster to the channel.



Then refit the channel to the front edge of the window glass.
Loosely screw in the top 2 bolts and, ensuring that the channel stays on the glass, pull the bottom adjuster through the hole and loosely refit the nut. Also push the plastic retaining plug back into the door to hold the front of the cheater.





Now you need to adjust the cheater to fit. I found the best way was to drop the window glass and pull the cheater back on its adjustment, then close the door. Now push the cheater forward and adjust it to give a good position/seal against the front door seal. Use the three adjuster bolts to align the cheater, then tighten them.



Now raise the window glass and ensure that the glass fits into the cheater/ door seal correctly. Because my glass was adjusted correctly initially, this remained a good fit.



Now you need to raise the roof and clamp it in place. Again to check fitment. Try opening and closing the door to check.





Assuming all is good, you can now refit the mirror by a reversal of the removal steps. Make sure the 2 plastic covers are fitted correctly as they have a habit of disappearing! ( A dab of silicone sealant, maybe?)

Connect the speaker and refit.
Refit the door card in the same manner, (reconnect the tweeter) and don't forget to refit the end rubber.

thats a pretty epic how to David, well done

petevick wrote:

Thanks, Pete.

It's actually an easy job,basically three bolts, but much more complicated to explain.

Another great how-to.

Something I need to do, but just know I'll end up with a half inch gap round the window just as it starts to ball joints down

Tigger wrote:


now that's an interesting swear filter

Tigger wrote:

Glad you like it. We thought it was better than just asterisks, and quite funny sometimes!

hi what is a door window cheater