Sun Roof Slider/Shade Repair
I am facing a similar problem and here is what I have found in the manual, though I admit I have not yet tackled this on my own car yet.
Bill
The Fisher Body Manual confirms that removal of the sunshade is possible without dropping the entire sunroof assembly. (I recently removed an entire sunroof at a wrecking yard trying to get the shade out, which was not much fun even though I learned plenty!) The trick is to first remove the plastic "halo" trim on the underside of the glass panel. This allows you to then open the sunroof and close the sunshade, which gives you access to the fasteners.
The process is as follows:
1.) Start with sunroof panel closed, sunshade open
2.) Remove screws in plastic halo trim at rear of sunroof
3.) Open sunroof about 8" and remove screws at front of trim
4.) Pull down and forward at center of trim to disengage from sunroof panel. Trim comes out the bottom.
5.) Fully open sunroof and close sunshade
6.) Remove screws holding sunshade handle (from top)
7.) Remove clips from RH sunshade guide bracket. The manual makes references to reinstallation in a specific order, so carefully note where the clips are before removal.
8.) Remove RH guide bracket
9.) Remove sunshade through the top, starting with the RH front corner.
Nothing to it - right?