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Tue Jan 07, 2003 7:34 pm

I have had so much luck with the help on this site. Even with the loss of a few brain cells from smelly heat. I am starting work on my window rubber. I asked my local freind/mechanic. Bobs Bettle shop. He said its a pain in the arse. How hard is it to do. Front Windsheild. Rear, vent windows?

Tue Jan 07, 2003 11:23 pm

Been covered a lot. Go to www.type2.com and look in the technical articles and you'll find tons. Or someone will just re-type the whole thing here.

Sat Jan 11, 2003 3:13 pm

I checked the type 2 forum and actually found very little about seal replacement. Everytime i rains my feet are getting wet from the front windsehild seals in ability to do what it was told. I have heard of the string trick. But wanted more advice. EVerytime i have heard of someone chaning the front the glass always breaks, happened to me twice too.
Drew

Sat Jan 11, 2003 3:43 pm

first off, cut off the old seal, it's alot cheaper to waste than 2 windows....esp. windshields. Spend the loot on a good seal and try to find a good used windshield (sekurit, etc.) instead of aftermarket stuff. Install the seal around the perimeter of the windshield and use some talcum powder to help the rubber slide onto the glass and even the tension on the rubber once you pry it all on.
-It's prob. not a bad idea to put a thin layer of clear silicone around the front edge of where the rubber contacts the glass (outside edge).
-Call a couple of friends for the rest....
-Put some more powder around the outside (body sealing surface) of the seal and may be advisable to clear sicone at least the bottom corners of the windshield openning, thats the bad spot.
-Put a thin but STRONG nylon type string all around the body sealing opening starting and ending (and overlapping a little) at the bottom of the window.
-Now you and some buddies lay and position the windshield as close to in as possible w/o losing the string( should end up on the inside) if you can get some of the bottom lip started while laying it in.
-Then its the ol push/pull!
your friends push on the glass around the area your pulling the string from and your goal is to get the lip of the seal to come inside without a) breaking the string and b)without slicing the window rubber with the string. Both of which will prob. happen. wear a glove or you'll ruin your finger for a week....good luck and i hope there was some insight here!

Sat Jan 11, 2003 4:11 pm

On type2.com Good advice for anyone installing windows in their car:

http://type2.com/bartnik/glass.htm

Windshield Removal and Installation

APPLICATION: This procedure should apply to any air-cooled Volkswagen. Not only does it apply to the windshield, but also to the other windows as well.

TOOLS NEEDED: Dish soap or similar lubricant -- use something that will not harm rubber or paint; roll of nylon twine, fairly thin; helper.

To remove the windshield, you will simply push it out from the inside. Start in a corner and push out. You will see the seal move and eventually you can get the windshield out by pushing out all the way around the windshield. You will undoubtedly crack the windshield with this method, but so what? You're replacing it anyway. (I might add here that this method works fine with no ill effects on side window glass.) Again, if you're using a new seal, then by all means just run a knife under the rubber on the outside of the windshield and go all the way around, then you can just lift the windshield out. You really should have a helper.

If your old seal is dry and brittle, you should get a new one before you install the windshield or else you are likely to crack the new one during installation. From what I have heard, Kyle Wade at Volks Cafe has the best prices on new Vanagon windshield seals.

Before installation of the new windshield, observe the condition of the windshield ledge/sill. It's probably rusty. You should fix it. This could involve sandblasting the rust off, then priming the ledge with a rust-stopping chemical or if the rust is deep, then removal of the old metal and welding in of new metal is ideal. If you don't have the money to do this now, start saving, because it's not going to get any better as time goes on.

For installation, I've found nylon string to work very well. I got a little roll they sell at Lowe's, it's kinda orange-colored. The best way to do this is to first lightly lubricate the channel that the string goes into with dish soap or perhaps KY Jelly or your favorite non-paint or rubber damaging lubricant of choice. Then lay the string in the channel, but double it, that is trial fit the string by unrolling it around the whole seal twice, then remove it and double it over at the mid-point. If string could be folded in half, this is what you'd be doing. Then lay the doubled-up string in the channel all the way around, and make sure the ends overlap.

Now you should have two string ends dangling and a loop dangling from the channel in the windshield seal. Lift the windshield into place with your helper and make sure the strings are on the inside. Then while your helper holds the windshield from the outside, get in the driver's seat and put a finger through the loop of string. Then with your other hand, pull on the dangling string ends while your helper gently pushes at that spot. Eventually you will pull the lip of the seal over the ridge in the window frame and once you've got that done, the thing just zips right in all the way around.

The reason you stuck your finger through the loop was to keep the string from simply pulling out of the channel when you pulled on it.

After you've got it in, go outside and give it a good shove in a few places to get it seated.

That's really all there is to it. Be careful handling the new windshield as windshield glass likes to break much more readily than side window glass. Be careful not to torque it.

Sean Bartnik
November 6, 1997

Sat Jan 11, 2003 5:24 pm

I did all the rubber on my Bus in the summer of 2001. I hope to never go through that again. I used, wrongly I think, Black Magic Vinyl Conditioner which made everything slippery as snail snot, with black ooze garnishing all the WHITE headliner, and big nasty paw prints all over the interior. My nylon string cut the cheap RMMW-supplied rubber seals, and the vent windows would slowly slip backwards as I wrestled the side glass into position, meanwhile, the aluminum mouldings would attempt to escape their channels at precisely the instant things were beginning to look good. I finally said to hell with the dumb string and used my fingers to work the rubber over the lip so I wouldn't rip that precious headliner, it hurt. A lot. Used a helper on the windshield only, a helper who pushed too hard too much of the time. It only needs enough of a push to keep the rubber near the lip.
Colin

Sat Jan 11, 2003 9:27 pm

I have replaced seals on side and rear windows in busses and there isn't much to it. The string, the soap, the patience and it should be no trouble. However, last summer I needed a front windshield seal replaced so I drafted a friend to help. He had installed a few and knew what he was doing. We used soap and did everything by the bood and it went well and the new seal looks really good. But throughout the process I was thinking how damn difficult this would be if you didn't know what you were doing. The steps seem easy and make perfect sense and after a installing a couple of them it would seem like childs play. But it is still a difficult job for a first timer if you don't have an experienced helper. I would also bet money that most people with any measurable experience probably broke one or two before they got it right. I know my friend had broken one before and it would be very very easy. Knowing what I know now, I would not hesitate to install it myself, but I would not hesitate to take it to a auto glass shop if I didn't have any experience or an experienced helper. It's just not worth breaking a windshield to learn your lesson. Good luck with your bus.

Sat Jan 11, 2003 9:32 pm

By the "bood?" How about "by the book." It's too late and my typing sucks even in the middle of the day.