TheSamba.com :: View topic - Driver's sliding window mysteriously shattered

Tue Oct 07, 2008 10:29 pm

I have a problem very similar to this one in the archives:

http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=79347

But in my little 'burg, the cause is a mystery (no bullet hole, it just looks like the cracks start at the bottom left corner). It looks like it spontaneously shattered, which I think i've read about hear on the samba before, but it is still just weird. No sign of forced entry on that glass (the van is unlocked!).

Mostly, I am wondering if anyone has a suggestion on a good place to purchase replacement glass for an '84 camper. It would best if it is close to the Monterey Peninsula here in CA. Used is fine.
This seems like an option at $100

Secondly, the whole window needs to be replaced - not just that one piece of glass, right? I wasn't sure if there was any more recent information than in that archived post. If that were the case, i'd be fine retrofitting a piece of polycarb for a little while until a more permanent solution became more affordable.

And least importantly - any idea as to why this happened? It was a "hot" day (high 70s), so maybe a solar loading? It is just weird that this would happen after 24 years of life in harsher climates than this one...

Thanks for any help,
-Damon

Tue Oct 07, 2008 11:29 pm

weird, i can't help you with the cause, but i'd get replacements at a pick-n-pull. there are plenty around the so. bay area.

even if you spend a saturday looking around for the right window you'd be surprised at the goodies you can find in vanagons that you can ebay. i think overall my junkyard buys are totally paid for by stuff i found that i didn't need, but knew had good value. like a pre 86 tach cluster, a pristine set of wolfburg edition curtains, a totally new looking rear hatch door screen. i made 3-6 times more off items like that then what i paid for them. the tach/speedo cluster was $15....$15!!!!! i sold the tach alone for like $50.

Wed Oct 08, 2008 6:02 am

Go-Westy might be able to asssist you and they are down in Southern California. Good luck

Wed Oct 08, 2008 6:32 am

Try this:http://www.thesamba.com/vw/classifieds/detail.php?id=408171

I've purchased parts from thesamba member sleepyjoe before. He's a good seller, and lives in Kelseyville. A couple hours north of you.

PM him. I'm sure he can help you out.

Wed Oct 08, 2008 7:03 am

This happened to me once as well, not in my Westy but... OK, sigh, this calls for a humiliating confession, Back in 1976, I had a (It was not mine really, It was a government car that was assigned to me, honest!) AMC Gremlin, yes, the ugliest car ever designed! OK, I said it, it was also bright orange, just to make things even worse. One day, with no warning whatsoever, the back window just exploded. There were no cracks or warning signs whatsoever. It just went blam! Yes it was a rather hot day, but really! Must have been gremlins. I was not in it at the time. It was parked outside of my office and a passer by came in asking who owned the orange Gremlin, having witnessed the spontaneous explosion. I had to fess up to being the current user. There were enough witnesses to reassure me that it was not the good taste squad making a political statement.

Wed Oct 08, 2008 11:47 pm

Thanks for the replies, guys. A pick-n-pull would be a good place to go, but I don't seem to have enough time to go for a bike ride, much less spend half a day getting to and from a bone yard. Not that i don't want to... Kids can cramp you style...

Thanks for the suggestion, Riceye. I did e-mail him, and am waiting for a reply. I still don't know if slider windows are the same for all years... I think i've heard they are not. So i guess i just need to confirm the year.

RCB - good suggestion. Van Cafe is a bit closer, so i'll give them a call and i guess GoWesty, too.

-Damon

Thu Oct 09, 2008 1:24 am

wbx wrote: I still don't know if slider windows are the same for all years... I think i've heard they are not. So i guess i just need to confirm the year.

Early side windows slide open 1/3, later ones slide open halfway. I think r39o installed later ones in his early Westy.

Thu Oct 09, 2008 3:42 am

8419p27 wrote: wbx wrote: I still don't know if slider windows are the same for all years... I think i've heard they are not. So i guess i just need to confirm the year.

Early side windows slide open 1/3, later ones slide open halfway. I think r39o installed later ones in his early Westy.

passenger vans open halfway, the westfalia's only open 1/3 to accomadate for the latch being put father back to clear the screen.

All year vanagons have the same size window openings. I have westy ones I pulled form mine to install later black framed windows but I am in FL and the shipping alone will run about $30 :roll:

Thu Oct 09, 2008 5:22 am

The windows are the same size as far as body openings for all years, EXCEPT the window for the sliding door. The sliding door underwent a major change from 1985 on and the 85+ window will not fit the 80-84 sliding door, etc.

The rearmost side window glass changed in 88 when a plastic vent was added to replace a section of the glass at the rear edge on both sides of the van. The opening in the body did not change, just what was put in it.

Mark

[email protected] wrote: 8419p27 wrote: wbx wrote: I still don't know if slider windows are the same for all years... I think i've heard they are not. So i guess i just need to confirm the year.

Early side windows slide open 1/3, later ones slide open halfway. I think r39o installed later ones in his early Westy.

passenger vans open halfway, the westfalia's only open 1/3 to accomadate for the latch being put father back to clear the screen.

All year vanagons have the same size window openings. I have westy ones I pulled form mine to install later black framed windows but I am in FL and the shipping alone will run about $30 :roll:

Thu Oct 09, 2008 9:12 am

Oops, my bad. :oops: Thanks for the correction.

Thu Oct 09, 2008 9:40 am

Try Diane at Interstate in San Marcos.I have gotten difficult to find parts for my 82 Westy from her. Real good packing too.
On a side note I dont think that a mosquito screen from a Vanagon will fit a Westfalia window.

Thu Oct 09, 2008 10:51 am

i'm wondering if the breakage could have been due to the bushings below the slider wearing out...mine were completely gone, giving the slider extra space to rattle around in the channel. i suppose vibrations could have caused the window to weaken or break?

Thu Oct 09, 2008 11:25 am

Thanks for all the replies and clarification on the window situation.

I did receive a reply from "SleepyJoe" and it looks like the windows he has are for an early model like mine, so it is likely how i'll be going. Van-Cafe had windows, too, but they were for a later model and significantly more expensive.

I was looking around a bit - where have people purchased the wear bits for those windows before (guides, etc.)? I'd like to refurbish them before I install the new sliders.

-Damon

Thu Oct 09, 2008 12:42 pm

wbx, Van Cafe only has those sliders for later model windows. You might get lucky and the window joe sends you still has the sliders in it.
If not, its just a small plastic piece that the window slides on. If their gone the window slides on the aluminum frame instead of the plastic piece. Can you salvage the one on your broken window??
I just wedged a coffee stir stick under the glass so the rattle ceased driving me nuts. Yankee N-gin-U-ity at its finest. =D>

Thu Oct 09, 2008 2:08 pm

That is weird that it shattered like that. Hard to say if it was temp related unless there was already increased pressure on the window somehow. I've attained a personal best of 128F inside my van once whilst parked in Lone Pine, CA (near Death Valley) so I know I'm good for a while or at least until global warming kicks into high gear.

I have a Westy but I replaced my sliders with passenger sliders. I like the black frames better and I also like the fact that the window opens 50% instead of 30% like the Westy windows do. Yes, I had to make my own screens but I never liked the flimsy Westy screens anyway. The tabs are really easy to break and since I don't have AC, I like to drive with at least the driver's slider open. If you leave the Westy screen in place and drive, it whistles and rattles (broken tabs) so now, when I camp, I just pop my screens in my 50/50 windows and the no-see-um netting keep even the baby mozzies on the outside of the van. Well, until I open the door, anyway...

Jeff / San Anselmo

Thu Oct 09, 2008 5:17 pm

I have a sliding window you can have for shipping ~ don't know if it'll fit though, 'cause I don't know what it came off of (previous owner/junkyard dog provided said window).

Best,

Lanval