TheSamba.com :: View topic - Wing Vent seal removal question (rear vents)

Tue Nov 17, 2009 10:08 pm

Hi,
Thanks to the help I got here I found all 3 rear vent wings I need for my 71 Bus.
One of them can use some good restoration, the metal is good but it has quite a bit of rust starting in the usual area under the seal below next to the wing tension adjusting mechanism.
I had no problem removing most of the seal, except in the area with the straight metal bar that looks to be attaches to the frame with rivets, the rubber seal is squeezed in there and pulling wont work without ripping it apart. Has any of you changed the rubber in one of this vent wings? they are the rear vents, could you please post the procedure you followed to do so?
Here is a picture below with difficult are encircled in red...

Thanks for your help on this!

Jose.

Tue Nov 17, 2009 10:15 pm

It pops into a groove in the frame there, careful prying,pulling is the only option, sometimes stretching it vertically makes it a smaller profile and easier to get out of the slot.

Tue Nov 17, 2009 10:22 pm

busdaddy wrote: It pops into a groove in the frame there, careful prying,pulling is the only option, sometimes stretching it vertically makes it a smaller profile and easier to get out of the slot.

I was afraid this would be the only way... I will try this tomorrow.
To remove the rubber completely I do need to grind the rivet that holds the glass and glass frame right? I do want to remove the glass assembly completely away from the vent frame as well as the rubber, reason being is that I want to restore the metal parts and repaint, I just dont want to leave any rust in there at all...
Thanks for your reply!

Jose

Tue Nov 17, 2009 10:35 pm

The glass and it's frame come out without removing any rivets, I'll have a look at one tomorrow to confirm whether the rubber comes off with all the rivets still in.

Loosen the lower clamp and pry it open a bit, the glass then can go up or down a bit to allow the groove in the upper pivot to enter the keyhole shape in the top hole. Then tilt the glass out or in and lift it up.

Fri Nov 20, 2009 10:03 am

busdaddy wrote: The glass and it's frame come out without removing any rivets, I'll have a look at one tomorrow to confirm whether the rubber comes off with all the rivets still in.

Loosen the lower clamp and pry it open a bit, the glass then can go up or down a bit to allow the groove in the upper pivot to enter the keyhole shape in the top hole. Then tilt the glass out or in and lift it up.

Busdaddy,
Thanks agan for your reply, it pointed me in the right direction.
You absolutely right, no rivets to grind in order to remove the glass assembly from frame, the bottom pivot clamp must be removed completely to allow the glass assembly to be moved about a quarter inch or so forward in the frame to allow to pull the whole thing out.
I Include a picture here of the detail of this which explains what needs to be done better than words... Now as far as the rubber removal from the tight area I mention in initial post here, it is a very tight fit in there, and if rubber aged or not pliable enough, it will come out in pieces, such as was the case with my vent, the rubber was brittle and came out in 3 pieces. I didn't minded experimenting on it since I ended up with an spare left vent wing, my testing subject :wink:
Just want to add here, my respect for those who have replaced this rubber successfully, it is a royal pain in the a$$!
Thanks again Busdaddy!!
Picture below:

Fri Nov 20, 2009 10:32 am

I want to say that stuffing the seal back into that metal bar will be the hardest part. after I did the first one I decided to leave the other two as is because for some reasons, those seals didn't weather much on our bus. There is some black body frame putty that you will need to seal them when you stuff them back in.

Fri Nov 20, 2009 10:47 am

SGKent wrote: I want to say that stuffing the seal back into that metal bar will be the hardest part. after I did the first one I decided to leave the other two as is because for some reasons, those seals didn't weather much on our bus. There is some black body frame putty that you will need to seal them when you stuff them back in.

SGKent,
Yeah, stuffing those seals back in there is a labor of love!
Like I said, this is an spare vent wing, I am going to restore it best possible and then I will consider buying the seal for it and perhaps sell it completely restored, or keep it as an spare, don't know yet.
The seals in my other 3 vents I got are in very very nice shape, one of those vents was in amazing shape, I mean the thing looks new! so I wont need to replace those seals at all.
Do you happen to know what is the name for that black body frame putty? I got a feeling I will need some of it when putting all the glass back on my bus... I saw what you mean since I pulled chunks of that putty in the corners of the frame assembly and I saw what good job it does in there, there was a rivet in the corner there under the dry putty, it looked new...

Jose.

Mon Feb 21, 2011 5:41 pm

OK So i hate to bring up a rusty old topic from way back then, but seams that there is not very much discussion on replacing rear vent seals. Or rather my searches did result in any answers. Today I replaced ALL of my seals and im sorta at a loss for how to install the rubber on the rear vents? Based on how i removed them, im guessing the same sort of brute force will be needed.

Anybody know of an easy... or rather, more sophisticated way of installing the rubber on these? These seals are spendy, hate for any sort of accidents to happen when trying to figure out how to put it back in, rather than just doing it the ''right'' way.

Also, I read a ton of threads about windows and everybody is whining about the windshield and how hard it is to do but not a lot about these. Am i missing something? Maybe i'm just too incompetent :lol: But every other window (windshield included) went in in just under 5 minutes, piece of cake.

Mon Feb 21, 2011 5:45 pm

SGKent wrote: There is some black body frame putty that you will need to seal them when you stuff them back in.

Yes I am curious about this black frame putty also - any photos?

Mon Feb 21, 2011 6:03 pm

I've never had an issue installing those seals, lots of silicone spray and stretch it as you jam it in or help the one side of the bead in with a wide putty knife or dull butter knife.
As for the black goo? Looks like that evil black sticky stuff that you find under some windshield seals, not the stuff that constantly ooozes greasy black but more like the butyl rubber caulk but it never fully hardens. Seems VW put a blob in each of the rear corners 90 degree before installing the fixed glass, I skipped it on mine and it doesn't leak.

Mon Feb 21, 2011 6:35 pm

Well got it most of the way around, but seems to be a little slack on part of it that is keeping it from going on all the way through the lip.

WW seal btw.

Mon Feb 21, 2011 6:38 pm

busdaddy wrote: I've never had an issue installing those seals, lots of silicone spray and stretch it as you jam it in or help the one side of the bead in with a wide putty knife or dull butter knife.
As for the black goo? Looks like that evil black sticky stuff that you find under some windshield seals, not the stuff that constantly ooozes greasy black but more like the butyl rubber caulk but it never fully hardens. Seems VW put a blob in each of the rear corners 90 degree before installing the fixed glass, I skipped it on mine and it doesn't leak.

I also used a dull putty knife. Might have also used KY jelly - supposed to be safe for seals since it's water-based. Fun times! And heck - after doing jalousie seals nothing's worse than that!!!

I wonder about the black stuff because after doing my rear vent window a number of times it always leaks... I even bought a German seal to see if that would help... nope.

Mon Feb 21, 2011 8:42 pm

Finally got these damn things on. Used a paint brush to brush some astroglide in the narrow area, wedged the long end in the lip first, and then used a dull putty knife to wedge in the other side. Not so hard, just frustrating and lengthy. I used WW seals and on the long thin side it seems to be just a tad to long, or doesn't go in all the way because there seams to be a little slack in the rubber.. I wont worry about it just yet, because i have too many other issues to tackle, but once I finish the rest of my work the seals getting pulled off and put back on until it sits just right.