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Thu Sep 25, 2003 4:53 pm

ok guys, i know i have listed this before. but i didnt realize how much of an undertaking it is to do the front windsheild rubber untill i asked my vw mech. if he would do it and he laughed at me and said yeah right....
i have two windsheilds the one in my bus, which is milking around the sides and is leaking. the other is off another bus thats in great shape. i have a new rubber peice. should i just call a company to come and do it, or is there a trick to these since they are curved. i took one out of my 73 adventurewagen and it just snapped comeing out. my bus is my daily driver and i cant afford to be without a frontwindsheild.
drew

Thu Sep 25, 2003 5:26 pm

Call a pro and have him do it. It will take him only a few minutes, and if it breaks you can bitch at HIM instead of yourself. Save your hair and blood pressure for other things.

Thu Sep 25, 2003 5:49 pm

Have a pro do it. Dando bought another windshield trying to save a few bucks. Also if your front end has been hit a little, you could be in for a long day. :shock:

Thu Sep 25, 2003 5:57 pm

It's not that big of a problem. If you have a buddy or somebody that would help. First get the windshield and set in on something flat, if you have sawhorses they are perfect or the bed of a truck. Anyways get a bucket of some soapy water. Lay the rubber seal out in the sun before getting started to get it pliable and soft. Get a thin nylon rope about a foot longer then the circumference of the windshield. To get started the rubber seal has a seam on it you want that in the middle at the top of the windshield and start putting the rubber on the winshield by pushing it into the groove in the rubber make sure the flange is on the correct side of the window. Keep pushing it on there all the way around the winshield making sure that seam is in the same spot where you began. Have your friend hold the rubber on the glass as you go along to keep it in the groove if you need to. Use the soapy water it will help. After getting the rubber onto the glass, then get nylon rope and started fitting it in the other groove in the rubber on the outside, have both of the ends of the rope at the bottom of the glass and where they meet overlap them in the groove about 6 inches or more on either side. Now you have a winshield with the seal on it and rope in the groove. Now soapy up the rubber seal again and the edges on the front of the bus. What ever you prefer you can either trust your buddy to hold the glass up to the bus and you get inside the bus, either way, this is what happens have him line up the window to where it looks like where it should go, the two ends of the rope bring them to the inside of the bus when you have the windshield seated in its correct spot start slowly pulling on one of the ropes and you will see the lip of the rubber pulling up over the lip of metal to seal the windshield and you conitnue to do this all the way around. While you are pulling the rope, with a open hand have your buddy tap the windshield with his palm right where you are pulling and that will help the windshield to seat in it's spot, you can see the windshield fall into place as you go along. Very simple to do. Good luck anthony

Thu Sep 25, 2003 6:27 pm

You can do it if you follow nodtobobs advice. I did it in my 62 Beetle a long time ago just like that. It really helps to have a friend. I was lucky in that I had 2 spares, because I broke the first one getting it out of the donor car.

Having said that, if I had it to do again, I would probably have somebody else do it. Preferably someone who does that for a living. If you have the glass and the seal, it should be pretty cheap to have done. <$50?

When the windshield is out I would have a good look at, and fix, any rust that is in the windshield channel. Somebody makes a slightly bigger seal to hide any repair work in there, but I can't remember who sells it. Now would be the time.

Good luck!

Thu Sep 25, 2003 7:16 pm

well thanks for the advice. i just finished putting in one of the side windows. that was flawless. my big problem is the huge curve of the window. i think i will call someone and have them come out, problem is can i get them to wait around while i do all the prep work. haha
ok thanks again
drew

Thu Sep 25, 2003 7:33 pm

The flat glass is a snap to put in, the windshield is another story. I wonder whether an installation guy is going to warranty glass and ruber he didn't provide?- I would ask.

If I were you, I would go ahead and pull the windshield out and inspect the channel. You said it was leaking; I doubt that is the fault of the rubber- there is a metal lip that it seats on. More than likely, you have the typical rot under the winshield- a design flaw. You will need to fix this before the new rubber/glass is put in or it will only get worse. POR-15 does a good job of treating the rust. After you fix the windshield channel, then have the glass guy show up and put the windshield in.

Thu Sep 25, 2003 10:29 pm

Rot under the windsheild? A design flaw? I'm sorry but anything that normally isn't a problem untill 30 or so years have past isn't really a design flaw. It's a car living a far longer life than expected.
I've always installed my own windows with few problems but have known people who always had trouble. Who knows why? A couple of changes ive made to my installation technique are, using zymol rubber protectant as an install lubricant instead of soapy water and using thick(like 10 guage) insulated wire for a rip cord. To remove the window without breaking it cut the old seal on the outside flush with the windshield so there is no rubber between the glass and the great outdoors. With a friend ready to catch the windsheild tap it lightly with your hand around the seal area untill it lets go of its bond with your bus.

Fri Sep 26, 2003 7:13 am

While I agree that thirty years is a good life span, if VW had angled the windshield channel slightly in the opposite direction and/or used a larger windshield gasket, it wouldn't be such a common problem now. Don't get me wrong, I love my bus and I realized that it has outlasted many other cars on the road, etc, but my old Toyota Land Cruiser doesn't have that problem (it does have rusty floorboards from off roading).

I'm not an engineer nor do I play one on TV so there may be some rational for the original design that I am not aware of and if so I concede my ignorance. :wink:

Fri Sep 26, 2003 9:28 am

I'm not gonna weigh in on the design flaw theory, but depending on what geographic region of the country/ world you live in all VW's ( and other cars too!) have a propensity to rust out in the SAME area.

I saw 68 and later buses that had rust under the windshield by the mid seventies... ( thanks to the Gulf Coast moisture of course!)

Along with Josh's tip ( and everyone elses)

the tip I have to add for putting in curved glass it to wrap the cord/ line around so you start at the TOP of the windsheild and work around each side evenly and the curves at the bottom fall in nicely.

If you do it the opposite ....you build up tremendous amounts of pressure on the glass which culminates at the top corners and then you are much more likely to have a failure, especially when using an old windshield, but can even destroy a new one.

I have put in many hundreds of VW windows/ glass and used to have a failure or 2 on the Super curved glass until I looked at it and decided to do it this way. HAVE NOT broken one since and have not broken a Bus one ( or Ghia or type 3) since either...

Fri Sep 26, 2003 4:16 pm

iot took me and a freind about 3 minutes to put mine in and ive never done it before couldnt have been easier.

Fri Sep 26, 2003 9:49 pm

From my own experience, the underwindshield area started to rust out somewhere between 10-20 years of bus age in the west coast climate of Canada. There was absolutely no leaks or signs of rust until the windshield was removed to replace it with a new one.

If you plan to remove the windshield be prepared to competely repair the sill area before you install because the act of removing the old windshield will disturb the area, make the holes bigger and you'll have more water coming in that before.

If you can't do the repair, leave it in an silicone it as best as you can to keep the water out. I did this for a while and it worked until the the seal aged such that the water was coming in between the glass and the seal. Think about it...

You can get white silicone that cures clear in warm weather.

Mon Sep 29, 2003 7:56 pm

This is a timely topic. I just took out my windshield about three hours ago with no more tools than an old toothbrush. I saw a little orange stain under the rightside corner, lifted the edge of the rubber and saw CANCER.
Removed the wiper arms, glovebox, the phillips screws along the base of the windshield, the 10mm nuts along the dash pad and the grab handle, removed the fresh air vent cover plates and defroster plastic deflectors, and yanked the top of the dash right on out. I then ran a plastic spatula between the rubber and the outside painted surface around the circumference of the windshield, breaking the silicone bead I had squirted in two years ago.
With the inside rubber fully exposed, I pushed the glass along the top of the windshield firmly enough to make the inner part of the seal sort of move a bit. Then, at the upper right corner I pushed with my left palm and tucked the rubber in front of the spot-weld seam using the sharpened edge of my trusty toothbrush handle. After it was started, I was able to run my finger along the rubber followed with toothbrush handle tucking it under the seam along the top all the way to the left upper corner. Then I pushed the whole windshield while I watched the sides slowly pull the rubber. Stood on the bumper, grabbed the upper corners, pried the top forward, lifted the windshield on out. I will let you know if I am half so lucky getting it back in.
Colin