Side vent wing to jalousie conversion, pics and tips

[dembus]

My first attempt at this swap. It took two hours by myself and it was not too difficult. I hope this will help anyone considering this conversion.

Old dry seals:

Clean window frame lips so they are smooth and shiney. I used brillo pads. Install seal around outer edge then up under inside groove. Should be obvious which way.

Cut deep into old seal at 90* about 1/4 inch from edge then slide blade up under seal with blade flat against window.

Pull off cut seal all the way around. Glass should be stuck to rubber so don't worry about it falling out. With hand on outside of glass run a plastic scraper between rubber and glass from inside. Glass will then separate and can be removed.

Remove tar like sealer in upper corner of vent wing. From inside vehicle bend out the two metal tabs located under front rubber seal.

Open vent wing and slam upper frame toward rear of vehicle so that the front rubber separates from window frame and upper tab can then be pulled outward through slot shown at the top.

Clean window opening for a good seal and address any rust issues at this time.

Measure exact distance between upper/lower and side to side screw track on inside of jaluosie. Make sure to accurately transpose these measurements to the window opening lip. The holes will be very close to the edge. My jalousies had four on top and bottom and two on each side. I used an 1/8 inch bit so the screw holes weren't larger than the factory screws. Clean any burrs from drilling for a good seal.

Remove window crank knob and wet the opening and seal with windex. Watch the upper inside corners of the jalousie. They will hit the metal opening and keep the window from seating. I pushed the top in until these corners cleared then shoved window upward. Then go around the outer edge, a little at a time with a rubber hammer handle, and slam until seal goes in. Be careful not to hit the glass. You have to go a little at a time all the way around. Keep a firm hand on the bottom center of the window to keep it from falling. Watch all four seal corners. They tend to curl inward. The sides of the seal seem to seat deeper than the top and bottom. The window will only go in until inner screw track comes in contact with the opening lip. Get a screw or two in it to secure it and get in the bus. You may need to pry the track a little to line up the holes. Once all screws are in go around outer seal again with rubber hammer handle just to seat the seal and use th rubber scraper to slip behind any areas that have folded under.

Clean it all up and crack open a cold one. You earned it. Enjoy!!

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"Want a little peace of mind, grab the lowest branch and start to climb"
JJ Grey

69 Westy (R.I.P.)
68 Kombi
70 Westy
68 Beetle Sedan
69 Beetle Sedan
68 Deluxe
71 Deluxe
71 HT Westy

[DurocShark]

Nice.
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No boom today. Boom tomorrow. There's always a boom tomorrow.

[shiningstar76]

nice post, thanks! There was a post a while back about the disadvantage of jalouse windows but I love mine. Sliders would be great except for the mosquito problem.
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KK4NTP
96 Tacoma
86 4Runner
My bus caught on fire and is now on the other coast with someone who gave me money for it.

[dembus]

Thanks!! I was considering sliders but the lack of screens was an issue. You can't leave sliders open if it's raining. I could only find sliders out west and shipping would have killed me; if they even survived. Plus, I had this set already from my last bus. I love the look and can't wait to go camping.
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"Want a little peace of mind, grab the lowest branch and start to climb"
JJ Grey

69 Westy (R.I.P.)
68 Kombi
70 Westy
68 Beetle Sedan
69 Beetle Sedan
68 Deluxe
71 Deluxe
71 HT Westy

[Karl]

Screens on FACTORY sliders are an option. BUT I have only seen them on the outside of 78-79 Adventurewagons. They are held on with 4 sheet metal that go thru the seal into the body, like jalousie windows except from the outside. VERY hard to find. I have only seen 3 sets of them.

68-77 Adventurewagons had USA-made sliders that have built in screens. Very nicely made but also hard to find.

VW never came out with screens on the 78/79 sliders or the 80-91 Vanagon sliders. Only on the 80-91 Westfalia sliders, but they will not fit on a bay.

[dembus]

Just did the drivers side and got the old window out in five minutes. The opening was spotless and the jalousie went in and it's all cleaned up in one hour (with the help of my 6 year old tool-hander-toer).
_________________
"Want a little peace of mind, grab the lowest branch and start to climb"
JJ Grey

69 Westy (R.I.P.)
68 Kombi
70 Westy
68 Beetle Sedan
69 Beetle Sedan
68 Deluxe
71 Deluxe
71 HT Westy

[vw-traveller]

Just got my louvered windows in.
My Tip:
Put a boatload of grease on both the Seal and the Frame of the bus.
Use the rope trick to avoid the seal's corners getting stuck.

[Desertbusman]

Grease???????
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71 Superbug
71 Westy

[busdaddy]

[Air_Cooled_Nut]

[silverside61]

[Desertbusman]

Another consideration is that sliders can only open to half of the window opening. But the jalousie's fully open. Or at least 90% worth.
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71 Superbug
71 Westy

[vw-traveller]

yeah grease!
Otherwsie the rubber is really sticky and will most likely get pulled out of the grove

[thewalrus]

Dish soap works better and isn't as hard to clean up after.

I say that the Jalousie inner seal on the real early campers should of been standard for the entire Westy run:

(Not mine but I hunted one down and WOW does it finish off the look of the whole window!)
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'73 Transporter 1.7L Dual Carb

[vw-traveller]

Oh my god you found an inner seal. So you say these only came on the early westys?
How did you find it?

[thewalrus]

It actually came to me. I have a big mouth and was talking at a car show and the right person heard me and just HAPPEN to be a fellow bus owner and had and extra seal. I knew this was probably my only oppertunity to get one locally, so $40 later I had one! Beats the $100+ price tag on Samba. It really cleans up the look of the window and (in my opinion) finishes off the interior. Through lots of Samba searching I found out they only came on '68, '69 and MAYBE '70 camper models but then for whatever reason Westfalia stopped producing them. Shame really...

I'll post some Picts of mine this weekend when I'm out working on her


EDIT: Here's a few topic on them:
http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=2...p;start=20

http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=2...mp;start=0
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'73 Transporter 1.7L Dual Carb

[thewalrus]

As promised:

My bottom curles in too like everyone elses
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'73 Transporter 1.7L Dual Carb

[MOX]

awesome thread, i am going to put jalousies in my transporter soon and this answered everything!

[PicklePickle]

I was so happy to ditch the Jalousies from my bus.

Here's what I've learned. Jalousies are much louder going down the road. They allow way more air in while driving (hence a good portion of the noise) and that sucks when it is really cold out. What little good the heater does is completely annihilated by the air leakage from Jalousies. They are generally impractical to use on a regular bus. No one wants to take the time to crank them out and back in constantly when using the bus as a daily driver. In fact, cranking them in and out incessantly wears on the gearing. They were meant for occasional cranking, not in and out several times a day.

If you are thinking about DRIVING with them out, then get ready for even more noise. They are anything but aerodynamic.

Jalousies were designed to be used with the camper for camping. They make very little sense on a regular bus unless you intend to use your standard bus as a camper, and plan to put them out while camping.

If you just need a screen while camping, then there are a few people who make magnetic screens. A quick google search turned up these right here on thesamba: http://www.thesamba.com/vw/classifieds/detail.php?id=623907 You can get screens for the front and side windows.

It's just my two cents. I'm sure you'll see every argument why they're the best thing since sliced bread, but as I said, I've had both and the sliders are WAY more appropriate for a standard bus--so much so that I paid over $300 to change them over and that was with me doing all the work!
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"Aircooled VWs are like roaches in that if you let one in, they'll soon be nesting all around you in great numbers."
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1970 Yellow Beetle aka "Melbourne"

[cdennisg]

Glad I found this thread in my searching for how to install jalousie windows. I am putting one in the driver's side of my 70, and since I removed it from a donor 68 about 6 years ago, I could not recall how it was held into place. I also have the rubber interior trim piece to finish off the install.

On the jalousie/slider debate, I will use a slider on the sliding door, and a jalousie on the other side. Jalousie windows tend to rattle too much, and the slider seems to exacerbate that issue. I like sliders, and I have one with a screen, but being able to have an open window during a rainstorm is a good thing for camping.
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Confusious say it takes it takes two wipes to know you need three, but it takes three wipes to know it only needed two.