Wolfsburg West window felt needs trimmed?

[70bus]

Looking through the archives, most people say recent WW window slider felt needs no trimming.

So

am I doing it wrong, or does it need a trim?

It's all the way up to the top...

and the latch side ends before the mounting plate, but the hinge-side piece clearly overlaps the mounting plate. I have no problem if trimming it is the way to go; just want to be sure!
_________________
Craig K
70 Neunsitzer
65 Pritschenwagen
"If Von Dutch was alive, he'd walk in there with a pistol and shoot these people." - Robert Williams

Raul the 65 singlecab

Karl the 70 nine-seater

[BarryL]

Do you have a left and right bottom felt?

[crofty]

Dont forget to cut out a drain hole in the bottom seal.
_________________
Your Vanagon sucks, Stop waving at me.

[70bus]

I just got an email from WW, and they say nothing needs cut. Maybe my frame got wet and shrunk? :) I checked, and I do appear to have ordered the seals for a 65 with a latch through the glass.

I have no problem trimming if necessary; what I DON'T want is unnecessary trimming, or doing something not correctly that looks like I need to trim. There wasn't enough left of old seals to get too many clues...


Here's what I have:

This is old front angle seal vs. new one; clearly a difference. I put the old seal back in, and while I'm sure it shrunk a bit over the years, it's a nearly perfect fit. Note 2 different angles, about 60 and 70.

This is the bottom bar with felt seal and latch strip, set up so drain and latch holes match.... mostly; the felt by the latch strips 'creeps' forward a bit as you go down the metal strip. Angled end is at bar angle , which might be a bit short; 'tails' protrude past opposite end. Moving felts front or backwards to fix means holes no longer line up.

Taking the long upper seal at placing angled end as far in corner as it can go, the flat end falls here:

Put the angle felt in

and it ends here, below bar mount

Puting bar in:

Excess at top here instead of bottom

So I do need to trim, and just want advice on where best. Do I remove the 'tails' or do they fold somewhere? If I scoot the seal so the tails stay on, remember all the holes fail to line up! It's just frustrating that for some folks they seem to go right in, and some don't. And with no previous experience, one is left to sort through all the (valuable!) samba advice and pick a course of action. This is more rusto than resto, so ugly won't bother me, but function defects will.
_________________
Craig K
70 Neunsitzer
65 Pritschenwagen
"If Von Dutch was alive, he'd walk in there with a pistol and shoot these people." - Robert Williams

Raul the 65 singlecab

Karl the 70 nine-seater

[CanStan]

I realize this isn’t super helpful, but I went through the same thing with those seals recently. I had to trim the ends on both sides (they were definitely way too long), and cut new drain holes in one of them. I also had to trim / adjust the window latch notches. Maybe I got 2 of the same side? I couldn’t make the drain and latch holes line up on both sides no matter which way I tried. I took it as cheap, crappy aftermarket parts. But maybe you and I have both done something wrong? Or maybe we’re both unlucky?
You’re not alone anyways.

[BarryL]

Here is an NOS felt for the left side. They come cut from the factory.

I can get photos of the other NOS mating parts on my bus front door if you need to see how they did it.

[BonTonRoulet]

A couple of years ago I installed a set of window felts I had sourced from West
Coast Metric back in about 1993. They had sat on a shelf that long. Each set included 3 pieces; the lower channel piece, the angled upright in front of the sliding window, and the long piece from the top of the front of the frame across the top and down the back of the frame to the bottom. I don't remember having to cut anything, however, the part of the felt that fits the lower channel under the metal strip for the window latches was not cut like the photo above.

Stupid question:

1) Surely your bus/truck hasn't had a custom "chop" done to the roof and your window frames?
_________________
Never argue with an Idiot. They'll only bring you down to their level and beat you with experience.

[70bus]

I do sometimes wonder about the mix-and-match on the truck; I suspect it did have a baywindow upper shift rod in it! May be one reason they parked it... Aside from that, the only parts that do not have the original paint history on them are the back gate and the nose (which I replaced). The cab is stock dimension, and the doors matched, so wasn't chopped, but it is possible the frame itself is from a different model truck - I don;t know if a Sigla frame is different than a Sekurit, or if pre-63 is so different from 64+. As the door did shut and seal properly, I would imagine frame is either correct or compatible.

I understand the different look of new felt; I assume they are made as generic as possible to avoid making many $$$$ molds. I saw several apparently factory versions of the lower felt; some were cut like Barry's, some had a little block that appeared to hold up the latch strip. Drain holes changed. So better for a repop company to make one that fits all with adjustments. I'm just baffled that some say they went right in and some didn't. they should all need modification no matter how piddly.

My current plan is to cut it as close to factory as possible; Barry, if you could add pics or point some good ones in the gallery that would be great. That means leaving tails on and moving felt forward. Drain hole will have to be recut. I am leaning towards removing the section under the latch strip as in Barry's and others; leaving it squeezes the rubber and seems to put the strip at a slight tilt. I could leave a few small spots (shaved down a bit) for support... front bit and lower trimmed to match factory angles as best I can. Did the long piece have notches cut on the latch end where it met the tails, or did the tails tuck in somehow? I assume the notch that makes the tails is for the long piece's center rib to extend all the way down rather than just rest on the lower felt rib?

In any case, I'll take pics as i go. You all can chime in to tell me where I ruin it and need a new seal :)

If I DO screw it up, no big deal (aside from more $$ down a truck-shaped hole).Can always try again. I won't be spraying nice paint, so no trouble to redo at some later date, either.
_________________
Craig K
70 Neunsitzer
65 Pritschenwagen
"If Von Dutch was alive, he'd walk in there with a pistol and shoot these people." - Robert Williams

Raul the 65 singlecab

Karl the 70 nine-seater

[BarryL]

The front vertical strip is 45 degree at the top and 90 degree at the bottom. Tomorrow pics.

[BarryL]

You could cut your felts any way you feel best for you.

My top front meets at 45 degrees.

Bottom front the felt comes all the way down to the sill blunt or 90 degrees. The little oval hole is a worn spot from the glass bottom front corner.

The rear bottom has the long curved upper rear felt piece end on top of the two little wing parts. The rear pieces has shrunk upward a tad.

[70bus]

Barry’s post confused me at first - it made me think I’d already posted the photos I took this evening!

I dug out my passenger side frame; it should have OG rubber, or ar least VW replacements as it hadn’t been cared for since the mid80s. This frame is much crustier than the driver’s!

Angle felt is missing; upper cut approx 45 deg. Shrunk or cut short?

Lower felt front. Rib under latch strip cut away.

Test fit of driver side angle felt in passenger frame

Lower felt rear; tails present, and long vertical piece cut 90 deg just shy of lower felt

Test fit driver angle felt at upper vent side

Precut hole in felt for divider bar

Vent rubber. Scraper rubber is clearly installed first; vent rubber is installed to cover it

Upper vent. Rubber either shrank or was installed short. Scraper rubber is broken and would have filled some of the gap

So I think that between Barry’s pics and these I have a good idea of what I will do… still no clearer why some need a trim and some don,t,
_________________
Craig K
70 Neunsitzer
65 Pritschenwagen
"If Von Dutch was alive, he'd walk in there with a pistol and shoot these people." - Robert Williams

Raul the 65 singlecab

Karl the 70 nine-seater

[70bus]

Thanks to Barry, I dove in today.

With the lower bar loosely in place (screws but not tightened), I first fit the front section which goes against the vent:

OG felt compared to new after cutting

This was about 42 cm and put the top factory-cut 45 angle hard against the top rail and the cut end (about 70 deg) at the bottom touching the bar

Next the lower rail piece; tails to vertical bar and cut to kiss the felt on vent side (about 71 cm, 45 deg).

Cut new drain hole and remove rib under where the latch strip goes, as factory

Now take the long piece and place 90 deg factory cut in the vertical bar touching the tails

A trifle long, so trim to fit; I cut roughly 45 deg. This piece and the felt in angle were secured with Gasgacinch; I prefer it's more-forgiving nature on seals. If they move, THEN I get the gorilla snot...

The one rib needs tweaked, but otherwise a nice fit. Put in glass, add more screws and tighten. I got SS hardware from Jeff Gagnon; screws are longer but that's no issue.

Ooops.

Undo; redo with glass in proper channels!

Latch needs new rubber and spring so just fit loosely, but even with the latch strip not screwed in it slides without issues and latches (what size screw/bolt to attach latch strip? Mine did not survive...). I'm puzzled by that wear pattern in paint on the end of the strip by the divider bar - am I missing something? The divider bar can't go over it, as the stationary glass is hard against the seals and divider is tight against glass. Little clip at top of bar, too. Latch strip holes all lined up properly...

Drain hole seems to be exposed at all times window is closed; correct?

What seems to be an OK job on the felts makes me want to redo the vent rubber; it doesn't latch w/out some pressure that worries me the latch will snap. I'm guessing I missed where the rubber should be cut around the chrome bit, distorting the rubber.

Anyways, point out any flaws.
_________________
Craig K
70 Neunsitzer
65 Pritschenwagen
"If Von Dutch was alive, he'd walk in there with a pistol and shoot these people." - Robert Williams

Raul the 65 singlecab

Karl the 70 nine-seater

[70bus]

Put in the divider felt and screwed down the latch strip. Lower bar has a bit of a bend to it (1/8" perhaps) which will hopefully come out when frame is put on door.

Tweaked the vent rubber a bit and installed correct handle. Closes and opens with no issues, although I intend to be delicate with it when using...

Slider glass can rock a bit in the felts - normal, or a product of mild bend in bar?
_________________
Craig K
70 Neunsitzer
65 Pritschenwagen
"If Von Dutch was alive, he'd walk in there with a pistol and shoot these people." - Robert Williams

Raul the 65 singlecab

Karl the 70 nine-seater

[mdege]

I have a question about the aftermarket lower felt channel.

Did they bother to make a separate tool for the lower channel?

The original lower felt channel had a slightly different profile from the rest. Top of the lips had an extra edge which was probably meant to give a tighter seal without affecting the slide operation of the window too much.

I m just asking, because I have enough of the upper felt channel material (NOS) to replace mine, but if I could get the correct material for the bottom I would do that.
_________________
- Michael

1965 21F: Restoration of a former '65 firetruck
1963 Typ3 Notchback project
1988 Multivan Magnum 112i
1984 Standard: My son wanted a bug for his first car

[70bus]

This is what Mdege refers to:

Wolfsburg felts do not have that flare at top. It,s the same extrusion for top (R) and bottom (L).

One thing I do like is that the ‘felting’ is just flocking glued to rubber; when it wears off (which it does just in handling) you can just stick on more. Originals were toast once the fabric felt ‘skin’ started tearing.

_________________
Craig K
70 Neunsitzer
65 Pritschenwagen
"If Von Dutch was alive, he'd walk in there with a pistol and shoot these people." - Robert Williams

Raul the 65 singlecab

Karl the 70 nine-seater

[mdege]

Thank you for your answer. That means I'll got with what I got.
_________________
- Michael

1965 21F: Restoration of a former '65 firetruck
1963 Typ3 Notchback project
1988 Multivan Magnum 112i
1984 Standard: My son wanted a bug for his first car