Date: Thu, 29 Mar 2007 02:55:00 -0400
Reply-To: Jonathan Farrugia <jfarrugi@UMICH.EDU>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: Jonathan Farrugia <jfarrugi@UMICH.EDU>
Subject: Re: any MD's in the house? help with windshield removal tool...
In-Reply-To: <a06020404c230fff98087@[192.168.1.103]>
Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; charset=US-ASCII; format=flowed
Paul
what i have found to work well, on side windows at least, to take the
window and seal out together are wooden paint stir sticks. the corners
are generally radiused but you could always radius them more. also being
made out of wood, usually they seem like decent hardwood, they don't
scratch the paint finish on the vehicle body. my process goes like this.
can of cheap spray oil in hand, generally WD40 because i tend to
accumulate half used cans that people dontate to me, paint stir stick in
other. use the stir stick to pry the seal back, kind of like using a
bicycle 'tire iron' spray oil as you move around the entire seal/window
frame. everything is well lubed now. while it soaks i move outside as i
am generally working by myself. using the good 3M weatherproof duct tape
(purple label) i make a big X and then a plus across the window and the
body. this will hold the window in place as you push it out then you can
get out of the van and hold the window while you remove the tape.
okay back in the van with a stack of paint stir sticks in hand i wedge
them around the seal to hold the seal up. depending on window frame
design they can be used on the long edge sometimes. so when you have as
many stir sticks in as you think you need give the window a push. it
usually pops out. if not add a few more stir sticks and try again. the
needed push pressure should be reasonably light.
i have found no long term adverse effects of the spray oils on the rubber.
most of the stuff i take out sits on the shelf for years before use. i
think the spray oil helps restore a minor but helpful portion of the oils
off gassed from the rubber due to UV exposure. of course i have no real
data for this :).
also when i reuse rubber seals i get a big piece of card board, a bit
bigger than the seal all stretched out. i lay the seal on the card board
and lube every square inch of it up with vaseline. weather permitting i
let it sit in the sun for a period of time, perhaps like a half hour.
some of the vaseline will actually be taken up by the seal or so it seems.
i also lube the windframe with vaseline. then using the normal cord trick
i pop the window in. wipe up the excess vaseline and call it done. in
the years i have been doing this i have had no problems. no seal becoming
floppy or degraded. i started doing this for two reasons. first it helps
the window installation. second the vaseline under the seal and in the
window frame displaces the water that eventually gets under the seal and
rots out the window frame. the side window frames can be prone to rust,
but we all know that even on those nice clean CA vans a large precentage
of them have the windshield frame perfed with rust holes.
jonathan
On Wed, 28 Mar 2007, Paul Guzyk wrote:
>> this it looks like an interesting tool how exactly did you use it?
>>
>
> basically to pull the inside rubber seal away from the inside window
> frame while I sprayed in rubber lubricant (use Armour All or soapy
> water if you don't have a specialty lube) I then inserted a
> clothesline cord (metal strands coated in vinyl) to keep the seal
> away from the window frame. A few firm presses the windshield came
> out....without breaking.
>
> Key to success was using lots of lube. This tool helps get the lube
> under the seal and make room for the cord.
>
> I'll document the procedure with photos next time I do it....
>
> -Paul
>
>
>
