Half Way writeup on vent window seals

[BR3W CITY]

I had to do it today, and took a bunch of pics. You can do it a couple ways depending on which rivets you want to take out (or which ones have rusted or been damaged on your setup). Depending on how far you want to take this repair, plan on at least 2 hours up to half a day if you are going to do EVERYTHING.


Here goes.

Started off with some crust old seals, plenty of old misc overspray, cracks and other junk on it.




Tear down time. There is one phillips screw on the top, under the window guide thingy (felt type piece) which should already have been removed (mine were damaged).


Then the little assembly on the bottom. Its a nut, lock washer, 1 round washer and 1 slotted washer, then the bracket, followed by another washer and goofy half-round washer.





On window #1, chose to drill the two horizontal rivets on the angle bracket that holds the vent window bottom the the main windows upright channel.
Window #2, I did the same bracket but the vertical rivets instead.



I also trimmed the rivets off the hinge, as 1 rivet was easier than 2 on each bracket.


Then the window can "Swing" up allowing you to separate the vent window assembly from the frame.



Then you can start peeling the gasket from the channel. When its out, you have the bare frame, and the window assembly separate. This is a great time time to wipe/sand/clean/paint anything you want or need to.




*****NOW, you can either just replace the main rubber gasket, or you may also need to replace the vertical strip gasket that the window closes against. If your not doing the vertical gasket, skip ahead to the asterisks*******


The vertical gasket is a hard-backed gasket that the window seals against when closed, it is held in place with semi-hidden rivets, and its a PITA. You can see the rivet holes in the vertical window post, the heads of the rivets are down IN this, and they need to be drilled/pried out along with the gasket. Re doing the rivets seemed crazy, as its way too much work, and the new gaskets backing seems like plastic. It also fits in VERY tight by itself. I aided it with some epoxy.



The window can also come apart from its metal frame and lock assembly, only one of mine fell apart, so I used a little trim adhesive to slide her back into place.



*******************************Back to the window gaskets***************


Re-assembly time. You can see the old gasket next to the new one, big difference, and hopefully it will mean no more vent window leak in heavy rain. There isn't much to show of me putting the gasket in...but I offer some advice.
It SLIDES in the channel, starting at the bottom. Coat the back of the gasket and or the frame with wd40, the gasket slides in way easier, and you won't risk ripping it if it gets hung up on an old piece of metal slag etc. Also, make sure your putting the right seal on the right side, they each have a cutout where the hinge goes.




Looks like a new window again! WAIT!!! there is some more we have to do. Replace the grommet/rivet in the hinge (this is actually kind of a pain, I have a regular rivet in place, but I would REALY like to change it back out for an OE style eyelet (no hole, no overhang)


You can go ahead and re install all the old rivets to hold the frame back in place, but you HAVE to get the right size or they will either pull through the sheetmetal, or have way to much overhang...so much so that you run into fitment issues.
I chose to go a different route....one that involved a welder. A quick buzz to tach each bracket, and its better than new. Keep the heat quick tho, you don't want to ruin your new gaskets.




All done (and yes they are still dirty )