Vent Window Refresh

[68bowtie]

First of all I am by no means an expert at this. With some limited info from this site, along with a little common sense, I was able to replace the seals and "refresh" my vent windows. I figured I would document the process with some detailed photos. Mostly to show photos for others to see the level of effort required. I'm sure there are better ways to do some of the steps. I have to say although it doesn't take a ton of time, the seal and rivet installation can be quite frustrating.

Parts used:

• Vent window rivet kit with rivet punch (ECE, ok quality, rivets were a bit long)
• Vent window handle assembly (ECE, good quality parts, good fit)
• Vent window weatherstrip kit (Precision, good quality and fit)
• Side window channel felt set

Tools used:

• Drill and bits
• 9669 C3 Corvette 68-82 rivet tool (although I could have made it work with the rivet punch, particularly if I had a partner)
• blast cabinet
• dremel
• 0000 steel wool
• vice
• hammer
• punch set
• misc wrenches and hand tools

Here's what I started with. The chrome parts were in decent shape other than the handle assemblies. The felts were junk, seals dried out, and there was some light surface rust here and there.





Step 1 note the position of the nut on the end of the shaft. This is the adjustment of the tightness of the window.



Note the order of the washers and spring when removing.



Drill out the hinge rivet. Use a sharp bit, and don't use a lot of pressure or it will spin.

[68bowtie]

Slide out the vent window and set aside for cleaning. I was fortunate enough to have good soft-ray glass, I'm not sure how hard it would be to reset in the sash.



Pull back the top of the seal to get to 2 of 4 rivets on the main frame that need to be removed.



These are the other 2 of 4 on the bottom end. The other rivets around the bottom and front of the frame can stay as long as they are still tight.



I had trouble with the rivets spinning when I tried to drill them out. So I used a dremel to grind them off.



And tap them out with a punch.

[68bowtie]

That separates the main frame from the vent frame.

Next you drill out these 4 rivets that hold the vertical metal-backed seal to the main channel frame piece. They also spun on me, but I was able to get them close and punch them out carefully too.



As you can see there is a chromed surround that goes between the main channel and the seal.



A bent screwdriver seemed to get the felt out easily enough.



Note the edge of this channel has a chrome finish that you will want to protect.



Cleaning up the chrome finish areas with some 0000 steel wool and simple green.

[68bowtie]

I blasted some of the surface rusted areas on the main frame channel and the thinner vent window channel, being careful not to hit the areas shown in this picture. Those will be visible after assembly.



Next use a small punch and carefully tap out the set pin for the window handle. This part is pretty straight forward.

[68bowtie]

I think there's only one way the handle shaft can go in the glass, but you might want to pay attention when you take yours apart just to be sure.



The new handle washers were a bit different than the OEM parts. Not sure what's up with that.



The pin taps right in. Would have been much easier with a second pair of hands, to hold the pin, punch, hammer, and keep the handle from rotating.



Gave the shaft spring and hardware a quick blast. Again, be careful not to hit the exposed chrome parts.



Now to the metal backed seal that goes against the main frame channel. For some reason the holes in the metal backing were smaller than the rivets and so I had to drill them out a very small amount to get the rivets in.

[68bowtie]

I found the easiest way to install the seal against the frame channel was to put it seal side down onto a vice (so the smooth head of the rivet was resting on the vice surface), and use the rivet punch to set it firmly in place. 4 rivets total.



The top side once installed. Don't forget to reinstall the chromed piece in between.



Next to install the angled vent window seal. Don't forget to first wrap the top of the seal over the thin vent window frame.



Getting the seal onto the thin frame is a pain. I found it easiest to start with the top end as noted (#1), then set the corner next (#2). The side and bottom should be done last (#3 and #4), working out from the corner once it's set firmly in place.



Again, this is difficult, but I found this to work well, putting the frame on a hard surface and pushing my weight into the corner of the rubber. Oh, and use some soap and water for a lubricant.

[68bowtie]

I found that the end of a box end wrench worked well (with a wood block underneath to support the channel) to work the seal into the channel. Again, lots of lube, and lots of pressure required.



Here's the seal installed.



Next is the 4 rivets to reconnect the frames together. I tried the aero tool, but it doesn't fit. The rivet punch worked fine. It's hard to get any tools into either side of the frame in this phase. I set the parts on firm concrete, propped up by a socket (with one of the flat headed bits from the aero tool) beneath the rivet. Then used the rivet punch from above. A few good smacks with the hammer and it's set.

This is where I think the rivets were a bit too long. To get a good firm connection, I had to work the rivet pretty hard to where it split around the edges. Turned out ok, but didn't seem perfect.



Oh, and I had to grind down the edge of the rivet punch to fit it in there...



For the 2 rivets on the bottom side, I used the vise to support the underside of the rivets so I could punch them in. Once again, the punch prevailed over the aero tool.

[68bowtie]

When you slide the vent window back into the reassembled frame, make sure you don't forget to reinstall these 2 washers on the way in. One is an odd shaped square-sided washer that keeps the window from opening too far.



The single, larger, hinge rivet I installed with the aero tool. I clamped the tool in the vice, and it held the window up while I torqued down the rivet. It worked well for this, and I needed it since I was by myself. But with a helper I think I could have made the rivet punch work and saved some $$.



The last step is to reinstall the shaft spring and hardware, set to the original position, and set the keeper tabs.



And that's it!

[Thealien]

Nice job and write up!

[DeadheadNM]

Excellent write up! Thanks for making the time to share your build.

- I’ve rebuilt keeping the pivot rivet in place
- KY jelly can be helpful to set the outer rubber seal

[1971Stepside]

I'm going to do mine this weekend. I'm curious. I've seen one video that shows removing all four rivets to separate the pieces and I've seen one where they only removed the top two from the frame. What is the preferred method? I appreciate the write up and perfect timing of this!

[bigmac73]

what was your total time and cash invested in the rebuilds? I am just asking to see if it is feasible doing it my self or having precision do it for 430.00 for the pair..

[May70]

Thanks for the writeup

[Ol Blue K20]

Thanks for great tutorial. I'll be using it soon...

[NorCalC20LWB]

Great write up 68, nice detail. Wish I could have seen this last year when I did mine. Only thing I did different was to use pop rivets in the vertical channel, since I did not like using the punch tool. Not as "authentic" but effective. Here's how it looks, probably more obvious than the punch method:

[thehata1]

Great job!

[firedemon]

did you use any kind of lube on the shaft that goes through the rubber seal that the spring goes on ?

[firedemon]

Originally Posted by NorCalC20LWB

Great write up 68, nice detail. Wish I could have seen this last year when I did mine. Only thing I did different was to use pop rivets in the vertical channel, since I did not like using the punch tool. Not as "authentic" but effective. Here's how it looks, probably more obvious than the punch method:

did you use pop rivets on the top and bottom or just the strait piece ? if so how hard is it to get the tool into the one covered by the seal?

[68bowtie]

Thanks everybody.

Originally Posted by DeadheadNM

Excellent write up! Thanks for making the time to share your build.

- I’ve rebuilt keeping the pivot rivet in place
- KY jelly can be helpful to set the outer rubber seal

Yeah, I have heard others do that. I wasn't sure how hard it would be to handle the assembly with it still attached, but I think it's a valid option.

Great idea to use KY. Better lube would have certainly made my job easier.

Originally Posted by 1971Stepside

I'm going to do mine this weekend. I'm curious. I've seen one video that shows removing all four rivets to separate the pieces and I've seen one where they only removed the top two from the frame. What is the preferred method? I appreciate the write up and perfect timing of this!

If you are just replacing seals I think the top only method would be fine. If you want to do a full resto and work on the frame parts too I'd plan on top and bottom.

Originally Posted by bigmac73

what was your total time and cash invested in the rebuilds? I am just asking to see if it is feasible doing it my self or having precision do it for 430.00 for the pair..

The comparative cost would depend on your specific situation, but I paid probably $100 in parts for both sides, and I started with a $100+ pair of vent windows. So it cost me equivalent to $200 plus a few hours of shop time.

Originally Posted by firedemon

did you use any kind of lube on the shaft that goes through the rubber seal that the spring goes on ?

I didn't. I suppose it wouldn't hurt. It's a pretty loose opening where the shaft goes through.

[Southpaw69]

Very good write up. I know where to look if I ever get around to doing mine. Thanks!

[NorCalC20LWB]

Originally Posted by firedemon

did you use pop rivets on the top and bottom or just the strait piece ? if so how hard is it to get the tool into the one covered by the seal?

Firedemon, it's been a year since I did them, but I'm pretty sure I used pop rivets on everything except the pivot pin rivet. I did not rivet on the felt run channel on the opposite side of the vent window, simply used weatherstrip adhesive for the vertical run felt when I reassembled the door. Basically, the pop rivets are used to attach the wing window rubber to the vertical piece only. The way 68 did it is how it was done originally at the factory, pop rivets are kind of a cheat I guess, and not as much of an authentic look. The rivet gun fit into the window channel easily without the felt in it, not sure if that would be the case if you wanted to rivet in the felt like 68 did. Would think the only option there would be to use the punch rivets.

[69Tom]

Subscribed for future reference. Thanks for the write up.

[Ptjsk]

Perfect timing for me, as I hope to be doing this within a few weeks or so.

Thanks a bunch!

Pat

[bry593]

Great instructional. Will reference when I replace my bat wing seals. Thanks!