Hitchcock'd Saturday

Friday night's post suggested that I might have some time this weekend to get something done on the bus. That proved right, so I'll hit on the detail of what I got done around a soccer game, and the usual familial chaos around here. To be clear, I love the chaos, I just wish I had a big enough garage to work in so when the chaos settles down at night I can work somewhere warm, dry and well lit. Instead, I have a cold, damp and dark spot outside. I should be grateful for that. I could not have the space to do this at all. I did so much, I'll spread the tasks across a series of posts rather than making this one ridiculously long.

Rear Window
Removing a sealed-in-place window is actually easier than you'd think. With a box-cutter, repeatedly cut the seal at a 90* angle with the glass. Once you've gotten a few cuts in, wedge the knife between the seal and the glass and cut as deep as you can. The rubber should start separating and pulling off with your fingers. Once the glass to rubber seal is breached, push out from the inside of the vehicle and grab hold on the outside. Pull the glass out and then pull the remaining rubber. The window that I was removing also had a little pop-out window in it. Once the outer seal was cut out, the metal frame for the little window could slide back towards the rear and be removed. It was this little window that was leaking - the lower post was rusted away, so even when it was closed a little water could get in. Honestly, it was this leak that prompted the purchase of the cover, the new window and the new seal.

North by North Rust
Once the old seal was out, I could see the effects of the leak. Over time, rust has built up. Under the window is an odd body panel held on with 3 Phillips screws on the bottom and clips across the top. A couple shots of PB Blaster and the screws released. Pop-pop with a rubber mallet, and the panel was off, showing the extent of the rust. I'm not a body man by any stretch, but I try to inhibit the spread of rust when I see it. Dust, sand, re-dust, then spray with rust converter. Once the converter dries, I spray some paint and let that dry. There are some pictures here to show the before-after. The paint is not an exact match, but its close enough for now. One day I'll paint this beast for real.

The 39 Steps
While the paint was drying, I started fighting the new seal around the new-to-me glass. First, I tried simple brute force. I had read somewhere about warming the seal in the drier, but my wife suggested using the hairdryer. This proved to be the best solution as it gave me a way to focus the heat onto the bit of glass and seal that I was trying to mate. The picture to the right here shows what I'm trying to get at. After an interesting wrestling match in my living room that included multiple implements, a gash in my palm and 2 complete re-starts, I did get the seal on.

Notorious
Weather is always a concern when doing anything outside, and no where is this more true than in the Pacific Northwest after October 1st (and before July 4th). With the rainy weather starting, I was concerned that while waiting for the paint to dry the rain would come and mess things up. I got lucky, though, and the rain was only that light misty rain that we used to get a lot of (years ago), so it didn't really make it past the tree canopy. It did make everything damp, though, so the drying time ran a little long.

Vertigo
Getting the now-sealed window to sit into the window-hole is actually kinda easy, but doing all the things the internet sites say to do make it challenging. Most sites recommend slobbering dish soap or KY Jelly on the seal and wrapping thin nylon rope (more like twine) around the seal a couple of times. This twine is then supposed to be slobbered with lube too. Then, the whole operation is fed into the window-hole with the rope ends dangling inside the vehicle. Without a partner, this is virtually impossible. I got dizzy trying to get it all straight, and actually bonked my head on the side of the bus before removing the twine and going brute force.

Psycho
So, I got the window seated in the window hole, and whacked around the edge with my rubber mallet until the seal was pressed hard against the metal sill that runs along the inner edge of the window hole. This sill completely encircles the inner edge except for about 1/2" on the top where the little pop-out window once was. Here's where the brute force started. If you've ever gotten those paint-can openers from the home-paint stores, one end is a great bottle opener. For this reason, I've kept a few around. The paint-can opener end is great for grabbing a window seal and pulling it over the inner sill. I reached through that 1/2" opening, grabbed the seal and pulled it over the sill. Using the paint-can opener (and a Phillips screw driver at times), I pulled the seal on over this sill all the way around. You can see the tool in the picture to the right, here. I re-hammered the seal with the rubber mallet from the outside to make sure it seated completely.

The Birds
I used simple glass-cleaner to get the new window nice an clean - removing all the different lubricants and other soaps along the way. I have used the rope trick to get my windshield in a few years ago, or should I say I watched the windshield guy do it. For a one-person operation, this takes some practice. I wouldn't encourage others to use the technique I used unless they are very careful not to damage the seal in the process. A torn seal will not keep water out, defeating the purpose of the efforts. Getting the new glass into the bus by myself took much more time than a professional would have taken, and I probably should have had someone around to help out. Next time I will.

I have identified the problem with the fuel system, and I'll talk about that in one of the next few posts. I also got under the bus a bit today and did some more thinking about how to get a heater core in there. I'll post on those thoughts soon too. Thanks for following along, and yes I know I missed "Strangers on a Train" and "The Lady Vanishes" in my Hitchcock references. Some of my references were a bit of a stretch to begin with, and adding those would have been exceptionally challenging.

Pictures:
Top - front top edge of window hole after removing old window. Note the notch in the inner sill.
Upper Middle - Eeew. Rust.
Middle - using the hairdryer to warm the glass and the seal.
Lower Middle - window installed-ish from the outside before the seal was pulled over the sill.
Bottom - window fully installed as viewed from the inside. Note that it is over the inner sill.