Here's a little different take on the Sovereign. The front Vista Views were installed with Olympic rivets (looks like a warranty job and boy was it crappy--lots of bucked rivet shafts still in place under the frames!). You can't drill them out. As soon as you push the center pin in, they loosen and will spin. So after experimenting will several time-consuming techniques to remove them, here's my best method:
1. Use a nail set and small hammer to push the pin in.
2. Insert the nail set only slightly, just enough to get a grip on the hole, then tilt the head and break one of the three legs.
3. Use a large plier to finish prying them out.
By the way, the
original use of something that resembles double-stick foam tape between the frames and the skin contributes to the leaks. Maybe someone thought that the stiff frames might cut or vibrate-crack the shell as everything vibrated? The whole installation is just not good.
On the inside, you need to remove the shroud. You don't have to remove the inner skin completely, just along the bottom edge and in the case of these two windows close together, the rivets along the intervening rib. You can curl the skin away from the shell and reach up and pull the shroud out. You have to first remove the rivets along it's bottom edge. There are only two rivets up at the top of the shroud--the plastic will break away as you give it a tug.
Some of the shroud come out in one piece, but they are all very brittle after 30+ years. One note about the two rivets at the top edge of the shrouds. They are bucked rivets and have a small strip of aluminum that was inside the plastic (toward the inside of the trailer and therefore visible before the shroud was detached). With the plastic now missing, it's possible the rivet will be loose and will need a dollop of Vulkem to make sure it doesn't leak.
Here's the five identical windows from the Sovereign. There are two of the other type from the Overlander, a long one (about 1/4" shorter than the Sovereign [new] version) and a short one.
Can't wait to get the shell watertight! YES!
Now where the heck and I going to get 1-1/2" fiberglass insulation?
Zep