Wing window rebuild

[moparjohn]

Did you replace panel #14? the one that goes from window to floor line? Where did you get it? new? matches? John

[Belegedhel]

There is a liberal amount of vulkem both sealing the glass into the frame and providing extra adhesion under the hose. There is also a bead on the outside to make sure any void at the edge of the frame is filled.

[dcheshire]

Did you reuse your glass? I had one of these break a few months ago and paid an arm and a leg to have it replaced as a unit. would be interesting to know about how to just pop in new glass or even plastic.

estimate on your hours?

[Belegedhel]

Yep, used the original glass, and the good news is, the next time the outer pane breaks, I have the inner pane in my attic ready to go into action. I probably spent the most time trying to decide how to fill the gap created by removing the inner pane. When I do my other window, I bet I will be able to do it in 4-6 hours, depending on how much trouble I have with the screws that hold the frame together. It isn't so simple as just popping glass in and out, since I had to drill out all the rivets holding the frame in place, and buck them all back in again (my inner skins are currently removed).

[Tom Nugler]

Originally Posted by Belegedhel

.... Disassembly of the window frame extrusion was easier than I expected..... Some of the heads of the screws snapped off.....

How easy is easy??

I removed the streetside wing window last weekend to repair water leaks from a poorly replaced #11 front segment. Had a really annoying leak between the window frame and skin that would get worse the colder it got.

While its out I figured I might as well take it apart, clean and reseal it.

I’ve removed the screws, 2 heads broke off. I’ve been soaking the old sealer, foam, butyrate and who knows what else they’ve smeared on there with PB Blaster and Xylene.
I’ve managed to slide a piece of .032 aluminum strip in the corner between the frame and outer glass but it’s still mostly stuck. The manual indicates it's a smple job to pry out the outer glass. Yea, Maybe 40 years ago.

Any thoughts?
Tom

[Belegedhel]

Tom,

I know that both of my wing windows have been replaced by a previous owner, so it could be that the windows I rebuilt are of a much later vintage. If you look back at post #16, you can see the cross-section of my window frames, and these are constructed differently than the diagram on your post above. It looks like your frames come apart in a "clam-shell" type design, whereas mine came apart as if disassembling the letter "D" and pulling the vertical, straight part away from the curved section. Once the straight part of the frame was released (two screws at the top, two at the bottom), the two panes, with rubber gasket between them and the frame, and the black goo that separates them all slid out of the frame as one piece. I might have spread the frame a little to loosen it up.

[Tom Nugler]

Thanks for the reply.

After searching the treads for the last year or so I think there may be 4 or 5 basic designs that were used for the smaller wings until they went with the panoramic style.
I was hoping the chemicals would do most of the work loosening up the sealers. FYI, I only have 2 screws holding the straight piece to the “D” extrusion. And 6 holding the outer and inner frames together. One corners up about ¼ inch. The rest is still stuck.
I’m documenting the process as I go along. If I don’t mess something up and have to replace the whole unit I’ll post that as a how to.

Tom

[Belegedhel]

Originally Posted by moparjohn

Did you replace panel #14? the one that goes from window to floor line? Where did you get it? new? matches? John

Missed responding to this one earlier--Here's the long story: Yes, I did replace the quarter panel below the window. The original had a large dent in it that I successfully popped out with a suction cup, the problem was that with the least amount of pressure, the dent would pop back in again. Since I had all the interior skins out, I thought I would try to roll the dent out from inside. I have one of those Harbor Freight English Wheels, so I selected a roller of what I thought was a reasonable radius, and rolled on my dent from inside. Well, my roller probably had too small of a radius, and I probably pushed too hard, and ended up with visible "roller marks" that could be seen and felt from outside. Those end segments are super soft!

I took the whole panel off and ran it through my English Wheel, trying to get the roller marks flattened out. Got rid of the marks, but succeeded in changing the overall curve of the segment enough that it was noticeably bulged out. So, next, I took a piece of .040 6061 and tried to make a compound curved lower segment from scratch. Beyond my skill level. So I broke down and ordered a new panel from Out of Doors Mart. The freight is a killer. Showed up in a box the size of a full size mattress!

[Jim in Pima]

Hi on my lower "vista views" I used a dense foam used for insulation, 6 years later, and it is fine. My upper vista views were replaced with single pane in some other life and the leak

[Mossiyjack]

Sent from my

On Jan 26, 2014, at 7:39 AM, Jack Gruer <mossiyjack@gmail.com> wrote:

Greetings, Jack Gruer here, aka Mossiyjack, read your approach to the repair of double pane (pain) windows and I have just gone through the exercise myself but kept the double pains (panes) All worked out well, however I have a '73 with small front wing windows and after taking off the vertical slide bar I am at a loss of how to remove the window. Looking for advice.
Kindest regards. mossiyjack


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Unsubscription information:

To unsubscribe from this thread, please visit this page:
http://www.airforums.com/forums/subs...ba50fbcc6dfcde

[Inland RV Center, In]

Originally Posted by Mossiyjack

Sent from my

On Jan 26, 2014, at 7:39 AM, Jack Gruer <mossiyjack@gmail.com> wrote:

Greetings, Jack Gruer here, aka Mossiyjack, read your approach to the repair of double pane (pain) windows and I have just gone through the exercise myself but kept the double pains (panes) All worked out well, however I have a '73 with small front wing windows and after taking off the vertical slide bar I am at a loss of how to remove the window. Looking for advice.
Kindest regards. mossiyjack


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Unsubscription information:

To unsubscribe from this thread, please visit this page:
http://www.airforums.com/forums/subs...ba50fbcc6dfcde

The wing window must be removed from the trailer.

Then, you must separate the vertical molding from the "C" shaped molding.

Then the glass will slide out.

Andy

[overlander63]

Originally Posted by Mossiyjack

Sent from my

On Jan 26, 2014, at 7:39 AM, Jack Gruer <mossiyjack@gmail.com> wrote:

Greetings, Jack Gruer here, aka Mossiyjack, read your approach to the repair of double pane (pain) windows and I have just gone through the exercise myself but kept the double pains (panes) All worked out well, however I have a '73 with small front wing windows and after taking off the vertical slide bar I am at a loss of how to remove the window. Looking for advice.
Kindest regards. mossiyjack


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Unsubscription information:

To unsubscribe from this thread, please visit this page:
http://www.airforums.com/forums/subs...ba50fbcc6dfcde

Drill out the rivets, and remove the window. You may have to get somrthing between the frame and the skin of the trailer to separate them.

[Mossiyjack]

The driver side wing window outside frame is a one piece riveted to the body. The curbside wing window looks different, it has what appears to be a two piece "C" unit containing the glass plus the verticle piece that ties into the square BIG window frame. What holds the curved wing window in?Sealent? I removed the plastic frame inside and there are 12 screws holding an inside frame that looks a lot like the frame on the regular double pane windows that I all ready have redone. In taking out those 12 screws, half of them had the heads snap off because a former? (I suspect) redid one of them before and coated these screws with some sort of hardening Sealent. I understand after getting this damn thing out the glass will/should slide out of the "C" frame. Perhaps I am flogging a dead horse! Frustration is running rampant!

[Roadrunner]

It looks like I am headed in this direction as well. The wing windows on our Tradewind are filled with condensation. As I have the interior skins removed, I figure now is the time to address this problem.

So it appears that removal requires drilling the outside bucked rivets to get the window out. How easy is it to drill out buck rivets? I can envision my drill bit skating across the aluminum skin panel. How have others addressed this issue? How do you get the rivets out. Once the rivets are removed, does the window frame just come out the front of the trailer?

I'll likely remove the inner pane and take the window from a double pane to single pane. Thanks for your help!

Bob
Indiana, PA

TAC PA-5
WBCCI 4871

[Belegedhel]

I bought a "rivet removal tool" from Aircraft Spruce.

RIVET REMOVAL TOOL from Aircraft Spruce

This tool is like a tube that fits right over the rivet head and then has a drill bit that slides forward and hits the rivet head right in the middle. I used it to drill most of the rivets out of my trailer, and it did a good job.

Another option is just to take a center punch and put a ding in the middle of the rivet head. If you are using a sharp bit, you can get good results, you just need to be careful the bit doesn't walk.

I have also used, with very good results, the "sharp putty knife" method, where you insert a sturdy metal putty knife in between the sheets you intend to separate, and whack it with a hammer to sheer the rivets. I believe this is what I used to remove my wing windows.

Good luck!

[Jim in Pima]

I lost my curb side wing window to a rock, outer glas only, so purchased a replacement from andy. Drilling out the 50 rivets is a chore, I lightly punched a
dent in the center of each rivet then using a 31 (I recall) drill bit took them out.
Window came right out, I was surprised how heavy it was. My luck, not on rivet hole lined up on new window (single pane)

[laducky]

Originally Posted by Belegedhel

I spent altogether too much time mulling over what to fill the frame with after rebuilding as a single pane, but finally settled on some sort of tough hose, so that it would not only fill the frame, but have the "spring force" to stay in place, and to keep the window in position. It turned out the perfect sized hose for the job was black rubber air hose made by Goodyear. There is also a judicious amount of Vulkem to seal the glass in the frame.

I also needed some kind of spacer to keep the glass from touching the aluminum frame. For this, I used a bunch of very thing silicon "bumpers" like you might put on the bottom of a cutting board to keep it from sliding around on your counter top. Had to look long and hard to find ones that were thin enough for this application. Reassembled the window frames with stainless steel screws.

Hello, resurrecting this thread for the new year You mentioned a black rubber hose and silicon bumpers... do you have more product information on these? I'm gearing up to taking on my wing windows since I finished my vista views today. It's always something isn't it!

[Belegedhel]

The rubber air hose I used was the typical 1/4" variety you might buy to use with your home air compressor. Many of the cheap hoses you find at the big box stores are made of polyurethane, and have less "spring force" to them, and are also slippery. The one I used was made of rubber and was similar to the hose at the following address:

50 ft. x 1/4 in. Professional Rubber Air Hose

except that it was made by Goodyear.

The spacers I mentioned above are refered to as "vinyl pads" and are similar to the following:

Shepherd 3/8 in. Self-Adhesive Vinyl Surface Pads (16 per Pack)-9964 - The Home Depot

The ones I found were extremely thin, less than 1/8" thick, and of uniform thickness, not rounded like in the example above.

good luck!

[aquinob]

Resurrecting this thread again. I've got a pair of these wing windows that need help and this looks to be the best step by step I've seen so far. I've also got two "stack" windows to service. One has the big metal "c" clip that hold the plastic and glass in and is essentially held in with just some butyl caulk. The other looks to be the type that is in two parts and has to be removed like the wings to service since it has to come apart to remove the panes. Documented here: http://www.airforums.com/forums/f44/...es-129496.html

As part of ordering supplies in, I'm looking to order some rolls of of tremco Polyshim tape rolls in 1/16th and 3/16ths. This stuff should do well to position the glass in the frame and The plan would be to use the thin tape up against the frame edge to hold the glass in place and then caulk it in like Panama Red did here: http://www.airforums.com/forums/f454...ign-96251.html

I would use the thicker tape to create a gap for the inner pane on the stacks, at least the one with the big c clip.

I'm not as sure about the wing windows, especially if I end up only putting one pane back in instead of the original two. I'll also be ordering a couple of tubes of the gray tempro and olympic rivets. Is there anything else I should try and get in before I start?

[Belegedhel]

It sounds like you have everything you should need for the rebuild. The only other advice I would offer is that the aluminum clip/clamps that bind the frame of the center windows to the wing windows can be a real bear to remove, especially if anyone has worked on them in the past and glued them in place. You might try removing these ahead of the project. If they end up too badly deformed/destroyed, you might want to order a pair of them in advance of the work.

good luck!