Rebuilding '70s vintage wing windows, need some examples

[aquinob]

Like the title says, I will be working on the front wing windows on my '73 Overlander. The streetside window actually has evidence of filling up with water, probably well before I became the owner.

Looking at the windows, I'm not sure if they were ever previously removed. It looks like most of the rivets are olympics, and there is an overly generous layer of butyl tape on top of the inside flange, almost as if somebody tried to seal it up after the fact.

What I'm hoping to see is how other folks have taken these windows out, taken them apart and then put them back together and reinstalled so they dont leak. I don't want to do this job a second time, and I'm sure plenty of folks have some stories to tell. Thanks in advance for any help you can give me.







You can see the traces of water in-between the panes of glass:

[ND10CentCan]

Check out our rebuild on the Albatross where we struggled along with window clean up. It can be done if you are careful, methodical, and take your time.
Sandy

[aquinob]

Gotta link? Thanks.

[thesignlady]

Filling up with water? Is your wing window double paned?
Can you post a closer up shot of your lower inner corner from the interior please, I am looking at your pics from my phone and can't see the riveting clearly enough to advise. Also what condition is the glazing between the aluminium frame and the glass in?

[aquinob]

Originally Posted by thesignlady

Filling up with water? Is your wing window double paned?
Can you post a closer up shot of your lower inner corner from the interior please, I am looking at your pics from my phone and can't see the riveting clearly enough to advise. Also what condition is the glazing between the aluminium frame and the glass in?

Yes, its double paned, I thought they all were from that era. The glazing is probably original or 40+ years old, so the windows have to come apart just to be cleaned and resealed. Here is the closest shot of a window I've got at the moment.

[aquinob]

Does anybody have some pics of a wing window rebuild job they would like to share?

[thesignlady]

Okay I am looking at your pics on a bigger screen now. Your drivers side is all original it looks exactly like mine with the exception the bolt or screw looking things on the portion of aluminum frame holding the window. I am assuming that you have those additional things due to the double pane aspect that I don't have on my 69. Your curbside has been removed and replaced with Olympic rivets and from what I can from the backside of the rivets it looks like they possibly did not use a sealant on each rivet, so on that side some of your moisture may be coming from those. From my experience with my 69 wing window though, the window may not be your only leak source. First step in find where your leak source is or are. In mine there were multiple areas needing work. I went for the most obvious to me area first. on the outside of the trailer I removed cleaned and resealed with Grey Sitka flex the area area between the frame and the body and then sealed the rivets with Captain Tolleys creating cracked cure ( available at West Marine and vintage trailer supply) After I did that I did a water leak test.

To do a water leak test get your hose out and spray the lowest section of the trailer and working incrementally spray back and forth a small area then go inside and check for water infiltration. I notice in yours you still have your lower front panels on. In my trailer the water that came in through the window area ran down the outer shell wall and landed in the C channel which is kinda misnamed its more like a U and ran along that U and affected the floor wherever there was a break in the U so by the door curbside and below the windows drivers side. So if you have water damage or moisture in those areas you may want to remove the interior panels before continuing so you can view the whole scope of where the water travels. In mine the leak areas were very obvious after I had the skins off as they showed up as 40 year old dusty mineral soaked lines on the otherwise clean aluminum. Seeing the water coming in can be kind of difficult, so I found that using those natural unbleached brownish paper towels to dab around from the higher points and working my way down helped me see where the moisture starts as the towel really does dark when it finds water.

[thesignlady]

That said...after sealing that edge up she still leaked through the original plastic glazing so I cleaned the glazing, frame and glass and taped it off to prep it for a Sitka flex bead

Here is my thread from replacing my wing window with lexan that shows how to apply a bead and not get it everywhere, remember to seal the miter cuts and the seam between the wing and the center window

http://www.airforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=128056

[thesignlady]

That said. ..she still leaked, a lot less but she still leaked...at that point I realized the water was coming in from above and just hitting the 40 year old weak Vulcum sealant spread all around the windows interior frame and worming it's way through the minute cracks in the old goop and coming out at different areas around the window. Up to the roof...cleaned and re did all the vents and fans...still leaked...then I did the overlapping seam where the panels overlap the body and curved end caps. I used the aluminum tinted gutter seal I purchased from vintage trailer supply. It dries fast there is no tooling time how it goes on is how it will stay. Practice on something... I did from the belly pan over the top to the belly pan opposite side. Leaked less but I still had water coming in. Next came sealing every single rivet on the roof with captain Tolley multiple times. Still leaked. Oh and we had already replaced and sealed all 5 of the running lights so that wasn't where it came from.

[Ibenoverland]

I have replaced some. I have a pair of new ones it you are interested I bought them from Out of Doors Mart I think you may spend more time trying to repair I would just replace them.