In order to salvage the outside pane from my earlier disaster, I decided to use just the single pane with enough butyl to hold the single pane and gasket in the frame, per this drawing (the solar film is not shown, but it's on the inside face of the glass and extends under the butyl):
This turned out to be workable, but not such a good idea. The butyl is not stiff enough to resist the frame pushing it inwards. It took a lot of pounding on it with a wood block to stuff it into the gasket frame. Also, the aluminum tape isn't all that strong. It does provide good protection from the sticky butyl, but slips on the glass and tears if you try to move the butyl too much at one time. I'm not even sure it's stable--hot weather may allow the butyl to creep partially out of the frame. The other bad thing is you are now assembling the unit with the solar film exposed. Easy to ding. And it's under the butyl, so difficult to replace. Looks great, but BAAAAD idea.
The interior edge looks like this:
If I had it to do over, I'd get a gasket that just fits around the edge of the glass, then use a 0.25" foam or rubber rod, pushed down between the glass and inside edge of the frame, to hold the glass in place.
You've got the older design, right? The one where the inner pane is held in with a clip ring?
The 3/16" rolls are 20'. The 1/8" rolls are 25'. I think for a vista view you'll need about 80"-90". Also, what is the thickness of the old putty in your model of the vista view?
My inner glass is plexi and is held in place with the snap ring type molding. I have no idea about thinkness untill I pull one out. I quess when is comes to Airstreams, we can assume nothing.
I did some more work cleaning the schmutz off the window panes. Goo gone works purdy good as Zep said. Even though I got 90% of the crud off the glass I could not get it completely clear at the edges and now am wondering if there was some kind of chemical reaction between the deteriorating butyl and the glass which has etched the glass. I'll live with the glass the way it is if I have to, but before I put Humpty back together again (hopefully forever or at least till I'm dead and rotten) is there anything anybody else suggests?
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Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain- WoZ
I put my wing window together again with Zep's butyl and sealed with aluminum tape. As cold air holds less humidity than warm put together on a cold dry day. I considered using some dessicant inside to absorb moisture but it looked like dissicant has a shelf life of only a year or so. The original U gasket was somewhat stiff and I gave up on it in short order. I put a good bead of Parbond inside the channel and screwed the frame back together. I should have put more Parbond in, so I had to get more in. I thinned some Parbond down with Tuolene a bit and used a veterinary syringe without a needle to squeeze more in the gaps. I used some table knives between the glass and the frame to maintain a gap between glass and frame which would have been taken care of by the gasket until the Parbond sets. I suppose I also could also have used Vulkem.
Incidentally I was previously told the "marriage bars" which cover the joint between the wing windows and front window were no longer available. Inland RV was able to sell me a couple.
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Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain- WoZ
The window up in post #71 was badly stained. Lots of little pale irregular spots from 1/16" to 1/4". I tried everything to get them off. I finally decided they were tree sap stains that had percolated into the glass surface--no solvent or razor blade had any effect.
I ordered a glass polishing kit from Eastwood Co, about a pint of Rhodite and a thick felt polishing disk for use in a hand drill--$45-ish with shipping. This polish is described as useful in removing small scratches, scatches so small you can't feel them with your fingernail. I think you can get the Rhodite separately, as well as a more aggressive polish for deeper scratches.
Incredible! Stains disappeared almost instantly. As soon as I realized how effective it was, I tried using a little of the Rhodite on a damp Kleenex. It took a few seconds and a little bit of work, but the stains can be removed that way, too.
Highly recommend. I did try my luck at a few small scratches--one of three was gone in about 2 minutes, the other two were greatly diminished.
I chickened out with the Eastwood Glass Polishing Kit, tempered glass being so funky. I put some clear nail polish over the stain and they pretty much dissapeared. I expect the nail polish will eventually peel but for now it worked.
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Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain- WoZ
Am new to the forum and to Airstreams for that matter. The windows on one side of my just purchased 1976 29ft. Airstream are full of bubbles and very foggy. Am considering ordering new window sashes from Airstream to replace the existing ones ( need three).
I've got two of the later versions and one of the earlier out in the shop, I just not
Quote:
Originally Posted by Zeppelinium
Not a chance!
The Vista View windows come in two types--early 70's had a flat retaining "ring/clip" that you could pull out, which released the inside pane (which was plexiglass). Taking that clip out could be done with the window installed in the shell. The frame is welded and the clip is the only access. I did one back in 1998 using plumber's putty (which is all I knew about back in those days) and it didn't hold up very long--blobs of putty sliding down in the window in the heat of the Mojave sun. But I did manage to get the solar film cleaned up.
The later Vista Views (maybe 1975 and on) have two frame halves riveted together, just like the larger windows. But this means that to get them apart you have to remove the whole frame/window from the shell. PITA for sure.
If you're not familiar, my solution (in another thread) was to completely remove all vista view windows and patch them over with 2024-T3.
The bottom line is, however, I'm not fooling around with Vista Views. I don't need badly insulated and leaky ports in my shell--which is a mild version of what I really think.
Zep
I would really like to get a hold of an upper vista view with good outer glass. If you're willing to sell one let me know. I had a shattering experience trying to break out the inner glass without knowing it is NOT safety glass like the lowers. Please let me know. Thanks for all the info as well.
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