Airstream Chat Room Airstream Links Campground & Product Reviews Airstream Classifieds Airstream Articles Blogs Photo Gallery Forum Listings Portal - Home Page

Go Back   Airstream Forums > Airstream Restoration, Repair & Parts Forums > Exterior Restoration Forum > Leaks - Weatherstrips, Gaskets, Caulks & Sealants




Check out our new sister site AirstreamCentral.com. To contribute an article click here.


Quick Links
- Forum Listings
- Register - it's FREE!
- View Member's Map
- Airstream Articles
- "Live" Chat Room
- View Classifieds
- Post a Classified
- Airstream @ eBay
- Upcoming Rallies
   - Add A Rally
- Rally Discussions
- Repair Discussions
- Search Forums
- Member List
- AIR # Directory
- Member Search
- Profile Photos
- Airstream Photo
- Airstream Links
- Fun & Games
- WBCCI Websites
- WBCCI Unit Forums
- Courtesy Parking
- Campgrounds
- Support & FAQs
- Community Policies
- Helpers Needed




Reply
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
Old 10-22-2003, 10:03 AM   #1
rluhr
Rivet Master
Commercial Vendor

rluhr's Avatar
Profile:  1968 17' Caravel
2005 30' Safari
Somewhere , roaming America
Posts: 856
Images: 39

Replacing window gaskets for late 60's

I have read a lot of info on this forum (especially from Andy at Inland RV) about the need to replace the window gaskets on vintage trailers, as they are a prime source of leaks. When mine started leaking, I bought the gasket material and 3M Superweatherstrip and tackled the task. Cost was about $70 for the five windows on the Caravel. (For a few bucks more I should have done the door, too!)

Thought I'd post a few pics of the process for those who want to do this themselves. It's not hard, and from what I've seen, most 60's trailers have window gaskets as bad or worse than mine, so it's a widely-needed fix.

First picture shows the window gasket as you'll see it on many trailers. This was a double-flared gasket once, but it has been compressed and dried out for so many years it is like a single piece of hard rubber. Amazing it still worked as well as it did!
Attached Thumbnails
Click image for larger version

Name:	dcp_1745.jpg
Views:	228
Size:	21.3 KB
ID:	3550  
rluhr is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 10-22-2003, 10:05 AM   #2
rluhr
Rivet Master
Commercial Vendor

rluhr's Avatar
Profile:  1968 17' Caravel
2005 30' Safari
Somewhere , roaming America
Posts: 856
Images: 39

With a metal putty knife you can easily slice off the bulk of the old gasket. Just run it around the edge. You'll leave a black stripe of leftover material, which is removed in the next steps.
Attached Thumbnails
Click image for larger version

Name:	dcp_1750.jpg
Views:	212
Size:	22.2 KB
ID:	3551  
rluhr is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 10-22-2003, 10:07 AM   #3
rluhr
Rivet Master
Commercial Vendor

rluhr's Avatar
Profile:  1968 17' Caravel
2005 30' Safari
Somewhere , roaming America
Posts: 856
Images: 39

3M makes an adhesive remover that works great. We tried acetone and some other solvents, but the 3M product was definitely best. It comes in a red can.

With a brush, you just spread it over the remainder of the gasket and wait a few minutes. Don't rush it -- let the remover soak in before you try to scrape again.
Attached Thumbnails
Click image for larger version

Name:	dcp_1751.jpg
Views:	218
Size:	15.7 KB
ID:	3552  
rluhr is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 10-22-2003, 10:12 AM   #4
rluhr
Rivet Master
Commercial Vendor

rluhr's Avatar
Profile:  1968 17' Caravel
2005 30' Safari
Somewhere , roaming America
Posts: 856
Images: 39

After the adhesive remover and first scraping, you should have something like the picture below. Brush on another coat or two and wait another few minutes before proceeding.

If you scrape without letting the adhesive remover do its job, you'll just work harder and be left with a hard yellow-ish remainder of the original adhesive. If you let the adhesive remover soak in with multiple coats, you'll find that both the gasket and adhesive come off together nicely.
Attached Thumbnails
Click image for larger version

Name:	dcp_1753.jpg
Views:	256
Size:	31.7 KB
ID:	3553  
rluhr is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 10-22-2003, 10:16 AM   #5
rluhr
Rivet Master
Commercial Vendor

rluhr's Avatar
Profile:  1968 17' Caravel
2005 30' Safari
Somewhere , roaming America
Posts: 856
Images: 39

Finally! After two or three soakings and scrapings, you should have a very clean bare metal surface like the picture below. There's no need to sand. This is what you want, so your new gasket will stick perfectly and not leak.

During this process, I found blobs of silicone caulk in various places. This was not hard to remove, just annoying. But in the bottom left and right corners of this picture, you can see some black blobs. Those are old Vulkem caulk. Not sure if they were factory or prior owner, but they didn't want to come off and ultimately I left them there since they didn't interfere with the new gasket.
Attached Thumbnails
Click image for larger version

Name:	dcp_1754.jpg
Views:	212
Size:	21.4 KB
ID:	3554  
rluhr is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 10-22-2003, 10:25 AM   #6
hhuber
3 Rivet Member

hhuber's Avatar
Profile: 
Posts: 206
Images: 8

Where did you get the new gasket material?

Heidi
hhuber is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 10-22-2003, 10:27 AM   #7
rluhr
Rivet Master
Commercial Vendor

rluhr's Avatar
Profile:  1968 17' Caravel
2005 30' Safari
Somewhere , roaming America
Posts: 856
Images: 39

The next step is to put on the new gasket. Andy from Inland provided straightforward directions in this thread . Basically you cut the gasket to length, put the adhesive on, and stick it in place. Not hard at all.

Note that he was replying to someone with a 1970 window. For the late 1960s windows (at least mine), the gasket only goes on three sides. As a result, it's not necessary to remove the window in a late 60's model -- you only have to open it fully.

I followed the directions on the 3M Super Weatherstrip adhesive, which says to put a thin coat of adhesive on both the gasket and the window frame, let both dry, then put another coat on the gasket and apply it. If you do this, it can be adjusted as needed for a few minutes.

Be careful not to stretch the gasket as you apply it, especially in the corners. Cut it a bit too long before you apply the adhesive and then trim to length after you've installed all but the last inch. I found that leaving the window open for half an hour allowed the adhesive to set where I wanted it, whereas if I closed the window the gasket tended to move.

I don't have pictures of the new gasket going in (because I needed three hands to do it), but it's easy enough if you have a helper. Any adhesive that gets on you or the trailer comes off easily with the 3M adhesive remover.

Good luck!
-- RL
rluhr is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 10-22-2003, 10:30 AM   #8
rluhr
Rivet Master
Commercial Vendor

rluhr's Avatar
Profile:  1968 17' Caravel
2005 30' Safari
Somewhere , roaming America
Posts: 856
Images: 39

Heidi, I got the gasket and 3M Super Weatherstrip from Inland RV. They know the size of the windows and can sell you the correct length of gasket if you tell them which trailer you have.

My father already had a can of the 3M Adhesive Remover but I expect you can find that locally in hardware stores. Contrary to what I said above, it's a white can with red label.

Inland did recommend two tubes of 3M Super Weatherstrip and it turned out that I used only 3/4 of one tube to do all my windows. So if you want my spare tube I'll send it to you (since you're a fellow Caravel owner!)

-- RL
rluhr is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 10-22-2003, 11:54 AM   #9
Pam
Rivet Master

Pam's Avatar
Profile:  1967 17' Caravel
Northborough , Massachusetts
Posts: 546

After the gaskets what about the latches?

I read through the thread about the gaskets and now wonder if you need to replace the mechanical parts of the window?

The cranks on the '68 Tradewind (Chad's) work fine, but the latches that telescopes out have broken on a few of the windows. Any suggestions on where to find replacements? We could have them fabricated if need be.
Pam is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 10-22-2003, 02:33 PM   #10
hhuber
3 Rivet Member

hhuber's Avatar
Profile: 
Posts: 206
Images: 8

Rluhr-
Sure I'll take it. (I'll pay you for it too.) I should order the weather stripping soon. There are only a few months out of the year that one can do anything outside in New Orleans!

Heidi
hhuber is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 10-22-2003, 06:52 PM   #11
Inland RV Center, In
Rivet Master
Commercial Vendor

Inland RV Center, In's Avatar
Profile:  Corona , California
Posts: 6,026
Images: 1

RLUHR.

The adhesive is applied to both the gasket and the metal window frame. When dry to the touch (about 5 to 10 minutes) you then carefully place the gasket in position.

With this process, we in our shop use one tube of adhesive per 20 to 25 feet of that type window gasket.

If both surfaces are not coated with adhesive, a long life bond will not take place.

As a general rule when using adhesives, too much never hurts, but an inadequate amount will not bond the gasket to the metal correctly.

Andy
__________________
Inlandrv.com

The largest "Vintage"Airstream parts headquarters on the planet.

Home of the X-Stream Makeover

800-8777311
Inland RV Center, In is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 10-23-2003, 10:09 AM   #12
Chuck
Sad Moderator

Chuck's Avatar
Profile:  1973 23' Safari
North of Boston , Massachusetts
Posts: 3,179
Images: 99

FWIW: I've been working on doing mine....I followed the directions on the 3m adhesive label, and wound up using WAY more than Andy describes. I used 3/4 of a tube just on the front window alone. its a big window, but still.... I think I'll try Andy's method on the next one I do. It seems like the thin layer on the rubber weatherstripping actually gets absorbed by the rubber. maybe that's just because it is the same color as the glue (?)

Also: I got some 3M adhesive remover, too. (both the super-gasket adhesive and the remover were stocked at my local wally-world). It didn't come in a red can, though...wonder if its the same stuff? It says on the label that its a combo of xylene and naptha..some other stuff too. didn't think it was any better than straight xylene. It was a biotch to get the old stuff off of the window frame. maybe I didn't let it sit long enough. Anyway, whatever they used on the main entrance door gasket was really tough....it was very hard and brittle, and the xylene wouldn't even touch it. had to use a wire brush and dremel tool to "grind" it off.
Chuck is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 10-23-2003, 12:26 PM   #13
rluhr
Rivet Master
Commercial Vendor

rluhr's Avatar
Profile:  1968 17' Caravel
2005 30' Safari
Somewhere , roaming America
Posts: 856
Images: 39

Chuck, sounds like you might have just had a tougher adhesive. But I did find that leaving a bit of the old gasket on before applying the remover helped keep the solvent in contact while it worked. If I scraped off too much of the old gasket first, the solvent would just run off and the window would take twice as long to clean up.

The first window took me 45 minutes, but by the last one I was knocking them off in just 20 minutes.

I didn't experience any absorption of the adhesive by the gasket material. When I applied it, it stayed in a firm linear bead along the length of the gasket.

BTW, I applied at nearly the rate that Andy's shop does. The five windows in the Caravel (3 sides each) equal about 23 linear feet of gasket. I used a bit more than 3/4 of a tube to do that. I could have used a full tube if I were a bit more generous, but no way was I going to use two full tubes -- that would be 11.5 feet per tube. The gaskets are quite secure and tested watertight.

-- RL
rluhr is offline   Reply With Quote
Reply


Currently Active Users Viewing This Thread: 1 (0 members and 1 guests)
 
Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Trackbacks are Off
Pingbacks are Off
Refbacks are Off

Similar Threads
Thread Thread Starter Forum Replies Last Post
replacing window gasket silverlassie Windows & Screens 4 03-07-2004 08:41 PM
Replacing my window gaskets Bigdog Airstream Motorhome Forums 1 12-12-2003 02:57 PM
Repost to part Forum (window part, 67 A/S) JimC Parts Archive 15 09-28-2003 10:45 AM
Report of window replacement in 1977 Minuet 6.0 kenny2 All Argosy Trailers 2 08-27-2003 08:11 AM
Front Wing Window Repair Charles D. Bennett Windows & Screens 0 08-10-2002 07:04 PM

Powered by vBadvanced CMPS v3.0.1

All times are GMT -6. The time now is 07:10 AM.

Other Social Knowledge forum communities:
Cooking Forum - Sailing Forum - Early Retirement - Airstream Trailer - Aquarium Forum - Royal Forum - Book Forum - Volkswagen Touareg Forum - Jeep Wrangler Forum - Whitewater Kayaking & Rafting Forum - Fiberglass RV Forum - RV Forum - Truck Conversion - U2 Music Forum
Social Knowledge Networks
Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.7.4
Copyright ©2000 - 2008, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.
Search Engine Friendly URLs by vBSEO 3.2.0

Airstream is a registered trademark of Airstream Inc. All rights reserved. Airstream trademark used under license to Social Knowledge LLC.



eXTReMe Tracker

Other recommended Airstream sites:
Airstream Forums - Airstream Classifieds - Airstream Articles
Airstream Central - Airstream Photos