Has anyone attempted vista view separation?

[Andy Moreau]

I’m talking about the one you have to drill out from the frame. I’ve got mine out and have drilled out the 4 rivets holding the sides together but am stuck at this point. Nothing seems to work as far as separating the frame from glass. I’ve used mallet and wood, spreader clamps, lubricating oil... I’m not sure where to go from here. Can anyone help me think outside the box?

[youngpeck]

Originally Posted by Andy Moreau

I’m talking about the one you have to drill out from the frame. I’ve got mine out and have drilled out the 4 rivets holding the sides together but am stuck at this point. Nothing seems to work as far as separating the frame from glass. I’ve used mallet and wood, spreader clamps, lubricating oil... I’m not sure where to go from here. Can anyone help me think outside the box?

Try a little heat, carefully. Also, use a good penetrating oil like Kroil. You may have to let it sit for a day or so. I did all four of mine. There are steel bars that hold the two frame halves together. They rust and sometimes don't come out easily. I had to cut a couple of these out with a hack saw, and machine out the remainder. You can buy new bar stock to replace them.

[Andy Moreau]

Originally Posted by youngpeck

Try a little heat, carefully. Also, use a good penetrating oil like Kroil. You may have to let it sit for a day or so. I did all four of mine. There are steel bars that hold the two frame halves together. They rust and sometimes don't come out easily. I had to cut a couple of these out with a hack saw, and machine out the remainder. You can buy new bar stock to replace them.

Where are the bars located? Right where the separation point is?

[youngpeck]

Originally Posted by Andy Moreau

Where are the bars located? Right where the separation point is?

Yes, you are right. Here are four pictures of one of my vista views during removal and disassembly. The first picture shows the window just removed from the body. This is one whose bars connecting the two frame halves had to be sawed out. The middle two pictures show the bar as having been sawed. From there it was a matter of grinding out the remaining bar material and inserting new bar stock. I had to drill new holes for the rivets but once the channel for the bars is cleaned up it's not hard to do at all.

You may not have to do this. The bars on the other three windows came out after repeated soaking with Kroil and careful application of heat.

[Andy Moreau]

Originally Posted by youngpeck

Yes, you are right. Here are four pictures of one of my vista views during removal and disassembly. The first picture shows the window just removed from the body. This is one whose bars connecting the two frame halves had to be sawed out. The middle two pictures show the bar as having been sawed. From there it was a matter of grinding out the remaining bar material and inserting new bar stock. I had to drill new holes for the rivets but once the channel for the bars is cleaned up it's not hard to do at all.

You may not have to do this. The bars on the other three windows came out after repeated soaking with Kroil and careful application of heat.

Did you put them back as double pain or did you go single? And when you put new rivets in the holes, what type of rivets did you use? Im not sure how a buck rivet would work in this location.

[youngpeck]

Originally Posted by Andy Moreau

Did you put them back as double pain or did you go single? And when you put new rivets in the holes, what type of rivets did you use? Im not sure how a buck rivet would work in this location.

I replaced them as originally installed, that is double-paned. I used new gaskets, and used several layers of butyl tape in between the panes to achieve the proper distance between panes.

You are right. You can't use buck rivets when replacing the bars in the frame. I used regular all-aluminum blind or pop rivets. They really just have to hold the frame together until you reattach it to the shell. By the way, I smeared some electrician's aluminum anti-oxident on the bars when reinserting them into the frame, both as a lubricant and as a guard against rust.