windows, windows windows!

If you've ever thought about painting the interior trim to your windows DON'T!  Because eventually the paint will start to peel and then you'll have to remove it, or do what a previous owner did, just paint another layer!!

  Do you know how many hours it takes to get from here....

to here??

Lots.  With lots of Citrastrip, wooden popsicle sticks, and gray scotch brite....and swearing...and swearing holding a wineglass in one hand and an icepack in the other because your hands are in spasms. Seriously, put away the paintbrush.


Here's what lurks beneath when you use a lot of silicone in the attempt to seal the window.

Ugly huh?   The water was trapped against the skin and the result was significant corrosion.













With a lot of elbow grease it can get better but won't ever go away.












I was going to write this post on how to restore your windows, but better people than I have already done this.  See here for a few threads:

http://frankstrailerworksblog.blogspot.com/2009_03_01_archive.html
http://vintageairstream.com/window-repair-1954-1958/

So instead I'm going to do a handy hints post!   How to do it right the first time and tips/tools that help the process go smoother. Including how to get that pesky window spacer back in!

Going into this I foolishly estimated a day a window.  In reality,  I averaged about 14 hours a window. I'd like to say this job is completely finished (and it's true all seven windows are in and leak free) but I still have strip and clean all the hardware, so I can't say that this job is done.....  hold on while I go breathe into a paper bag!! It would be nice to cross one big job off my list but I'm putting the hardware aside to do this winter.

In no particular order here are my tips!

• Set screws  Above each window in the middle is a set screw.  You'll probably have to bend the drip rail up to access it.  It holds a little plastic piece in place that stops the window from sliding left or right.  This is important because if you try to close the window when it is not aligned you will bend the upper hinge.  Not a good thing trust me!   The plastic piece I'll get to later but the set screw removal is easy once you know the trick!   Place a flat edged screwdriver at a 90 degree angle to the head, whack it a good one, do the same on the other side.  Clean out the set screw head really well with a dental pick, if it's really rusty it helps to use a liitle sandpaper on the head to be able to see where the  threads are.   Use a Phillips head screwdriver that fits VERY WELL and deep.  Keep trying different screwdrivers until you have one that fits.  Don't use one that doesn't fit, don't even attempt it because you will strip the screw so fast.........   slowly back the screw out, once it gets started you are home free and can switch over to needle nose pliers if necessary.    If your first try doesn't budge it,  hit it a few more times with the hammer and screwdriver.  It is crucial to break the rusty bond. The first window I worked on the screw for three days with PBblaster and such before a forums member sent me the above tip  (Thanks Scott G!)   By the way, this tip works equally as well on the screws holding the window hardware on.  Unless they are painted like mine were, then its best to strip the paint as much as possible first.  Its amazing how much a little paint can "glue" those screws in place.

• When you are trying to get the window lifter out it helps to cut the plastic thingy in the track and then reach in with a pick and pull out the small spring, then you can just wiggle the arm out. This is the plastic piece after I removed the arm.

• Plan carefully on how you want the window to slide out.   Otherwise you'll end up with one of these . On the new aluminum panel no less! Grrrrrr  The curvature of the trailer was just enough that the window grazed it while I was sliding it out.  Don't forget to catch the little plastic piece that drop out when you pass the halfway mark!

.

• Glass - I ordered the first window with 3/32 (single strength) glass because that's what the forum said was original.  Well, that glass is THIN, so thin it bends in a stiff breeze.  And when I compared it to what was original it was definitely thinner!  I reordered in 1/8 inch (double strength) and was much happier.  Glad I ordered one as a test! 

•  Tempered Glass - I ordered the large front and back windows in tempered thinking that these were the most likely to break.  When the glass shop has them tempered they put a "mark" on them to signify it.   I positioned it in the upper left corner and it is hardly noticeable.  If this "mark" is going to bug you then you can request that they leave it off.  I forgot and thankfully the mark was very faint.

• Cleaning up the window frames and the back frames is tedious, tedious, tedious.    I tried lots of different methods, once I got sick of sandpaper that is  Anyway, frankly sandpaper wasn't working great anyway,  I ended up using 3m maroon scotchbrite and WD40, followed by the gray scotchbrite pads and wd40.  Way easier, less steps and very good results.  I used truck box polish from the big blue box store to hand polish the frames. Yes, I said hand polish! With all the nooks and crannies I found that I was getting better results by hand.  Note, these frames are aluminum extrusions, I'd be very hesitant to use scotchbright on alclad. 

See how corroded it is to the left?  The right side was cleaned up using scotchbrite and wd40 for just a minute or so.  Lots more to go








 

•  Putting in the gray rubber trim into the window back frame.  The flange on the bulb trim is longer on one side than the other. The short side goes to the back. I know VTS recommends you put the short side in first and push in the front, I found it way easier to put the front side in first and push the short side in the back with a small screwdriver.  Position the beginning at the middle of the top under the drip rail.  Where the two ends meet I cut a small piece of tube off, slit it horizontally, rolled it up and used it to join the ends (just slide it inside).  Makes a neater and leak free junction.  Here's it cut off and rolled up, ready to insert into the ends of your window trim.                                           

• Its not necessary to break the glass out into a million pieces that you then have to chase around cleaning up  (unless that kind of thing is enjoyable for you, that is!)  I set the frame out in the sun to get good and hot, and was able to use a putty knife to pry the glass away from the frame pretty easily.  A heat gun will do the same thing, Heat is the secret!

•  The Butyl tape is positioned on its paper so that if you line up the edge  and put it directly on the outer most edge of the channel it will be aligned perfectly, I used a small popsicle stick to run down the edge and fits in the track perfectly.  Accept the fact that you will make a mistake and drop a piece of glass in wrong, it's gonna happen.  The good news is that you get to play with the wrecked butyl tape.  Anyone remember Gumby?

OH NO Mr. Bill!

• Window trim.  By far the hardest thing is to cut the corners of the gray window trim so they fit well, look nice and are leak proof.

ORDER EXTRA!  I ordered two extra pieces which I bungled early on - so basically I had to hold my breath for the last two windows and hope I didn't screw up! 

I used a woodworkers trick for cutting the trim called coping instead of simply mitering the joint (cutting on a diagonal).

First lay your window frame so the top is up.  At this point make sure that  track that the gray molding pops into is ABSOLUTELY spotless and clean from debris. The bottom piece goes in first and that is butt cut (90 degrees) on both sides leaving a little gap for the side piece to fit into.

The side pieces are coped at the bottom.  This will allow water to shed rather than penetrate the joint.

I measured by popping the gray molding into the track an inch or so away and sliding it down into the corner, you can do this a quite a few times.  Just be careful not to twist the molding too much ( I soooo should have videoed this..... Sorry!)  Once you have cut the angle right pop it out one last time and back bevel the edge  (using a razor blade shave the diagonal at a 45 degree angle).  This will allow the side piece to lie flat on the bottom piece and create a really nice tight joint.  Put a dollop of a clear sealant (I like Lexol) in the corner on the bottom gray molding and one last time pop the molding into the track an inch away and slide it down into place.

I had good pictures of all of this but they've taken a walkabout on my computer!   Here's a picture of the top edge and a coped  joint.

 See the space I left at the top in order to slide the mitered piece into place?

Here's where I back beveled it with a razor blade..














Continue popping the track into place toward the upper corner when you get close trim the end at 90 degress and don't forget to leave a small space at the top for the top piece,   I tried a bunch of different tools to pop the molding into the track.  If you press too hard you'll get white spots so be careful!

 In the end I found the perfect tool, big enough to get leverage with, and the black rubber triangular end really gripped against the molding.  It's a tool used to grout!  Hopefully you've got one lying around.!



Once you've got both side pieces in, its time to do the top!  This is by far the hardest because BOTH ends need coping.  Cope one side, then measure carefully and cope the other.  It doesn't matter which end you start with.

They sure do look nice when they are done!

Because I managed to lose the photos here's a mock up of how the trim is cut (in miniature!) Cutting it this way makes the joints far less likely to leak.

That's all I got folk!  Oh yeah, one more,  I promised you the secret of how to get these in, right? These are the little plastic pieces that the set screw goes through in the center of the top of the window.

Well, I spent the first dozen attempts lining these little pieces up to match the profile on the window hinge while trying to slide it in.  The secret is you need to position the plastic piece as if the window was closed.   You see the window hinge will slide in and rotate 90 degrees down but that plastic piece does not rotate.  It has to slide into the window groove already in its' final position.  It won't line up with the window track at all, in fact it needs to be 90 degrees different.  Hope this makes sense!  Once you've done one, the rest will be easy! Well relatively easy!

Happiness is...leak free windows!  On to Fantastic fans......