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17 year old van with original VW windows. Windows have been siliconed shut for last few years but that's now leaking again.
I had arranged for them to be changed to some aftermarket sliding ones but the company can no longer be bothered so I'm wondering how tricky it is to do myself.
Appreciate this is a slightly niche ask as generally I guess most slider fits involve a can opener first. I'm assuming that the two types require the same size hole and ' all ' that is needed is to somehow remove the old one ( smash it?) clean off all the crap and then glue the new one in....
Who am I kidding. It'll be much more tricky than that 😐
I think it's basically as you said - but with big clamps or straps to hold it all in place while it cures. Then you'll spend the rest of your time with the van critical of how in-line you got the new window.
Loads of vids on cutting the van and adding a window, but none on taking the old window out.
Apparently I need a cheese wire
<p>About the only thing I haven’t fixed. On the list though…</p>
I've done it, the cutting off that hole wasn't too bad but the actual window fitting was an absolute bastard of a job, and they both leaked at the end of it. I managed to sort one, but in the end I had to take it to a local window fitting place who cut the other one out with a cheese wire thing and refitted it. They charged about £80 and it took about fifteen minutes, and I could have cried as I wished I'd got them to do both in the first place.
I did it on a T4. Cutting the hole with a jigsaw then gluing the outer to inner panel was the hardest bit.
I think the people I got the windows from has a how too video.
Clamped it with tape on the outside and sucker on window carriers from Screwfix tensioned(not too tight) to the other side with ratchet straps.
March 2015 the photo says. Sorry no pics of the inside.
Get a quote from a fitter. Last I got was £450 for replacing two sliders IIRC.
Autoglass I think
Transporter HQ have recently launched proper slider replacements - smooth glass, no recess.
I got the guys who spray paint my van/cars to fit replacement windows a year or so back - no way am i doing that on a driveway
Someone down in Gloucestershire, it was a while ago, before the Great Move North.
Next door neighbour owns a bodyshop though, I could ask him for a recommendation?
Yes please
So a quick google found this video of an extremely happy sounding chap replacing the sliding bits of (what I assume are) standard VW sliding wndows.
If the frames are ok then is that an option?
I did some for the first time a few months ago on a Peugeot Boxer on the driveway with no assistance. The hardest part was cutting a neat hole but you already have the hole so there's nowt to worry about.
Remove the old windows with a cheese wire. Don't just smash them. Get someone to hold them up while you do this or they'll drop out. Remove the old glue with whatever variety of blades and scrapers you have but you don't need to get it all off, you can glue on top of it.
I used this fitting kit...
www.vanpimps.co.uk/product/2-window-bonding-kit/
And I borrowed one of these from a mate...
www.toolstation.com/draper-suction-pad/p23801
It would have been impossible without the suction tool as the windows are bloody heavy and hard to manoeuvre.
The adhesive is very strong stuff. As soon as you press the window against the van the glue will take the weight of the glass no problem. Slither them into position, tape them up and wait. Job done.
Or just do what a normal VW owner would do. Take it to a pro and hand over £500 or whatever it is. It's only money innit.
Done it on a couple of vans. Quite easy, buy some suction cups for easy safe handling of the window.
The adhesive is very strong stuff.
The issue I found when I did it was that it was incredibly thick/viscous, and would barely even come out of the nozzle (I was just using a boggo sealant gun), which meant that the bead I did was really uneven and patchy, hence the leaks.
I'd retrofit anything other than VW's design. Ours weep and it's a late 2019 T6. VW design them to leak and then fit drain holes that supposedly take the water away. A lot of the T5 is total facepalm non-genius.
Masking tape over the roof seems to be the method of holding things in place used by autoglass for fitting any bonded screen.
If the frames are ok then is that an option?
Alas not. The frames are rusted to buggeridge. As alluded to by hot fiat, the vw sliders are complete and utter shite.
Remove the old windows with a cheese wire. Don’t just smash them.
From what I've learned this week the VW fitted OEM sliders also have some pegs in them, so cheesewire on its own doesn't work. Typical VW, they leak AND they're next to impossible to remove!
The issue I found when I did it was that it was incredibly thick/viscous, and would barely even come out of the nozzle
Dunk them in a bucket of hot water for 2 hours before you start!
( so I've learned!)
Transporter HQ have some helpful videos
Yes, I forgot my adhesive tip. I put the tube in a carrier bag to keep it dry and dunked it in a bucket of hot water while I cut a massive hole in the side of the van.
By the time I needed it it was nice and runny.
Call john at site glass in coppul say you know me.
I got ours replaced by Lakeland Windows on old T5. Dropped it off, had lunch in Kendal, picked it back up with new non leaky windows in place.
Money well spent, sod doing that myself.