Dormobile Roof Glass Rubber Seals - Any Fitting tips please

[Fortunate Son]

Hi

I recently bought new seals from Dormobile to replace very slightly leaky old ones.

Had to give up today after 5 hours of much swearing and very bruised side of hands from trying to seat glass and seal in roof aperture. Ended up putting old one back in and it now leaks like a bas***d! :x .

I was advised by Tim at Dormobile to seat seal in roof then "slot" glass into seal from outside, though this seems virtually impossible as seal slot for glass closes up when installed in roof aperture. I also tried vaseline, silicone spray etc, almost got it in using the seal on glass first method levering seal with screwdriver on inside working from bottom up, but the top corners just dont want to go (depite some fairly violent "persuasion" with fist from outside!)

Any tips would be greatfully received

Cheers

 

[Trikky2]

Are the seals plain or do they have an insert? If they have an insert then it should be removed as it goes in last, to lock the seal.

This is a two man job. Your idea of lubrication is right - you need plenty.

Put the seal around the glass. Then put some thin but very strong string in the rubber slot that engages into the roof. One and a half turns, leaving plenty sticking out at both ends to grab hold of.
Have your assistant position the assemlby exactly over the aperature from the outside and hold it pushed firmly against the roof.
Now as you pull the string ends the string will pull the seal edges into the van - job done.

This does work - Ive done it a few times.

 

[stodge]

Did this around a year ago, it is a definate two man job,

I pressed from the outside while a friend levered with a blunt screwdriver from the inside, then apply the insert afterwards, lots of silicon came in handy for this!

That said they still bloody leak but its only one or two drops which I'll have to live with!

Regards Stodge

 

[gninnam]

Got this from an old VZi thread - will be trying it in a few weeks time
too :shock:

One more thing.
Make sure that the frame is smooth & clean especially on the outer lowest edge.
You will need to cut the length of rubber to fit the frame, make sure you leave a good 1 1/2 to 2" extra & force the rubber into the frame because when the window is fitted it will take up the slack & leave you with a gap & a leak!!
Try & make sure the join is at the highest point of the window (in the middle of the frame & the middle of the roof)

The best way i've found is to use 6mm laminated glass & ditch the original 4mm toughened cos its really brittle & the last thing you want is the glass shattering just as you push the last corner in.
Most glass cutters will do you a pair cut using your old glass as a template for about £25 (small price to pay for peace of mind)

Its well worth running some flexible black sealant inside the seal before you put the glass in & then round the join.

Get someone underneath in the van to hold the glass while you push the glass away from you into the top edge where the join is, then with a flat screw driver flip the rubber over the glass all the way round each side working towards you while putting downward force on the glass at all times & tapping in the corners as you go & finally work on the edge nearest you & job done with only the hard insert to run round (You'll need the proper insert tool for this, also available from Dormobile)
Clean off the excess sealant around the window & Bob's ya Marley, no more leaky roof!

The problem with Dormobiles roof design is that a pool of water will always sit in the lowest corner & if you havn't got a really good seal its going to leak again!
I've done this job a few times now & there have been no problems with leaking.
I'm sure there are other methods that work just as well but i thought i'd pass on what i've learnt.
Have fun.


Cheers

 

[lobus]

I've never done a doormobile window, but I use some rope that I thread into the slot for the glass. It has to be thick enough to be stong enough to pull the flap and thin enough not to overfill the slot.
Get someone to hold the glass against the hole and start pulling te flap of rubber through to your side. Once this becomes too difficult start pulling the rope through. If I am not making myself clear pop down to a windscreen fitter or panel beater and they will give you a quick training I am sure. I used some petroleum jelly to lubricate the rubber for my cabin divider but I am not sure how that will go as far as perishing the new rubber that has to be weatherproof.
Good luck and keep us posted with your progress.
David

 

[Fortunate Son]

Thanks for all the help - I managed to fit the seals last Saturday (just before Dubfreeze)

After speaking to Tim at Dormobile again, I worked out that I was fitting the seal the wrong way round ( ) - seals have 3 slots in them - rectangular 5mm, triangular for insert, and rectangular 3mm. I was fitting the 5mm slot to the fibreglass cut out in the roof, and then trying to get the glass into the 3mm slot - the glass will not go in this way.

Putting the smaller 3mm slot over the f/glass and the glass into the 5mm slot i (JUST!) got th glass in but not without chipping quite a few shards of glass (original 4mm version) off the edge with screwdriver. What did help a lot was a "j" shaped hook that I made (by bending a very cheap tent peg and then filing down. This helps with pulling the rubber around to the outside of the glass as you go up the sides and across the top.

Fitting the insert was pretty easy once I had sussed the "wiggling" technique (ooer!!)

This has been the hardest job I have done on the van so far - fitting the rear side window rubbers comes a close second.

Next job - replace the steering idler pin!! (should be ok though as beam will be off van (new rust free, non lowered one soon to go on)

Take it easy y'all - Keep on early bayin!!

 

[easy]

Glad you got it sorted fella. 8)

 

[VeeDubMan]

After wasting several weekends trying to do this, I finally managed to get the roof glass in this weekend...in less than a couple of hours! The key is to use the correct seals and tools and get someone to help.

Here's a step-by-step process summing up what's been discussed above and having talked to Dormobile:

• 1 - Order the correct seal from Dormobile. It's quite soft and flexible, has the correct sized slots in it and most importantly, it's a single length which needs to be cut to the size of your aperture. If you already have the 'round' seal (i.e. like a normal window seal which is already joined, then bin it. They are more trouble than they're worth).

• 2 - Get a large piece of cardboard (just bigger than the roof glass) and draw around your roof glass (if both your pieces of glass are identical, then you only need one template). This template can then be offered up to the apertures to make sure your apertures are a good match for your glass. I ended up trimming some of the corners of the apertures to make them more rounded to match the profile of the glass.

• 3 - Make sure both the inside and outside of the fibreglass edge of the aperture are smooth and free from debris and slip the seal (narrowest slot/channel) onto the aperture edge, making sure it goes on fully on the straight edges and is tight into the corners. Make sure where both ends join is on the lower edge of the glass when the roof is raised. The v-profile channel should be on the outside leaving the remaining larger slot for the glass on the inside edge. Once you're happy everything is as tight as possible, cut the seal and butt it up against the start end.

• 4 - Get the glass now and slide a short side first into one edge (one short corner first then the other). This one short side should slide into the seal quite easily. Now you have to work around the other edges with your helper (one inside and one outside). I was inside pushing the seal out while my helper was on the outside flipping the rubber I was pushing, over the glass edge, whilst also pushing the glass down a little. We had a couple of tools for this job. Pushing from the inside I was using the diamond lacing tool (http://www.justkampers.com/shop/diamond-lacing-tool-for-inserting-window-seal-trim-j11400.html and from the outside, my helper was using a George Foreman grill scraper (http://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/i.html?_nkw=george+foreman+grill+scraper) which worked perfectly...and is useful for other window seals too. This is by far the most tedious part so take your time. The corners are the trickest part.

• 5 - Once the glass is in, get the smaller insert strip. Using the Diamond Lacing tool, open up the remaining slot and feed the insert through the rear of the Diamond lacing tool, starting on the opposite edge to where the large seal is joined (you don't want the two joins together as there is more chance of a leak here). As you then pull the tool backwards, the strip is almost automatically fed into the slot. My helper pressed it in from the front as I pulled the tool backwards down and around the channel. Some rubber/silicone lube helped here, especially around corners. Finding out how to use this tool properly was by far the most exciting part of this process as once mastered, it can go in in a couple of minutes. Looking on YouTube, you can also push the tool and feed from the front (http://www.youtube.com/watch?gl=GB&v=fbqarorplYE). Cut the strip to the correct length to butt up against the starting end.

• 6 - Lay back and enjoy your work. Having heard about leaks even with new seals, it may be worthwhile adding some silicone sealer/windscreen sealer wherever possible too.

 

[Trikky2]

Thread from the dead alert :lol:

:zombie: :zombie: :zombie:

 

[VeeDubMan]

Always useful as a reference though. Perhaps this should be added as a sticky somewhere too.

 

[Scutch]

This is the same as a front & rear screen on a Classic Mini, I always used the same trick as what Trikky2 said. Thin rope and plenty of washing up liquid always done the trick for me BUT I know how hard it can be....... plenty of sore fingers. I need to replace the seals on my dorm windows but don't want to do it myself as I cant be arsed. I would rather pay someone haha!!!

Well done on getting them in though!!!

 

[ZedBed]

I wrestled with aftermarket seals then bought some direct from Dormobile that went in a treat, but TBH they blistered in the sun within a year. Not sure what the answer is. If you can get the stiffer ones fitted they'll last longer I'd guess. Plenty of winscreen sealant is a must as water pools on these windows when the roof's down.

 

[VeeDubMan]

...they blistered in the sun within a year.

Not much danger of that happening with our summer

 

[jsyboy75]

Still a useful thread, Baytripper's instructions were very useful.

One extra tip from me - when dragging the special applicator tool along to fit the inner rubber sealing strip make sure you hold the tool at a shallow angle - if you have it vertical as I originally did it will not slide along and you can damage your new seals in the process (my first attempt saw many nicks taken out of the rubber and then the damned thing split completely on one corner - started again with another seal...!)

 

[thejinx]

Did my seals the other day. Defo two man job and lots of lub. bought my ones from VW heritage fitted well but needed the specialist tool for the seal insert. not a satisfying job but a job well done. Cheers for the thread

 

[gninnam]

Did my seals the other day. Defo two man job and lots of lub.

:shock: Are you still talking about putting seals in

I remember when I put mine in, that I did it on my own with no lube..........

 

[VeeDubMan]

Too early in the day and week for this type of innuendo

 

[thejinx]

never to early for inuendo