One for the westy owners..

[hippysteven]

Hi all,

im planning on fitting louvre windows to my bus which I purchased from an importer a year ago. They are from California and have shall we say "oxidised, greyed, dulled" on the inside and out.
I polished the outter frame and they have come up pretty nice considering their age etc, but the inside edge is still rough looking because I can't get in properly by hand or by polishing wheel to clean them up properly.

So I guess my question is, have other westy owners stripped and cleaned their windows for a clean finish inside and out, or do the majority leave them as is..

The seal kits aren't exactly cheap so before I tear them down I thought I would see what the general thought on this is because other Cali windows must surely be the same on your campers?

Thanks for reading.

HS

 

[dazza1975]

Hi all,

im planning on fitting louvre windows to my bus which I purchased from an importer a year ago. They are from California and have shall we say "oxidised, greyed, dulled" on the inside and out.
I polished the outter frame and they have come up pretty nice considering their age etc, but the inside edge is still rough looking because I can't get in properly by hand or by polishing wheel to clean them up properly.

So I guess my question is, have other westy owners stripped and cleaned their windows for a clean finish inside and out, or do the majority leave them as is..

The seal kits aren't exactly cheap so before I tear them down I thought I would see what the general thought on this is because other Cali windows must surely be the same on your campers?

Thanks for reading.

HS

Stripped and cleaned both of mine as the seals were shot. replaced with new seals and refitted.

All i can say is NEVER again! :lol:

 

[StuF]

My seals are OG and pretty poor along with the finish being oxidized and flat - however after hearing the horror stories of peeps dismantling them and the issue they have mine are staying that way.

I would happily pay someone to refurb mine!

 

[hippysteven]

Thanks Daz / stuf, Ive heard many horror stories about rebuilding them as you said, but the finished product must be worth it? What would you say the hardest job is through out the rebuild ? Can u buy all the replacement parts ?

As all the jobs I've done so far including stripping the cab doors recently, it's better to just get stuck in and see where the road takes ya, but I suppose I'm looking for a few words of encouragement before taking on this "nightmare of a job" :lol:

HS

 

[Lee152]

Definitely in no rush! Once you start going down the nice and shiny route there's no turning back. I'm going for shabby chic!

 

[StuF]

If you do it mate - take loads of pics and I am sure the mods will add it as a helpful tech article!

I wonder if it is as bad as doing the cab door scraper seals? Still only done one side!

 

[hippysteven]

Cool, ill see if anymore tips and advice crop up on this thread before I go grabbing the drill out the shed, if its just the norm that most westy windows are weathered, then ill not bother with mine and leave em as they are and just call it "patina" :lol:

 

[CHILDSEY]

I would love to polish mine , but don't have the time .
And really can't be arsed

 

[mister]

Somebody did quite a detailed with photos method in their gallery thread a while back but unfortunately I have no idea who it was, maybe somebody else will remember.

I've left mine as they are too, but then my bus is scruffy anyway.

Door scrapers.... They are a bitch. Took five months between doors to get my courage back :lol:

 

[StuF]

Door scrapers.... They are a bitch. Took five months between doors to get my courage back :lol:

Think I am at that stage now!

Still no courage to attempt my side though

 

[mister]

Here is the westy window thread I was thinking of, Google is awesome sometimes...

http://forum.earlybay.com/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=30891" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Door scrapers.... They are a bitch. Took five months between doors to get my courage back :lol:

Think I am at that stage now!

Still no courage to attempt my side though

This helped me with the cab doors:

http://www.ratwell.com/technical/CabDoor.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Time to man up dude

 

[toxicbug66]

Stripping em down is the easy part. Putting the blighters back together is another story, even worse is trying to get the glass seals in. I've done one of mine. The other is in its component parts waiting, taunting me. :/

 

[Busman73]

Don't think I'll taking my windows apart any time soon… cab door seals on the other hand are a piece of piss to fit

 

[Busman73]

Don't think I'll taking my windows apart any time soon… cab door seals on the other hand are a piece of piss to fit

 

[Busman73]

Don't think I'll taking my windows apart any time soon… cab door seals on the other hand are a piece of piss to fit

 

[DeeDeeTheBay]

Apparently, As others have said, its a right pain in the bum job, but I will be doing this to mine eventually, even though i'm dreading it lol

 

[Max Power]

I done one side myself with autosol,duraglit and elbow grease,took a week of evenings,the other side I dropped at the metal polisher who has chromed some bits for me cost £40 and looks like chrome its so shiny

The seal kit was from Wolfsburg West and was perfect.The seals slide in a channel and the ends are pinched to hold them in place,I used wd to help slide them in.
If you want to polish yourself I would recomend polishing mops mounted on a bench or drill.