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Fitting T4 windows to a van.

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    Posted: 24 Aug 07 at 20:23

I bought a panel van, and wanted a centre row of windows.

This sort of thing is kinda hard to find if you don't want a yellow (ex AA) van!

So, i ended up with a white Special X, and i needed to fit windows.

So, as you do, you have a look at e-bay and through the net to see what the crack is, and you can buy kits for about £100, which sounded a bit expensive to me...

I rang VW, they sell the genuine VW windows for about £36 plus VAT and these come in either clear or green tint. Please note that left and right are different, more on that later.

The seal, well, more like a trim fits around the window, they are about £7 plus VAT.

As for bonding, I ran a few places and most said to use Sikaflex, which is a brand name body sealer, but has a very good reputation, I was advised to use this as it requires no primer. It again costs about £7 a tube (and fits the caulking gun)

 

On to fitting.

Bit scarey, making big holes in the van! we did it by using a 64mm hole saw in each corner to get the curve right, then used the air saw to basically join the dots.

If you look at the sliding door side first you will notice that the inner skin doesn't follow the same lines as the outer skin, this leaves you with what looks like a hole thats too small, but if you examine the sliding door window glass you will notice that the black bands on the window are much wider on the sliding door side, that is to accommodate the wider inner skin.

Right, so, from the inside of the van you basically need to cut the outer skin out to the shape of the inner skin, if that makes sense. You could use the innder skin as a guide, if you wanted to.

We used a hole saw to do each corner, that saved us trying to get the shape right! then, once all 4 corners were done we went outside and taped up the door as not to scratch the paint and also used tape as a guide for cutting.
Once marked out we got busy with the air saw to join the corners up.
You could do this with a jig saw.

Once the metal is removed you are left with a dirty gert hole!

If you offer the glass up, it will be fairly obvious that you need to apply the bonding to the door a feww mm in from the edge, and get enough on!

Right, if you lay the glass out and try to fit the seal you will notice that it is about 5" too long, so chop down with a razor blade and superglue to the right length.

Then, use sealer on door and plop the window on, it's that easy.

Once you are happy with the position then tape it into place so it doesn't slide off!

Leave the window as long as you can to set, squirt a bit of sealer out onto a bit of card somewhere to get an idea of what state the sealer is at, if you feel the need to use the van have a fondle of the sealer on the card to see if it has set.

I left mine overnight.
With the remaining sealer I would be tempted to use it joining up the inner and outer skins, doing this you will use about 1 tube or sealer per window.

repeat process for other side.

 

It really is that easy, don't be fooled by the bearers of doom, you can have factory looking, genuine VW windows in for about £60 plus VAT per side and takes about 1.5 hours taking your time.

 

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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote 7/11=12 Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 21 Sep 09 at 00:15
hi simon
 
did you bond the inner/outer door skins once the glass was in & set ??,, ive read on another forum that some do the bonding of the metal skins before the glass plops in,,dig all the sealant out between the skin too,,,i was also thinking of "From The Inside" spot ing it with the mig then linishing them flush just for the beefed factor or would you say its abit over kill,,,its just that when i do this kinda thing i usually over engineer it so to speak which i reckon is not a bad thing really,,also you mentioned clear & green tint iam wanting to limo black the two mid windows anyway so would the green make it look greeny black as daft as that sounds or is the clear the one to go forThumbs Up
 
cheers Rick 
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote t4 virgin Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 21 Sep 09 at 12:37
Originally posted by 7/11=12 7/11=12 wrote:

hi simon
 
did you bond the inner/outer door skins once the glass was in & set ??,, ive read on another forum that some do the bonding of the metal skins before the glass plops in,,dig all the sealant out between the skin too,,,i was also thinking of "From The Inside" spot ing it with the mig then linishing them flush just for the beefed factor or would you say its abit over kill,,,its just that when i do this kinda thing i usually over engineer it so to speak which i reckon is not a bad thing really,,also you mentioned clear & green tint iam wanting to limo black the two mid windows anyway so would the green make it look greeny black as daft as that sounds or is the clear the one to go forThumbs Up
 
cheers Rick 
 
you have to dig the sealer from between panels on drivers side the knock the outer skin in a little to allow a flush fit of the window,i spot welded mine together then fitted window,you can weld it or use Single cab pick upflex and leave it to cure overnight with a couple of clamps holding it together,whatever you have time for,i couldnt leave van outside all night with a big hole in it so spotted together as it was easier and quicker for me
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Baxter Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 21 Sep 09 at 13:01
Yep, you need to bond the skins together, or when you shut the door the side of the van bows out, funny to watch!
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote 7/11=12 Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 21 Sep 09 at 16:58
cheers Cool
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote 7/11=12 Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 21 Sep 09 at 17:02
Originally posted by t4 virgin t4 virgin wrote:

Originally posted by 7/11=12 7/11=12 wrote:

hi simon
 
did you bond the inner/outer door skins once the glass was in & set ??,, ive read on another forum that some do the bonding of the metal skins before the glass plops in,,dig all the sealant out between the skin too,,,i was also thinking of "From The Inside" spot ing it with the mig then linishing them flush just for the beefed factor or would you say its abit over kill,,,its just that when i do this kinda thing i usually over engineer it so to speak which i reckon is not a bad thing really,,also you mentioned clear & green tint iam wanting to limo black the two mid windows anyway so would the green make it look greeny black as daft as that sounds or is the clear the one to go forThumbs Up
 
cheers Rick 
 
you have to dig the sealer from between panels on drivers side the knock the outer skin in a little to allow a flush fit of the window,i spot welded mine together then fitted window,you can weld it or use Single cab pick upflex and leave it to cure overnight with a couple of clamps holding it together,whatever you have time for,i couldnt leave van outside all night with a big hole in it so spotted together as it was easier and quicker for me
just as i thought,,,,,same here cant leave out side due to not having a workshop,,,but i do reckon a few spots of weld is the best way,,,,cheers for your advice buddy Thumbs Up
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Baxter Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 21 Sep 09 at 17:17
Bond it a few days before.
Ratchet straps all the way around the van!!
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote t4 virgin Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 22 Sep 09 at 00:04
Originally posted by t4 virgin t4 virgin wrote:

Originally posted by 7/11=12 7/11=12 wrote:

hi simon
 
did you bond the inner/outer door skins once the glass was in & set ??,, ive read on another forum that some do the bonding of the metal skins before the glass plops in,,dig all the sealant out between the skin too,,,i was also thinking of "From The Inside" spot ing it with the mig then linishing them flush just for the beefed factor or would you say its abit over kill,,,its just that when i do this kinda thing i usually over engineer it so to speak which i reckon is not a bad thing really,,also you mentioned clear & green tint iam wanting to limo black the two mid windows anyway so would the green make it look greeny black as daft as that sounds or is the clear the one to go forThumbs Up
 
cheers Rick 
 
you have to dig the sealer from between panels on drivers side the knock the outer skin in a little to allow a flush fit of the window,i spot welded mine together then fitted window,you can weld it or use Single cab pick upflex and leave it to cure overnight with a couple of clamps holding it together,whatever you have time for,i couldnt leave van outside all night with a big hole in it so spotted together as it was easier and quicker for me
 
whos been messing with my post ?? i do know what Single cab pick upflex is - not single cab pick up flex LOL
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote mortcars Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 27 Nov 09 at 13:16
any chance of getting the part numbers for the untinted glass for the middle row?

went to my local VW and the bloke behind the counter pretty much just smiled and walked away!

Ta 

:)
1997 LWB T4 1.9Td   
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote 7/11=12 Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 28 Nov 09 at 22:12
hi mate
 
try this                                       www.vagcat.com  
 
its what VW use themselves,,well my sons mate works in the parts at vw & he uses it,,you are looking at around £40 per window for clear & a bit more for the green tint,if your dark tinting them i would go for the cheaper clear glass.
 
you will have to register on the vagcat then click on GO TO CATALOG
 
hope this helps mate,,i use it all the time
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote mortcars Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 29 Nov 09 at 10:12
i totally forgot about vag cat

window seal 723845121
Drivers side middle window 703845301S
sliding door window 703845301AA

ill get parts ordered tomorro!!
1997 LWB T4 1.9Td   
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote 7/11=12 Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 29 Nov 09 at 12:28
there's a few folk fitting the bond in side windows with out the trim 
 
"Iam one Of Them" that do think they look better with out it,,a bit like the T5 bond in style/euro look,,,,,plus you will save your sel a few quid just a thought..
 
this is my rear window after i just pulled the old trim out,,glad i did as its revealed a nice little scab that is going to be sorted once weather is better & you"ll be amazed how much crap/algae is under them too
 
 
 
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote rustydubs Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 01 Apr 11 at 18:18
can you get sliding vw windows rather than the fixed ones?
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote T3ADICT Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 18 Apr 11 at 14:34
yes they come up on ebay quite often..
ive sold quite a few normal money is between 50 and 80 quid depending on condition/ type and side.
take care though as there is a difference between left and right (door or fixed side)
you cant fit a sliding door window into a fixed side but a fixed side window can be fitted into a sliding door.
 
if you are going somewhere warm with a van having the sliding windows makes a huge difference inside the van.
 
WHY T3's.... because they are just so adictive, and having one just aint enough
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