Hey! Guys Chris again form ClassicVWbugs.com and in today's tip again they asks this a question is how to install your window seals, around your windows and also how to install the chrome molding that goes into the seal. I am going to show you that here, in this short video.
But first, what you want to do is lineup the seal where it's huge and center that on the bottom or the top, middle of the window. We are using West Coast Metric seals here, I have much success with these seals, they are nice and soft and they work very well, I do recommend them, I don't recommend the Brazilian's seals or any other cheaper seals that are on the market, they are just kind of hard to work with.
So like I said, you want to find the spot on the seal that would go on the window. It's usually a flat section and the outer flap is what faces outward. Now 64 and earlier bugs they had a flat windshield, so it really doesn't matter which side you put the seal on, 65 and later the windshields actually had a slight bend in it. But you should be able to tell which way the shield should go on at that point.
But usually start in the corners, like I am doing here. I like to do that first because it just makes life a little bit easier as you put the shield around the window. Basically you just kind of have to get that space in there, opened and just push that glass and seal on, around the perimeter and then as you get the corners and you could start working the whole way around the window, as I am doing it here. It's just kind of wiggle in it and sometimes, opening it and just tapping it in to secure it in place.
Let me show a close up a bit here, it looks little better. So you just see how I am prying it down, and prying it up and then trying to, just make that gap in the seal. Open up a bit, so you could just slide it on to the glass. Once you get the hang of it, it goes on pretty quickly. I like to do it in the sun, it's simply because the sun heats up the seal nice and makes it to slide on to the glass a lot better.
If you are not in the sun, you could always use a hair dryer to heat up the seal. You see where the fuse section is, I have it right down in the middle, okay. So then you just kind of secure everything in place, make sure the seal is not off-centered in any way or lopsided at all, you want it to be nice and flush and flat.
Okay, next thing we are going to put the chrome into the seals now, where you could see here as you just line up the chrome to go into the seal. Sometimes some of the chrome that you get in is not set to the size of the parameter on the seal, so you got to have to open it up a little bit and just be careful you don't want to crimp the chrome, just want to open up and you want to start with your corners, first, like I do here.
Basically, you want to pull back the flap on the seal and push that chrome in, not too force, but you could bend the chrome. I used to use a little screwdriver to punch it in and then on the inside part of the flap you pry it out, so it actually lips around the whole chrome. Sometimes you might get the outside lip on but then the inside lip is not secured around the chrome properly.
But here is the best way to put the chrome in, use some WD-40 or you could use silicon or soap even, and I am just kind of pushing the lubricant in the groove, where you could also use the butter knife to kind of push it into the groove and then basically you just start pushing the chrome into the gap there and that was basically it.
It's really not all that difficult, sometimes you might have a little bit of trouble but for the most part if you have a lubricant, it should slide in a right and then once you go all the way around the windows, all you got to get the final clips that come in your chrome package and you want to slide that open the ends there and that basically completes the chrome around the window, and you just got to push that into seal and then you are pretty much good to go.
Okay, now basically here for the quarter windows, same thing you go around the whole parameter and their clips and on the straight part. So that's basically it, if you have got any questions chris@classicvwbugs.com.
Transcription by:
Scribe4you Transcription Services