Replacing Alpine Window Seals

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tid172

Member
Posts
39
Location
London
Not sure if this will help anyone, but I replaced my Alpine window seals over the weekend and this is a brief how I done it..

Ok, so this (if the picture works), is why the seals needed renewing:
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As you can see, the seals were cracked and letting in water.

These are the tools needed, along with some rag and a stanley knife:
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So where to start?
First, remove the filler strip. I used a screwdriver and prised the old one up and pulled it out.
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Next, I sprayed the soapy water mix all over the seal, then I used a plastic 'spudger' (in this case, a mobile phone prizing tool) to break the join between the glass and rubber. I did this all the way round, let the water get in and then started to work the rubber off the glass.
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Once the top and sides have been freed, the glass should lift out:
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Voila!
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Next, remove the old rubber seal:
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This should be what you have removed:
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This is the window aperture, it will need cleaning prior to fitting the new rubber
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Cleaned:
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Clean the glass too..
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So, time to fit the new seal, here it is:
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This photo shows the rubber profile. The top wide section is for the glass, the centre shaped section for the filler strip and the bottom narrow section goes on the body.
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I fitted the seal dry and started halfway along the bottom, so the join would look neat.
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Work the seal all the way around, until you get back to where you started:
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I cut the seal, using a stanley knife, and left about 5/8" (16mm) overlap
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Then i fitted the 2 ends together and compressed the seal into place. The extra piece of seal will help to keep it tight in it's aperture and help keep it watertight.
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Next, wet the seal all the way round
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Next, I slid the window into the lower part of the seal
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And slid it up to the end (the top part of the glass is still not in the rubber)
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Next, use the spudger, soapy water and work the glass into the seal
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You should then have the glass in the seal and in place
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Give the glass a few gentle bashes with your hand, this will help it settle and allow the seal to settle.
Then it's time to fit the filler strip:
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This is the profile of the strip. the pointed lower piece is the bit that sits in the seal
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Using a window filler strip tool, open up the gap in the rubber, use soapy water mix to help.
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And insert the filler strip through the tool, into the gap
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Work the filler strip around and into the seal, by sliding the tool along the gap in the seal
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Soapy water helps on the filler strip and seal:
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Carefully work it past the join in the seal
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Work until you reach the end, where you started
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I cut the filler strip about 3/8" (9mm) longer than needed
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And then fed it in and compressed it to make the join and apply pressure to the seal
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Inside, I had a couple of places, where the seal had lifted, i just pushed these flat to the glass and they stayed put.
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Voila! 1 down, 1 to go (if you're doing both)
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Hope this is of help..
 
Glad yours went in better than mine. I paid to have one fitted by a mobile fitter together with a new windscreen. He did struggle with the alpine window blaming the seal quality. I ended up ripping it out an re-doing the alpine window myself, better but far from perfect.
 
thats great! im looking to remove my sliding side widows to put a solid piece of glass in! Does anyone know if the profile rubber for the alpines wolud be the same as the side windows? Im wondering if the outside part of the rubber would cover the rivet holes holding side windows on?

cheers good work....
 
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Thanks for posting this; gives me the motivation to do mine! About how long do you think it took per side?

Does anyone know if you can reverse the seal so the filler strip goes on the inside of the window?
 
Thanks for posting this; gives me the motivation to do mine! About how long do you think it took per side?

Does anyone know if you can reverse the seal so the filler strip goes on the inside of the window?

Funny you should ask that as I was about to ask why the filler strip is put on the outside, it always struck me as a silly idea given that you can pull the filler strip out and then take the glass out.

I personally installed my custom side windows with standard window rubbers and put the flat plain surface to the exterior and the filler on the inside. I guess I should ask the window rubber guys...

door seals, rubber seals, rubber extrusions, window rubbers by seals direct
 
Hey discomania! looking at your thread gave me the idea of replacing the side windows. Do you know which rubber you bought? just looked on that website and its mind boggling to me! did all the rivet holes cover?
 
Thanks for posting this; gives me the motivation to do mine! About how long do you think it took per side?

Does anyone know if you can reverse the seal so the filler strip goes on the inside of the window?

Hi, about 45 mins with taking photos and about 30 mins for the other side.

The filler strip is on the outside so it's easy to get to, I think. I guess you could put it on the inside, but you'd have to remove side panels and headlining to get access to fit the filler strip.

Rear windows etc, the strip is on the inside, to prevent removal by crooks.

Richard
 
Hey discomania! looking at your thread gave me the idea of replacing the side windows. Do you know which rubber you bought? just looked on that website and its mind boggling to me! did all the rivet holes cover?

The glazing I used was I think 5-6mm thick, so A is the inner side and B is the outer, so you need to get something that will do 5-6mm on A and on B just the thickness of the panel which is 1.2mm I think, the web is the gap between the glazing and the panel - so say you make the aperture 1000 x 500mm then you glass would need to be 990mm x 490mm if you had a 5mm web in the middle, actually from experience I would get the glazing cut about to 988 x 488 to give a little extra play.

Looking at it, it must have been AR62 or WR65 - so looking at that you would need your glazing to be at least 7mm more like 8mm smaller ALL round than your aperture. If you make a mistake make the glazing too big, at least at the cost of time you can go round the aperture with a file sander etc. and make it a little bigger!

Local glazier cut all my glass on standard laminate. You can smack it with a hammer and that will crack it, you can smack on it more and it will all shatter but will still stay as a pane, you need to really pound it in so much that the pane pushes into the car, or use a knife and cut the laminate, my plan was to slow down would be smash and grab types.

My daily driver has sledge hammer proof glass, I'd like that but it also relies on a good solid encasement around the window runners and things or else it would just push the seals through.
 
one thing to bear in mind - certainly doing truck cab glass is that there are two thickness' of glazing used in landies..... and they use different glazing seal.

you soon know if you have the wrong one. (after the event !)- either the filler strip goes in and the glass is still loose OR as i found - the filler strip just wont go in period.
 
Thanks for the step by step Alpine window seal removal tid172. It was well informative may I say as good as Haynes if not better. Its a shame you haven't done your side windows. If you do put it on the forum it will be extremely useful.

That's on my 'to-do' list.. :)
 
Did mine a couple of years ago after swmbo knocked one out in an RTV. absolute pigs, sadly I didnt have the special tool just a cranked flat screwdriver

I also had to do a but of thwacking to reinstate the roof to the correct shape

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Brilliant - this is very near the top of my list, and looks like even I could cope.

Where did you find the filler strip tool and 'spudger'!!? A
 
Hey tid172, nice piece of work! Will attempt soon myself. You made it look very easy but I am under no illusion this job can be a pig! Your cutting over length and compressing back the excess suggests to me some pro. experience too!
 
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