Windscreen seal. Sealant required?

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Funbus
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Windscreen seal. Sealant required?

Post by Funbus »

As recommended I've bought the vw emporium seal. Windscreens been out, repairs done and fresh paint. All back together and.....it's leaking slightly.
Should this seal be fitted with any sealant/putty? Or should it be fitted dry?
I paid somebody to fit it for me and would like some advice before I ring him tomorrow

Plasticman
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Re: Windscreen seal. Sealant required?

Post by Plasticman »

some use sealant, well not sealant but say arbomast, spelt wrong but sounds right.........
i dont use any , tell me have you some picks of the repair before during and after as this will tell me enough also picks as is showing the 4 corners with seal fitted
mm

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Re: Windscreen seal. Sealant required?

Post by Funbus »

I'll get some pics tomorrow. The repair was passenger side and leak is drivers side. Strange. There does look to be a decent seal all the way around

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Re: Windscreen seal. Sealant required?

Post by CovKid »

They can take a while to settle in but personally I'd use sealant. I simply do not subscribe to the notion that "if VW didn't use any then it doesn't need it". I've owned enough VWs in nearly 30 years to know that sealant really does help keep out the rain. If you're going to the trouble of windscreen lip repairs and fitting a new seal then seal it. I used B&Q roofing mastic (black - in a gun with small nozzle cut), and ran it under the outside seal, wiping of excess with white spirit. 10 min job at most and under a fiver.

You may find though, that its not the screen....
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Funbus
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Re: Windscreen seal. Sealant required?

Post by Funbus »

Cheers covkid. What else could it be? I could see the water gathering around the wiper fixing screws near the front of the dash.

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Re: Windscreen seal. Sealant required?

Post by Plasticman »

Again,picks of the repair would be good or its an educates guessing game
mm

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Re: Windscreen seal. Sealant required?

Post by max and caddy »

Having the same issue...repaired the steel work and even mm would be happy I'm certain...used a brickwerks seal and it fitted well, no dramas, just me and the wife wearing pyjamas and in it popped...took a while to settle it fully but looked great...water is pouring in!

Before..
Image

During..
Image

After...well untill 2pack was hastily applied...
Image

This is only a tempory patch up as the van is off for paint soon ish but despite this I'm dismayed it leaks!

Van..Image

Plasticman
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Re: Windscreen seal. Sealant required?

Post by Plasticman »

i see you repaired the obvious hole :lol: did you also do the lip part that the seal sits over as it looks a touch high ?
i havent had sight/hold of the seal you used so cant comment on that aspect but is it coming in from the top and running down
mm
oh and nice looking Van.....

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Re: Windscreen seal. Sealant required?

Post by CovKid »

Using ctrl and scroll on my mouse it looks as though there are major issues at the top. Might there be extended and hidden rot up here? It seems a common thing with hard tops....
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max and caddy
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Re: Windscreen seal. Sealant required?

Post by max and caddy »

There is a bit of rust at the top yes, also fixed...it could be getting in at the top however as the seal is hard up against the gutter flange bit...oddly the leak is worst on the side with no repair! height of the lip is correct.

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Re: Windscreen seal. Sealant required?

Post by max and caddy »

This is the top before repair..

Image
And
Image

No too major..

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Re: Windscreen seal. Sealant required?

Post by Simon Baxter »

Aftermarket screens aren't always the right shape or size.
We had a run of problems with South African screens "ABC" I think they were branded, usually too small in the hole.

As far as I know there are 2 types of windscreen seal, there's the ones made in the UK that are awful, then the German ones.
The German ones regardless of where you buy them from or what brand they are seem to come from the same place and fit well and look right.
Fairly sure the Bentley manual says to use sealant when fitting a screen but I can't be arsed to check!
We tend to go for belt and braces now and just use sealer and not have to worry about taking the screen back out.
'86 VW T3 syncro panel
'89 VW T3 Westy Atlantic
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max and caddy
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Re: Windscreen seal. Sealant required?

Post by max and caddy »

Not sure of the brand on the screen...will look..normally I would use sealant or maybe just wax and I also tape the lower seam with tesa fabric tape but as this screen will be out again soon I didn't...yet.

Funbus
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Re: Windscreen seal. Sealant required?

Post by Funbus »

Pics as requested.
Passenger side lower

Image
Along to the washer

Image

I pieced the bottom bit in 100 mm pieces to try and follow the same profile as I'm new to the welding/metalwork game

Image

Then tackled the corner

Image

Followed by 2 coats of rustoleum

Image

I thought it looked perfect. Seal seems to have a nice fit all the way around

I done a repair at the top to a similar standard but don't have a picture of it afterwards

Image

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Re: Windscreen seal. Sealant required?

Post by Plasticman »

well youve not done a bad job there :D but they do need to be as near as dammit exact, if in doubt then sealant will soort it
Max the problem i come across with the westy style is the top edge, as you know the seal fits over the lip suppose mainly holding the thing in :lol: and then it works in conjunction with the ribbed underside of the seal to fit tight to the aperature,
The very outer bit does as you know creep over the edge and sort of on the ouuter body area,except for the toop as it protrudes too far so the top bit of seal will look to sort of turn over on itself and it does this till it gets to the corners where we are back to normal pprofile,
I think its this transition on the corners that allows water to enter and then run down , as you say the seal seemed compliant and it dropped in, so doesnt sound like too much astray there but there is the glass size toi consider and a slightly smaller one will put less tension onto the seal so it in turn will not fit as tightly
mm

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