Club 80-90 Forums

yo dudes,ive pulled a window out of the van to do the welding,)just ordered me vactan rust eater off fleabay!)when i refit can i use a sealer to help the seal to be water tight.....any suggestions boys??????

You can use a silicone sealant but make sure it doesnt have acetic cure as this will produce acid which will now be good for your new metalwork! There is a silicone sealant which is designed for fixing mirrors to walls and stuff, bit expensive but no worries about your metal being eaten through!

Sikaflex

Whatever your nearest windsrceen fitters use (buy some off them)

It's got to be non silicone (because silicone contains acids and even if it doesn't it cracks and hardens afer a while plus it leaves a nasty residue that can't get off ever again) and you'd better not use sikaflex either because that sticks like hell and will never ever come off again.

Sikaflex 295UV

GLAZING SEALANT

A fast curing, one component, high performance polyurethane based adhesive, specifically designed for bonding windows and portholes. Suitable for use with all types of glass including polycarbonates.

the genuine vw manual does show a bead of sealant when refiting rubbers, have used sikaflex before but not for window rubbers, and it is brilliant stuff, as are most polyurethane seam sealers, and it would definitely keep things watertight!
wether you would struggle to remove a sikaflexed rubber again if needed is another matter, but i'm thinkink of using this when i tackle mine,
although the advice above about using what the screen fitters use seems a good call.

apologies, westy.club.joker, [should read previous replies properly ]
didnt realise sikaflex did a dedicated screen sealant, definitely sounds worth trying, i thought they just did the 'seam sealer' type P.E. Stuff, which i reckon would stick the rubber in pretty much permanently!
apparently some builders merchants stock their stuff, as they do damproofing builing additives too.

Do a quick Google for it, marine places sell it

Yes, the Bentley manual shows running a small bead of sealant around one of the outer "ribs" of the window seal to stop water getting in and sitting in the window well, rotting it away.

this is the prob both my caravelle sliding side windows and 1 corner of front screen have suffered, water behind seal, leading to rust bubbles,
need to get the glass and seals out to check how bad things are and rectify, one day i'll book a day off work and it will actually stay dry enough to get on with the job, hopefully this year!

You and me both Wasserleaker...