S2a SWB Safari Roof Windows - what rubber seal section?

[Simon Williams]

Hello again, I've got to a job today I've been dreading, which is refitting the two roof light windows in the rear of the body.  These are the two long thin and curved ones.  I bought the Britpart rubber which is shaped like two back to back "C" sections, but I'm very not convinced.  The problem appears to be that there isn't enough rubber to occupy the gap between the glass and the hole so the window glass just falls through.  To be fair this may be because the window is too far out - it hasn't taken its proper position flush with the rest of the roof.  But I managed to push the glass right through, it bounced on an old coat lying inside the rear body but I thought I'd pushed my luck too far already and gave up.

Plan B involved robbing the (rather perished) rubber moulding from another SWB safari body I bought for the spare glass panels, these mouldings are a different shape and the glass goes straight back in.  The moulding has moulded itself (as mouldings will) to the compound curve of the shoulder of the roof, and the glass has taken up its proper position flush with the alloy surround.  Success!  

But!

I'd really like to get rid of the old second hand and perished and tatty moulding, but I don't think the Britpart rubber is the right thing.  Rubbersmart.co.uk offer a variety of sections of which one marked RC-1634 looks useful and a close approximation to the second-hand rubber I've re-used. Has anyone solved this problem before?

Thanks as always in anticipation of help from the experts

Simon

[simonr]

They're known as 'Alpine Windows' (for some reason!)

I've only changed the seals it once - and swore I would never do it again!  I'm sure there's some tecnique that makes it easy, but it eluded me!

I started with patterned seals, I can't remember where they were from though.  They proved completely impossible.

I then bought genuine ones (I assume they'e still available?) which were eye-wateringly expensive IIRC, but they were possible to fit, with a lot of swearing.

I said at the time, if I ever have to do this again, I'll get a grown-up to do it!

[Snagger]

It’s not a fun job, and I’d recommend against reusing old seal that have gone hard or have already cracked as you’ll have leaks and will need to do it again.

Britpart window seals generally have a reputation similar to other Britpart stuff of being fit only for the bin, but I haven’t specifically heard complaints about their Alpine Light seals.  Put them end to end with the old seals to compare the shape and thickness of their profile and side by side to compare length.  They should seem too long for the hole in the roof, compressing and buckling a little when fitted without the glass.  The hole should be a bit larger than the shape of the glass plus the thickness of the bridge in the centre of the seal profile - it is the overlaps that holds the seal relative the metal and glass.  You’ll be surprised at how much more rigid it all becomes once the bulk of the filler strip is fitted into the outer face of the seal.

There is a good video on how to fit these on YouTube’s “BritRest” or Britannica Restorations channel.  Patience, some soapy water and ideally the filler strip fitting tool will make it a lot easier.

[Happyoldgit]

Ah yes, done a few of these in years gone by, horrible job. New seal material is likely to be more flexible and less likely to crack than the old stuff.  Get the closest match to the original seal profile, there used to be a place in Edgware that I used to buy lengths of seal moulding but they ceased trading a while back but classic car supplies like Woolies usually have a decent selection - there are others. Ask for samples if needs be. Having the pukka tool to fit the filler is going to make life easier, as is plenty of lubricant [ I used to use washing up liquid neat or slightly diluted with warm water] and a decent bit of cord to pull the lip of the seal into the aperture. An assistant on the other side of the panel is going to make the job less fraught.

Once upon a time all windscreen fitters were experienced in the job so in the past I'd have said slip one some beer tokens to fit the things for you but the old school ways are disappearing as vehicles have had bonded screens etc for years now.

[L19MUD]

I have done a few of these on Defenders. All had the infill that needed to be added once the glass is in to tighten up the seal, you need the tool for this or you will have a really hard time. They look like this

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/174062931268?_trkparms=amclksrc%3DITM%26aid%3D1110006%26algo%3DHOMESPLICE.SIM%26ao%3D1%26asc%3D251364%26meid%3D0e95bfe2d67b4e5596b642f458442fb3%26pid%3D101195%26rk%3D4%26rkt%3D12%26sd%3D185922092521%26itm%3D174062931268%26pmt%3D1%26noa%3D0%26pg%3D2047675%26algv%3DSimplAMLv11WebTrimmedV3MskuWithLambda85KnnRecallV1V4ItemNrtInQueryAndCassiniVisualRankerAndBertRecall%26brand%3DUnbranded&_trksid=p2047675.c101195.m1851&amdata=cksum%3A1740629312680e95bfe2d67b4e5596b642f458442fb3|enc%3AAQAIAAABQNaJCFP3eaFlNU%2FMPxRY0TCMczVKEUB5MsBytoCwPnd71M08lfrVO4PuTCchnU42KC4W4fZqxBROE%2BM7tSL%2BgZgL1kWiIUBRsEpydVTA61DhOJDUizwNgM7HKYQEqSaBlNf2LnMW1nu6bkOwZ44uhADeRqwclbCegR7LabD8C0t4lhgJoDEJbuNnaC3sykiKPS0P7IU6BW3daNxlpSjecm3VLs6ifM5eRQxBsHWwaCSeGPruxg%2FAk83EIh9kbXqkibU%2Fck1gCBy7QdCYfSzu2gepuXDJRB8kgBAGiJZyyp4cKLi27JAZ68AJ8qtERrAx5tHRIc6qWsXf3Q1nGpY2eJbz6a8GmGIIafIwdK9bWue3bb%2FjZnUUAOJJykByUevTVdHrEovSJKREIpI2ts2VfxEiiOUdLgzSPioVaks1UuTS|ampid%3APL_CLK|clp%3A2047675

 

If it is a sunny day I like to leave the seals out in the sun for a while to warm up and make them more pliable, failing that warm water to heat them slightly also works

[ped]

i bought a set of alpines for my hard top 110 as the headlining i fitted had the cut outs for them
in the end i decided i wasn't going to fit them ,this was after helping a mate put his back in after removing to paint the hard top
it was a nightmare

[Snagger]

As L19MUD said, warming the seals to make them pliable is very helpful.  Leaving them for a while in a bucket of hot water will do the job nicely.