Door Rubbers?

[riffraff]

I am going to have to replace the rubber seals that go between the window frame and the body on my bus(es). It is the thin strip that is held in by the channel all the way around the frame.
How does the old one come out and how is the new one threaded through and then secured?

[hotvw1]

I am not sure which one you are talking about Keith.

[riffraff]

The rubber seal that seals the front door window frames to the body of the bus. The rubber fits into a small channel on the window frames.

[ken]

If they are fairly soft/pliable you might be able to pull them out in one piece, or in some major pieces. Otherwise if they are dried up and falling apart, I cut them out with a Razor blade. You cut down, lengthwise, looking at them from the top, and then pull them out in two halves... you'll see what I mean. Remembering of course to cut away from yourself.

Ken

[1970bayboy]

yes away from your self.

I have an extra scar to prove that one, like 14 was not enough already. SAFTY first.

Joby

[coronabus]

I replaced all mine the same way Ken is describing. For the old ones I ran the utility knife down the middle of the seal essentially slicing it in half and pull the halves out. The new seals I got started in the channel with a flat head screwdriver, sprayed the seal and channel with a spray lubricant and pulled it along. Like everything else, take your time.

[riffraff]

I had to resort to the slice and dice feature. It took the better part of an hour, but I have emancipated one seal from one frame.
I am a little concerned about how I am going to get a new seal threaded through in one piece though as the old seal was wedged in pretty tightly on the two corners. I had to extract it micron by micron and the chances that a new one will slide around those corners is about as likely as a Liberal getting elected in Alberta, or Canada meeting it's Kyoto targets.
Has anyone had to "enhance" the inner size of the channel? The idea that comes to mind is to get a jewellers screwdriver and pry the channel up a bit at a time, but the problem with that is that as it prys up in one side, it pushes down on the other. The nature of the bend in the metal means that it will require less force to yield the metal channel at the fulcrum than at the other end of the "lever"
Any ideas?

[ken]

I forgot to mention how to install... but don't open the channel wider. You will not be able to slide the seal in. You have to tuck one side of the "T" profile in and then push the other in with a small blunt object. A rounded off, small, flat blade screw driver will work well. You'll see... it takes longer that pulling them out....

[riffraff]

Thanks Ken

Karma for another batch of sgae advice