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Difficult to change Cabby rear window frame and glass only?

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Difficult to change Cabby rear window frame and glass only?

Hi guys,

I have recently bought a cabby which has had a new vinyl roof fitted.
Only problen is she still leaks in the rain do to the water coming in via a strip of rust at the bottom of the rear window in the roof.
Obviously i do not need a new hood but would i be able to change the rear window glass and frame easlily enough?

Thanks as always in advance.

J-man

2007 Passat 2.0 Sport Estate TDI 170PS (The Bus) 2004 Golf FSI 1.6 (The Wifes) 1988 MK1 Golf Gti Cabriolet (The FUN!)

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Hi fella,
If the rear frame is rusted away you will struggle to get a decent seal.
You should of been advised (or the previous owner) about this.
A few options exist.
1) run a strip of masking tape around the outside of the rubber seal and the hood and peel back the seal, apply sillicone sealant under the seal and clean up, some folks don't do this and it should really be done.

2) You could buy a new rear seal and replace straight forward job, to see if it is just a poor worn seal

3) worse case, if the frame is beyond use, your option is to replace it. You can get a stainless steel version from Crazy Quiffs.
These come in 2 guises, one with the insert and without, obviously different prices.
You would need to prise out the insert of your old frame and glue it back in with Tiger Seal Adhesive.
Unfortunately you will need to undo the staples that hold the hood material into the insert and undo the rear sections of the Hood to gain accsess to the retaining pins that hold the top part of the frame in position via the webbing straps.

Get some pics up to, so we can see.
You can get rust staining on the parcel shelf and this is the classic sign of rust on the frame.
Due to the shape of the seal it sits and collects water, especially in the corners.
Hopefully just a case of re sealing the rear window.

"Making Cabbies More Beautiful One Roof at a Time" 

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Wow that is some great info Chortle and the reason that I love this website!

I will have a good look at the condition of the seal around the window but if i remember right it looks new!

The car now lives in the garage which will prevent it from getting wet most of the time.

You are right in what you say, although there is no rust staining on the rear shelf from what I can see at the moment.
When i went to view the car (in the pooring rain!) i could see that the water was dripping in onto the parcel shelf from the bottom of the rusted window frame and this was in turn making it very damp in the boot.  The car was a very good price so i figured I would do some repairs.  It was also pretty soaked in the passenger footwell but has dried out now, i believe this could be a drainage problem either in the doors or the bulkhead?

I will get some pics up soonest.

Cheers Fella,

J

2007 Passat 2.0 Sport Estate TDI 170PS (The Bus) 2004 Golf FSI 1.6 (The Wifes) 1988 MK1 Golf Gti Cabriolet (The FUN!)

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yeah it is entirely possible to the frame with the hood already fitted, but it is a bit of a pain. as once the frame is out the hood material changes shape slightly and its very fiddly to get it tensioned right over the lip of the frame as you're trying to re-staple it. in case you didn't know you need a good staple gun!

given the choice i would get a frame with the insert, as both the rusted frames i tried to lever the inert out resulted in a cracked insert. luckily i got a spare frame that was salvageable from zee scrappy. oh and don't forget a tube of flexible mastic type sealant to put between the seal and the frame/hood otherwise it'll leak again!  this bit is the most painful task as you have to lift the edge of seal up and try to get a good bead of sealant in the gap, and its a right sod to do it especially if you're on your own

I had to do this on mine, it was hard work but I got there:

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Hi. sorry to hijack the thread, but are the stainless steel frames  worth the outlay?

Are the inserts in the frame bonded from the factory?

CQ is no longer listing the frame/insert option.

Any help would be great, thnx.

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rubjonny said

yeah it is entirely possible to the frame with the hood already fitted, but it is a bit of a pain. as once the frame is out the hood material changes shape slightly and its very fiddly to get it tensioned right over the lip of the frame as you're trying to re-staple it. in case you didn't know you need a good staple gun!

given the choice i would get a frame with the insert, as both the rusted frames i tried to lever the inert out resulted in a cracked insert. luckily i got a spare frame that was salvageable from zee scrappy. oh and don't forget a tube of flexible mastic type sealant to put between the seal and the frame/hood otherwise it'll leak again!  this bit is the most painful task as you have to lift the edge of seal up and try to get a good bead of sealant in the gap, and its a right sod to do it especially if you're on your own

I had to do this on mine, it was hard work but I got there:



still till holding up John?
And what brand of mastic did you use?




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Difficult to change Cabby rear window frame and glass only?

I'm not sure CQ did them with the insert fitted.
I've outlined the proceedure above.
There is a risk of hood ripping if the material is  old plus you'd need to take the tension out of hood as you go..

I can get you a complete frame new OEM but they arn't cheap.  250 Euros plus shipping (not sure of the exchange rate) At least this way there's no messing about with glue etc.

Cheers

Chortle


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"Making Cabbies More Beautiful One Roof at a Time" 

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chris-h said

Hi. sorry to hijack the thread, but are the stainless steel frames  worth the outlay?

Are the inserts in the frame bonded from the factory?

CQ is no longer listing the frame/insert option.

Any help would be great, thnx.

Hi, I got a stainless steel frame for mine before the hood was done, luckily I got it for £80 on eBay never used I think they are £300 upwards from CQ, I think if you're going to the effort of fitting the new roof then it's definitely a good piece of mind, I was having the headliner and some other work done also. Really depends on how bad your current frame is, and no it had no plaatic insert this had to be swapped over

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Hi. Just come across this thread looking for answers on mine. I've just had a new high quality mohair hood fitted at carhood warehouse with a Crazy Q stainless rear window frame. They back filled the seal with sealant and  said the window seal never fits aftermarket window frames as well as oem. It's still dripping out bottom of window frame on to my parcel shelf filling my boot up. Anyone local to me good with mk1 roofs? Marlow Bucks? I don't fancy going all the way back to Kent for a squirt of sealant. 
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