I mentioned in another post I'd found a couple solutions to finding new oval opening portholes (well one is non-opening replacement). But before I did. that I took an old one out to see what was going on and found I could (a) rejuvenate and (b) reorient the rubber seals, and so far, no leaks.
The tricks are as follows:
1. Getting the brass bushing and friction first screws out. I used a Harbor Freight scraper with hammer (basically. a cheap chisel) to create a gap between hinge and screw tops. Then very narrow vice grips. To get the brass bushing out I bought a packet of various diameter stainless rods end used them as a drift to knock the bushing out. Terrible design on an otherwise bullet-proof porthole.
2. I then took the windows apart to clean the glass, frames, and rubber seals.
3.The next trick is to turn the rubber seals through 180 degrees. The bottom will be cracked and a bit perished, the top, not so. Rub some silicone (grease, O-ring lubricant; I tried both and both work) and the high quality rubber will come back to life.
4.Then you have a choice (a) reinstall brass bushing and screw (not a great design) (b) use the brass bushings with 10-32 screws (c) throw away the bushings and just use 1/4-20 screws. For me option (c) works best and with wing nuts the windows are now super easy to remove and clean.
Forward windows
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GBR3068
- Posts: 43
- Joined: Sat Jul 31, 2021 9:03 am
Here are some picture of my window "fix".
In order below:
1. Here's what the four opening chrome on bronze forward windows look like on my 1975 Cal 2-34
2. This is the window hinge. You have to get the hinge pins out, and it is not easy.
3. These are the tools.
4. This is the window when taken apart. You can see how it is now easy to (a) clean the rubber seal and (b) turn the seal through 180 degrees to get new life from old seals. I experimented with alcohol / winter green (see https://youtu.be/EnGsllKvheQ) but silicon grease (Trident) seems to work OK. You have to clean the dirt and grime out of the cracked rubber first, even a soft wire brush is OK, then work the grease into the rubber. It gradually will become soft instead of cracked and hard.
5. My windows were stained outside where the standing water collects (what. a bad design). I found scrubbing the glass with a wire brush worked better than any polishing compound I tried. Now the water collecting at the bottom of the windows is actually useful in telling me I have a good seal on all the windows. I could re-chrome the frames (I had four Mercedes rims re-chromed for just under $1000 a few years back and they looked great) but it doesn't seem worth it to me.
If. you wanted to get new windows, as I mentioned somewhere else but without details:
1. Richard at New Found Metals [email protected]
2. Mark Heacox
http://www.markplastics.com/
[email protected]
(951) 735-7705
Mark is old school and uses phone more than email, I think he used to work at Cal and I think has the old tooling. I am pretty sure he made my aft windows and they are great.
In order below:
1. Here's what the four opening chrome on bronze forward windows look like on my 1975 Cal 2-34
2. This is the window hinge. You have to get the hinge pins out, and it is not easy.
3. These are the tools.
4. This is the window when taken apart. You can see how it is now easy to (a) clean the rubber seal and (b) turn the seal through 180 degrees to get new life from old seals. I experimented with alcohol / winter green (see https://youtu.be/EnGsllKvheQ) but silicon grease (Trident) seems to work OK. You have to clean the dirt and grime out of the cracked rubber first, even a soft wire brush is OK, then work the grease into the rubber. It gradually will become soft instead of cracked and hard.
5. My windows were stained outside where the standing water collects (what. a bad design). I found scrubbing the glass with a wire brush worked better than any polishing compound I tried. Now the water collecting at the bottom of the windows is actually useful in telling me I have a good seal on all the windows. I could re-chrome the frames (I had four Mercedes rims re-chromed for just under $1000 a few years back and they looked great) but it doesn't seem worth it to me.
If. you wanted to get new windows, as I mentioned somewhere else but without details:
1. Richard at New Found Metals [email protected]
2. Mark Heacox
http://www.markplastics.com/
[email protected]
(951) 735-7705
Mark is old school and uses phone more than email, I think he used to work at Cal and I think has the old tooling. I am pretty sure he made my aft windows and they are great.
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