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I sent this a while ago, and just notice it got kicked back to me as if I'd
sent it to the list office. I didn't.
Please excuse someone/thing if this is a dupe. (Bugs in the works.)
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orig. mesg.
>I too am still looking for a good seal for the window to frame
seal. The old one was a 1/4" vinyl bulb seal with a 1/4 flange. The
P style EDPM stuff failed miserably, and some P shaped seal I got from McMasters
didn't fit (too thick of flange). It has to have the T flange to resist
both closing and opening pressures. The search continues.....
RJ '65 Caravel
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new message
Did you (RJ) do that web site with all of the documentation on polishing,
vents,
etc? (There seem to be (2) RJ s out there.) Wow ... that's a great one, and a lot of work. Thanks. Loved picturing the neighbors grumbling, then appreciating (re:
polishing
"that thing" in the driveway).
I'm trying to come up with that elusive "better answer" to the Hehr
window
weatherstripping problem I'm having, as are RJ and countless others with Airstreams in the '59 - '65 vintage. (This is NOT the glass retainer
material.)
It seems unlikely that we'll ever come across a molding in a
configuration
which utilizes the extruded-in groove in the Hehr aluminum frame ... it's kind of an oddball. Too bad someone at Hehr can't put their hands on the extrusion die for the original. I'm thinking the best solution might be a tube glued tightly into the corner, leaving a kind of bulging quarter round cross section. I've been doing research on rubber and thermoplastic tubing in
the
McMaster-Carr catalog, and am thinking about getting short lengths of a few different products to test. I want black or grey material, and I need excellent heat resistance due to the summer temperatures here in SC (5 months in the 90's seems to be the new pattern).
The original weatherstrip (vinyl?) had an OD of about 5/16", but a wall of only about 1/32". Since I'm picturing gluing this tight into the corner, it might be ok a little larger than that. Most of the tube materials available are a minimum of 1/16" thick. I'm thinking I'd use 3M's black
weatherstrip
adhesive, very carefully applied to both faces of the corner of the frame,
then, using a sharp cornered strip of wood the length of each side of the
frame, and clamps (or strips of duct tape) to keep the tube pushed tightly
into the corner until the adhesive sets. The "bulb" would pop back
out when
unclamped. Also, beads of adhesive could then be run at each edge of
the
tube for a more secure hold. The 3M stuff is really tough. Could be
tedious
work, but that's better than a leaky trailer. The small areas next to
the
window operators and latches are of some concern, but if abrasion becomes a problem, I think it could be sliced and repositioned/glued to stay
out of the
way at that spot.
Am I overlapping the research someone else has already done? Who can
enlighten me re: the durometer info supplied by McMaster and how that
narrows
down the list of potentially suitable products? (Practical feedback as
opposed
to theoretical.)
I've been studying:
www.mcmaster.com
pp.77-91, with good material summaries on 77 and 88. I'm
guessing that only the materials with a general durometer rating of "soft"
would be
compressible enough to work. The specific products for which I hold out
some hope
are:
5234K41, .....42, or .....44 (p. 89) This is latex
rubber, available in black
(or amber). UV light/ozone resistance? Is this innertube-type
rubber? If not,
can it can handle below 0 temperatures without cracking? (Most people don't
open and close the windows in their Airstreams when it's below 0, but will
flexibility return when it warms up?) Durometer: Shore A: 35
(soft)
5231K82 or .....83, (p. 78) This is acid grade PVC tubing, black.
Better temp.
range (-10 to +180 deg. F), good ozone and UV light resistance, and best of
all: cheap! (.12/.15 per foot in 100' coil) - would be wonderful if this
would work.
Durometer: Shore A: 70 (soft). Wall thickness os 1/16" might make it
less
conformable than original product.
Any feedback on the characteristics of these materials and their
suitability for
this application will be greatly appreciated.
Bob Harper
'62 Globe Trotter in SC |