how to replace the rear screen.

[clemo]

hiya all..
i replaced a rear screen on rogerf's s2 when i owned it..

i got some green tint window (the thicker stuff) from a trimmers.
it is/was the green tint mgf rear hood.
it cost £30 and i asked for some heavy duty thread.

i removed the whole hood and frame.
this is joined down inside where the b post caps are.

you will have to peel back the carpet sections as this is where the screws hold the b post rear sections to the car.

you do not have to take then off , just give yourself enough room to get you hands down to remove the little 7mm and 8mm captivated nuts of the strange shaped bracket.. be carefull not to drop them down as it will end up down by the sill.

take the roof off and don't bend it.
i placed / screwed mine on a rigid old work table and propped the header rail up with some beer crates.

remove the original rear screen by unpicking the stitching that in nearest to the window NOT the other one.

i then used the old window as a template and cut it to size.

then place the new window in and tack it back where you have just removed the old window.

tack between the old removed thread and the still present thread.
THE ROOF MUST BE TAUT/FULL OPEN for this and must stay that way untill finished.

if you have not removed both stitching seams then the new window should be comfortably resting on the outer stitch .

now all you need do is !!!

aquire 1x friend/partner to give up 8 tedious hours .

you lay on the table , on the inside of the roof ( in the up postion resting on beer crates) with you head toward the nice new clear window .

the person on the "other side" needs to feed through with a heavy duty upholstery needle through to you. and you to feed it back to them.

quite obvious really.

it would pay for the sake of your fingers to pass the needle through and return with some long nose pliers.

the roof must stay tight at all time.

if it looks like it is causing a ruck , cut the thread back to where it started. this is why so many "rear window only " jobs look creased or rinkled.

do the window in sections so you don't have to pull meters of the thread through all the time..

if you have picked the stitches out rather than ripping them out the the old holes will be clean enough to use . this should give a more professional look. and if your new thread is thicker that the original thread then it will still push through with a little resistance.

by the time you have gone all the way round ( you fingers will be hurting) but you should have got the hang of it !

so much so that your first few inches of stitching will look rubish and you may well remove that and replace it with your much improved level of stitching.

always overlap your stiching by a good amount say 1". tie off about 10 times/loops and then feed the loose thread back through the 10 loops and use a dab of with superglue..

this job was time consuming but the costs involved are low.

have fun.

clemo

[Sy V]

This would be a good article for the Wiki, Dave!

[Rogerf]

Now you tell me
I always thought why do others have problems misting as mines ok!
Great job you did Clemo!
Roger

[dapinky]

This would be a good article for the Wiki, Dave!

DONE! (Pinky can now do Wiki pages!!!!!)

[theelanman]

This would be a good article for the Wiki, Dave!

DONE! (Pinky can now do Wiki pages!!!!!)

doh........I was just gonna do that as my fist go at a wiki.....

good skills.....or should that be drills

[dapinky]

Gareth,

I'm working late - what's your excuse for having nothing better to do in the middle of the night?

[theelanman]

Gareth,

I'm working late - what's your excuse for having nothing better to do in the middle of the night?

guess where Id been

[dapinky]

Okay, you win!



easilly beats , but more often

[Sy V]

Hmm!

[Galsia]

.

[clemo]

good luck with it...
its not difficult just time consuming..

clemo

[Galsia]

I'm about 80% complete with my rear window and it looks a lot better. I'm still wondering if its going to be waterproof though. did you seal around the stitching with anything?

[Galsia]

I've completed my window now and I can indeed confirm that it does leak like a sieve at the bottom. I definately need to seal it somehow. Any suggestions?


On a plus note it does look nice though.

[Steve A]

Come on lads, where's the pictures

[Steve A]

where do you get the replacement window from and also what twine do you use?

[Enright]

I've completed my window now and I can indeed confirm that it does leak like a sieve at the bottom. I definately need to seal it somehow. Any suggestions?

Clear silicone sealant?

[Galsia]

:D Come on lads, where's the pictures

Its hard to get a decent picture because its so sunny today and the plastic is highly reflective. Here are some before and after shots. I can assure you that my new window is almost invisible.

Old:




New:



You can also see I've repaired the rear of the hood too.

I didn't remove the hood to replace the window. I preforated the new window by hand with a needle (and a candle (Its too hard to push a cold needle through!). I had to get in and out of the car for almost every stitch except along the bottom where I propped the hood up slightly.

I think I spent about 10 hours repairing the hood at the bottom, and another 10 hours replacing the window. There was a lot of effort involved!


I got the material from here:

http://www.woolies-trim.co.uk/

I went into a sewing shop and just asked for their strongest thread. Its very similar to tent thread.

and Neil, I was thinking of silicone sealant. I was just wondering if there was any other alternatives.

[Steve A]

It looks very tidy, thanks for the additional information.
So you had to heat the point of the needle every time you passed it through the hood sore fingers or what.

[Galsia]

Once the needle was hot it went through easily. It was just tiresome.

First I removed the old window by cutting the inside thread on the hood with a knife. Then I cut the new window to the same size.

I spent the next two and a half hours putting holes around the new window. Then it was a case of putting the window in place and slowly sewing it in, pulling back the edges enough so that I could see where my holes were in the window. To save your fingers I'd suggest using needlenose pliers, the outer flap is pretty thck.

[Steve A]

I spent the next two and a half hours putting holes around the new window.

Do you mean the laying the old window on the new and making the same holes made by the thread?