rear window replacement 94 vert

[matty boi]

i replaced my rear window a week ago and it looks great. i used velcro to hold the new window in place. total cost was 30 dollars. ill post pics when i get home.

[numnutzzz]

you used velcro on the sides too? im just wondering how that'll seal water when it rains

[The Inflicted]

you used velcro on the sides too? im just wondering how that'll seal water when it rains

No, I only used velcro along the top, and only because I underestimated how much the window frame was going to expand when I cut the old window out. This left me with a space that was too large for the replacement window I had cut, so I had to velcro to give me some extra length at the the top.

It didn't work out, but not because of rain. Since the canvas at the top overlaps the window by almost 2 inches, there was no chance of water getting in. In fact, when heat caused the velcro's glue to slip off of the window (not the vinyl adhesive, that stuff stuck great) there was a big open gap near the top. Even then, the overlapping canvas kept any water from getting in.

I've redone it since then and used no velcro at all.

Just remember folks- the factory window is helping draw the fabric together. If you cut it before the new window is glued into place the window "frame" is going to expand considerably.

[numnutzzz]

a tip for everyone who's planning on doing this. GET AN EXTRA TUBE OF ADHESIVE. im so fustrated that i ran out right at the end.

[matty boi]

here is the pic of it.

[numnutzzz]

that looks way better than mines. i wanted to go velcro all around but just wasnt sure about the sealing against heavy rain

[BiXLL]

here is the pic of it.

did you glue the velcro to the top material or the old window edges?

[matty boi]

old window edges. i left about a 1/2 inch of old window and attached the velcro to it, then added a few regular staples here and there (only on the OLD window side) to make sure the adhesive on the velcro didnt let go and cause the whole window to collapse.it came out much better than i expected.

[SuicidnS13]

Bump for a reply on where you glued the velcro exactly too. This is also an upcoming project for me.

[artsx13]

i replaced my rear window a week ago and it looks great. i used velcro to hold the new window in place. total cost was 30 dollars. ill post pics when i get home.

did you get all your materials at walmart, any more pics, wanna help me replace mine, ill even pay you, lmk

[matty boi]

i got my new window from anna's linens bought enough for 2 new windows so if you want ill sell you my other half. and i bought like 20ft of velcro from walmart. give me call. (949)-466-1086

http://i153.photobucket.com/al...6.jpgh ... al...8.jpg

note in the third pic you will notice that it looks wrinkly at the top right corner that was because i had the top down all day.Modified by matty boi at 6:17 PM 1/10/2009

Modified by matty boi at 6:20 PM 1/10/2009
Modified by matty boi at 6:21 PM 1/10/2009

[artsx13]

sounds good, ill def be giving you a call over the weekend, thanks

[caspers_240]

has anyone found a good place to get tinted vinyl thick enough to work? the thickest I have found is 16 mil.

[krillin99]

has anyone found a good place to get tinted vinyl thick enough to work? the thickest I have found is 16 mil.

i've found 30 mil vinyl from TAP PLASTICS but it is still flimsy compared to the rear window. we just emoved the rear window from the vert and are looking to bring it to somone to sew on a new one...hopefully we'll be able to reinstall it when we get it back.

[Phan]

Well if your rear window was as bad as mine then i have a great $20 fix..Step 1 go to wal mart and buy 1 yard of heavy duty clear vinyl, $1.97 ....... Grab about 20 feet + of velcro $16.98 ....... And Some glue stick (providing you own a hot glue gun)Step 2 measure out window area, you'll have enough vinyl to screw up once. Hot glue Velcro around Vinyl and Conv Top Thats important... Step 3 Enjoy your new window.. And It looks great if you take your time to do it... A lot better then 400 for new top window..

heres my result...- instead of using HOT glue velcro i stiched the whole back with fishing lines and place 2 layers of the plastic. (tooked 1&1/2 days to finish the stiching)with 2 layers of plastic it tends to stick together but its more durable and i can still see it. i stretched the plastic as far as i could and with the heavy stiching the top looks really snug tight like the original plastic window.

cost $9.00
Modified by Phan at 11:15 AM 1/31/2009

[krillin99]

hey Phan that looks pretty good...it does look to be a little blurred in the picture, but maybe you can see better in the car. for 9 bucks, it's a winner! we ended up paying 150 to have auto vinyl professionally sewed on, but it's like new. we removed and reinstalled it ourselves also. since you used two sheets, was there any air bubbles which were left in between?

[Flatline1121]

so i tried the hot glue/velcro method. in my situation the window was completely cut out by the previous owner because he locked the keys in the car.

well i had to use the velcro and hot glue directly on the fabric of the window curtain and it worked better than i expected. the only vinyl i could find in the area was 10mil though which kinda sucks. but the velcro stuck to the vinyl very well. thats velcro on all four sides of the window and its turned out fair. for the money and time spent im satisfied. just need to pick up some automotive sealant and seal up the area and we should be good. it does leak a little bit right now but thats my fault. the whole procedure only took about an hour.

thanks for the ideas

[Miamiman323]

Does anyone have any pictures from the inside so we can see how its glues in there. Also, maybe if you put the top down just a little so there like a 4 inch gap between the top of the windshield and the soft top to releive some of the pressure on the window. Then when you lowered it it would tighten up.

Might be hard but just a thought

[bgoodwill]

Before you go to all this work, go spend $15 and buy a can of PLEXUS. It's developed for plastic airplane windows. You may have to shop around a little - I got mine at the my local motorcycle shop. Just spray it on your window - inside and out - and buff off. It probably can't fix a completely ruined window, but it does a pretty amazing job of cleaning off haze. Regular additional cleanings seem to take even more haze out over time if you are persistent. I've used it on 3 or 4 cars now with great results. And it's a heck of alot faster and easier than all this cutting and gluing in a new piece of vinyl.

[amencowboy]

I recently replaced the rear window on my 94 vert. It was a pain in the a** and required 2 people for a lot of the job.

https://members.rennlist.com/frisbee91/ ... ir_DIY.pdf

This guy made an excellent guide about how he replaced the window in his Porsche. A lot of what I ended up doing was inspired by him.

I tried multiple methods but the only way I got the thing to look decent was by sewing the replacement window. In order to taughtly hold the replacement clear vinyl in place, I actually ended up making holes in the convertible top and using nuts and bolts to hold the clear vinyl in place and then sewing it in. I bought a "Speedy Stitcher" along with some sewing machine needles and used what i believe is called a lock-stitch to sew the window. For a lot of the sewing one person would have to be inside to feed the thread through the look and the other person the outside with the speedy stitcher to puncture and pull the needle. Once my partner and I got a rhythm down it only took a couple sessions to get the whole thing done.

Prior to sewing I completely removed the old window and removed most of the old thread that held it in place.

I tried to sew the vinyl to where the original window was attached everywhere I could. I ran into the problem that the fabric from the convertible top covers from the outside where the original window was stitched so I had to sew through the convertible top fabric on the two sides and top (from a distance does not look that bad, can barely see the black thread on the black convertible top. The bottom edge I sewed about 4 cm lower than where the old stitches for the original window were. After the sewing was complete I put a bead of clear silicone between the fabric and vinyl to try and help seal everything better. I stitched outside the bolts all the way around.

At first I tried to glue the new window to the outer edge of the old one, did not work. One of the biggest problems is getting the vinyl tight enough that it doesn't have any wrinkles. My vert's top isn't in the greatest shape so I had no qualms with putting several bolts through it to hold the vinyl tight. I tried ordering super powerful magnets to hold the vinyl in place, did not work.

I have a bunch of wrinkles in the top part because I first attempted to attach the top edge with velcro. I sewed a strip of velcro to the piece of clear vinyl and sticking it to the top, did not work out well and unfortunately I had already started sewing the top before I used bolts to hold the vinyl in place.

I will admit it does not look super clean but it is so much better than the cracked and opaque remnants of the old rear window.

I have not removed the bolts yet, still trying to come up with a clever way of patching those holes.

Also, some tips if anyone want to stitch their own rear window. The speedy stitch is a must and you will break needles. I always attached a second need to the loose thread end of the string to make it easier to pass through the loop that the speedy stitcher makes when it punctures the fabric. Having the inside of the car well lit will help a lot, feeding the needle through the loop is tedious. I used some sort of black vinyl thread I bought off of amazon that was supposed to be good for the outdoors.