Quote:
Originally Posted by TexGX
I did not clean to glass. There is a rubber coating along the edge. I cleaned old glue, but not the black edging. I glued to that.
TexGX
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Well, I decided to give it a go.
I called Peter at SMB West and he suggested using a 2 part epoxy to glue the window to the hinge. I have used a bunch of JB Weld products in the past and called the company to see what would work best on Glass and Metal. They told me to use JB Clear Weld.
So...
I prepped the window by taking off the rubber strip along the edge. Looks like a machine applied silicone or butyl bead that was left on the glass after the metal hinge and the glass separated. I razored off that strip the best I could and used a bunch of acetone to clean off what was left. This did have me wondering how much contact with actual glass I had made.
Yeah, that's right, the beauty of the Costco sugar box. Good for everything from portable spray booth to hinge support device to portable bench cushion to grocery organizer...
Then I went to prepping the hinge area. One of the things that had kept me up at night before was wondering how I would support the hinge so that the glass could rest firmly on it without having it swing into the pocket in the window behind itself. I chose to back the hinge with a piece of cardboard.
I then covered all the areas I did not want the epoxy to stick to with a soft stretchy, oily plastic, hoping the epoxy would not stick too well to it.
I did some more masking and using a bigger sheet of painters plastic I covered everything I did not want permanently glued to the van or the driveway. I applied, probably a bit too much, epoxy to the hinge and some to the mating surface of the glass, and then mounted the rollers into the vertical channels still affixed to the glass (they were already adjusted for the angle of the hinge determined by the cardboard backing that held the hinge out at a slight angle, and pressed the window into place.
Did I mention that you can use the same sugar box to keep the ladder used for leverage from scratching the side of a Sportsmobile? I LOVE those boxes. One of the real secret gems of Costco...
The epoxy was supposed to set in 6 minutes, cure in one hour, then attain full strength in 24 hours. Well, I held that pose for over 20 minutes. My better half spelled one side or the other a few times to keep me from screaming in pain, as I was applying enough pressure to maintain real contact with the hinge the whole time.
It looks good, but I am going to keep a cardboard template with me while off-roading, just in case the piece falls out and breaks. At least I will be able to keep out the dust if the repair fails. I will let you know how this works.