Easy rear screen rubber fitting late saloon
Posted: Thu Sep 07, 2023 10:11 am
Thought I might share this as I know a lot of people struggle dreadfully. A friend was due to help me with the job but unfortunately she was unwell and the job had to be done. Managed it on my own, 2 hours from start to finish including removing the screen and cleaning up.
I already had a glazing handle which I bought from Wickes for 8 quid for when I did the rear side windows, this won't work on the front or rear screens as they are curved. I cut the handle in two and used them separately to hold the glass. The hole in the middle of the handle is exactly broom handle size so a stub of wooden broom handle can be used to join them together again if needed. I used paracord and little hardwood dowels with a hole drilled through, a little bit of car shampoo to lubricate as this doesn't contain salt like washing up liquid.
Using the handles and standing outside I fed the screen in sideways and twiddled it round and got it roughly in place. I had the cord crossed over at the bottom in the middle but I think at the top might have worked equally well. The screen tends to wedge itself and I didn't need to use the handles much. To be honest I don't think someone pushing inside would have helped very much. So lots of twiddling with the cord and when things got very tight I very gently used a large blunt flat bladed screwdriver to ease the rubber up in the corners. You need to be very gentle with this and a centimetre at a time is the most you will get. If I were to do the job again I would probably use a sturdy piece of plastic instead of the screwdriver but honestly the screwdriver was just fine.
Hope this helps someone, it wasn't too much of a struggle, just a bit awkward really. Rubber used was the standard item from ESM.
I already had a glazing handle which I bought from Wickes for 8 quid for when I did the rear side windows, this won't work on the front or rear screens as they are curved. I cut the handle in two and used them separately to hold the glass. The hole in the middle of the handle is exactly broom handle size so a stub of wooden broom handle can be used to join them together again if needed. I used paracord and little hardwood dowels with a hole drilled through, a little bit of car shampoo to lubricate as this doesn't contain salt like washing up liquid.
Using the handles and standing outside I fed the screen in sideways and twiddled it round and got it roughly in place. I had the cord crossed over at the bottom in the middle but I think at the top might have worked equally well. The screen tends to wedge itself and I didn't need to use the handles much. To be honest I don't think someone pushing inside would have helped very much. So lots of twiddling with the cord and when things got very tight I very gently used a large blunt flat bladed screwdriver to ease the rubber up in the corners. You need to be very gentle with this and a centimetre at a time is the most you will get. If I were to do the job again I would probably use a sturdy piece of plastic instead of the screwdriver but honestly the screwdriver was just fine.
Hope this helps someone, it wasn't too much of a struggle, just a bit awkward really. Rubber used was the standard item from ESM.