Resealing VQ Rear Quarter Windows

[MikeC]

I have the dreaded VN/VP/VQ upper front boot leak which I suspect is due to a leaking rear quarter window seal. Does anyone know if it is possible to reseal a VQ rear quarter window without removing the chrome and rubber mouldings ? I've got a sneaking suspicion that if I break any of the moulding retaining clips I'll find they're irreplaceable.
I tried to get the job done at a windscreen repair shop and they didn't want to touch it because of the clips and they were also worried about the possibility of damaging the hard to find glass during the resealing process.

 

[91SS]

Don't know about VQ but in my VNSS I stopped leak from there by squeezing mastic between roof mould and roof. What I did was run a bead of mastic in gap and with a damp lint free cloth folded using folded edge carefully and gradually pushing mastic in gap. I eliminated leak from one side this way and most of other side and eventually as dust and wax got in there leak totally eliminated even after heavy rains recently in Sydney.
I believe originally our cars had some caulking there. Sorry if VQ isn't same but it may give you an idea it can be done from outside. And mastic easily cleans off by wiping before fully dry or wax and grease remover.
Pump as much mastic as you can in gap and keep pushing it in with cloth starting from from middle of back door all the way down mould to boot.

 

[wildfiremaint]

Hi, Those windows are held on from the inside by plastic nuts. Need to remove the inside trim to access the nuts. A bit of work but worth doing.
After I removed mine you could see stains where the water had run down
into boot.
Factory seals are made of foam and this disintegrates over time.
( built in delayed rust time bomb !)
Seal with a good bead of mastic will give a good fix.
Plus a good opportunity to clean out all the dirt that has accumulated.

 

[MikeC]

Hi, Those windows are held on from the inside by plastic nuts. Need to remove the inside trim to access the nuts. A bit of work but worth doing.
After I removed mine you could see stains where the water had run down
into boot.
Factory seals are made of foam and this disintegrates over time.
( built in delayed rust time bomb !)
Seal with a good bead of mastic will give a good fix.
Plus a good opportunity to clean out all the dirt that has accumulated.

Thanks. If I remove the inside trim do you think I could seal the windows from inside with mastic?

I suspect if I dismantle the outside VQ chrome trim it will fall apart and any clips that break will be unobtainable.

 

[wildfiremaint]

Hi, yes it may be possible from the inside. Damaging the clips is likely possible due to the age.
On my car one of the threaded studs broke off the window surround. ( rusted through) but was easy to replace with same size screw and JB weld.

 

[MikeC]

Hi, yes it may be possible from the inside. Damaging the clips is likely possible due to the age.
On my car one of the threaded studs broke off the window surround. ( rusted through) but was easy to replace with same size screw and JB weld.

Thanks I'll pull the inside trim off and have a look.

Plastic parts are bringing 1990's cars to a premature end, I've been in the shed earlier this afternoon repairing the centre console of my old '98 MB SLK where the plastic parts are just disintegrating- no sun damage, no disassembly damage- the plastic is just falling apart.

Compared to MB the GMH plastic parts are robust- except when you try to disassemble them.

 

[NORTI]

Thanks. If I remove the inside trim do you think I could seal the windows from inside with mastic?

I suspect if I dismantle the outside VQ chrome trim it will fall apart and any clips that break will be unobtainable.

the chrome wont be a bother if you are removing the window, since its part of the window assembly, and doesn't need removing separately for what you are trying to do.

take it easy on the interior trims as you take them out, they do need a bit of force to pop, but too much and you can crack them. The Statesman ones are usually more sturdy than the VN ones at least.

 

[MikeC]

The chrome I'm worried about are the top and bottom chrome mouldings in this photo. I can't see how they will come out with the window.

The clips are pretty fragile. I tried to remove the black moulding between the rear quarter window and the back window and the clips started to break. It's now held on by the few remaining clips and window silicon.
I take your point on the fragility of the interior clips. I'll try and remove the interior trim first and see what I can do from there.

 

[Mikecaprice]

Vq rear glass is all glued in And the rubber and chrome are seperate to the glass so you can take them off and if you do break any clips there is plenty of room to glue it back on with poly urathane more than likely there will be rust holes behind the rubbers which is what letting the water in
As it's a Bad area to to collect dirt and water
Vr vs quarter windows the rubber is attached to the glass making the whole job much harder

 

[Mikecaprice]

As you Can see the slime and grime behind my one and that build up if from when it was resprayed don't know if you are familiar with the mushroom heads that hold on the chrome trims of the kingswoods and toranas these use the same ones
I plan to take my mouldings back off and have a few bits touched up then I'll urathane them back on