Sliding door glass

Swapped out the sliding door glass yesterday.  The one in the Vanagon was for a non-camper version, and was tinted a funny purple-ish color.

The difference is in the latch mechanism.  The non Westfalia Vanagons have the latch mechanism more towards the end of the sliding glass which makes it not possible to have the Westfalia screens in the opening. You can see from the picture on the right, the location of the latch and the color.

A Westfalia sliding window has the latch in the center of the sliding glass portion of the window, thereby allowing the use of internal 'stock' style screens.  

 The glass is held in by a rubber moulding, but in the 1984 it also has a chrome insert strip.  The strip pulled right out, but be careful as it will break from being brittle.

Then the window can be pulled at a corner to allow for a wooden shim to be wedged in, then slowly working another in to the gap to that you can manage to pull the window frame out.  Resist the urge to use a screwdriver, it will damage your paint.

To install, coat the rubber and the window opening (after you cleaned it well) with some dish soap used as a lubricant. Slide one side in, and either work the shims around pulling the lip of the rubber moulding into the van, or look up the string method.

I was able to do it with the shims in about 30 minutes, and then installed the screen (new from Go Westy). Et voila!

Clean up the mess from the soap which is easier than using some other lubricants and enjoy your new air flow.