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Old 08-27-2002, 09:30 AM
Davinci
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! Solved !

Well Red If you were in the neighborhood I'd have you fixed in a jiffy!
Here's how you can do an excellent job if you have confidence in the FORCE being with you. You will need: a fresh tube (~5oz.) of clear RTV silicone or silicone w/extension tip, clean small all cotton terrycloth, a few paper towels, one razor blade, windex, watter hose able to spray pressure stream, a few wooden wedges(small, the type used for shiming furring strips).
Simply clean your work area first by spraying at close angle(little off paralell) to the sealing lip so that the pressure keeps the lip open and watter is cleaning dirt and debirse out from the rubber and the glass. Do this all arround the glass, especially the sides and bottom. With the cloth fold one bit dry inside (where you were spraying) dry repeatedly with that technique. Insert afew shims to allow air to the bottom and one on each side. while that is open find a clean part of the cloth dampen with windex clean under the lip to body very well, you are ready to do magic. set the tube just under the lip with only the very end nipped. painstakenly you will squeze matreial out continuosly untill you have made a beade all the way arround(no problem stopping and reinserting at trunk hinges). As the lip falls it may have squeezed out a bit of silicone. Use one wedge or similar sharp object to remove excess. Check lip in place with paper towel on finger and wipe clean lightly on rubber. For body, fold paper towel twice making a clean edged pad, place it close to the lip and wipe the body clean. That was worth 75% of the leak.
Now if the day was is sunny and dry take out the wedges and clean once more between the rubber lip and glass with the cloth dry and clean or new paper towel. Now with the space wiped well(windex optional here) seal in same way. Clean up here is different. If any excess is pushed out let dry than run blade up to the glass along rubber easily to separate dried excess from rubber and again but near perpendicular to rubber like a plow to separate from glass.
Prior to job notice if your rubber is particulurly dry it is open(not touching the glass) at least on the two sides L&R vertical. If this is all, your rubber is still good. after cleaning press in on the nearest flange of the aluminum insert by carefully running a clean plastic block or the like along the edge, sometimes with considerable force to strain the flange adding some support to close the rubber a bit.
Jobs I have done like this haven't leaked yet, 14 years agao are still tight.
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