Symphony Guttering Removal

Hey all,

I was wondering if someone could point me to the topic or information regarding the removal of the plastic guttering for the Auto Sleepers Symphony?

I've seen a few other people mention that the information is in this forum but i seem to not find it in the search.

I would imagine that there just several fixing screws and loads of Silicone sealant.

Any help much appreciated.

Regards,

Hi

Why would you want to remove it?

Mine, which is probably very similar, is attached with small bolts into 'standoff' fixings.
Some of my 'fixings' had come away from the body and just required re-gluing back.

As regards to loads of silicone sealant, well, that would depend on what maybe a previous owner has done?

PB

Hiya,

There is a pretty nasty build up of rust toward where the guttering drains onto the windscreen.
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My idea was to remove the guttering and check that it isn't bad all the way along and to assess the damage to the front before it maybe gets worse.

Ooops, that does look nasty.
There should be drain holes at the end of the guttering.

If you can access the the screw/bolts maybe you could undo a few just enough to release the guttering away from the body without a complete removal.

You would need to be careful as these aren't available as a spare part.
Maybe in its past life, silicone has been inserted....gentle persuasion is the name of the game.

What's the O/S like?

Good luck
PB

Heya,

O/S looks like its taking the same fate.

I'm not 100% but the rust I'm seeing might just be where its at as there was some degraded silicone in that area that was acting like a sponge.

I've removed all the screws i can see but i will admit that the guttering is very secured to the side of the van.

That's why i was wondering if someone has done this before that can help maybe, i've seen a few posts where people have done it but no explanation of how?

One of the problems here is that there were at least two different types of guttering fitted to this type of conversion (Symphony and others) and the way they are secured differs.

The type which I think PB refers to is where the gutter is a relatively thin vacuum-moulded plastic section which is fixed onto stainless steel stand-offs that are bonded to the side of the roof. These are relatively easy to get off, though you have to be careful because 1. the stand-offs tend to unbond themselves from the side of the roof, 2. the gutter section itself can become very brittle from UV exposure and 3. the plastic screws can sometimes be very hard to remove from the stand-offs.

The older type is made of (I think) fibreglass on a plywood former, and was screwed and bonded directly onto the roof. This type is (from past posts here) almost impossible to remove intact. The only people that I can recall having tried have destroyed them in the process, and AFAIK they are not possible to buy as an off-the-shelf replacement part, though I can vaguely recall someone finding that they could be bought - at very high cost - as a custom-made part, some years ago.

The two can be distinguished by the amount of "flex" along the guttering. The former type can easily be felt to be supported only at the stand-offs, while the latter has no significant flex between the screw fixing points.

The type which I think PB refers to is where the gutter is a relatively thin vacuum-moulded plastic section which is fixed onto stainless steel stand-offs that are bonded to the side of the roof. These are relatively easy to get off, though you have to be careful because 1. the stand-offs tend to unbond themselves from the side of the roof, 2. the gutter section itself can become very brittle from UV exposure and 3. the plastic screws can sometimes be very hard to remove from the stand-offs.


My guttering is definitely just fibreglass, the fixings are as Roopert states.

PB

Many thanks for all your help.

Upon more inspection and research i believe that this is truely bonded to the side and the rust im seeing is actually just at the front where the guttering hole was, i believe i were being collected by the degraded silicone underneath.

So my plan now is just to remove all the silicone, use some rust remover then prime it and recover.

Once again thanks all for your help with this.

kchimera wrote:Many thanks for all your help.

Upon more inspection and research i believe that this is truely bonded to the side and the rust im seeing is actually just at the front where the guttering hole was, i believe i were being collected by the degraded silicone underneath.

So my plan now is just to remove all the silicone, use some rust remover then prime it and recover.

Once again thanks all for your help with this.

Having seen your photos and read your intention i'm afraid to say at best that will just be a temporary 'fix' which will resurface again. What you do depends on how long you intend to keep the van.

What i noticed is the plastic rail extends past the door to wrap around the corner of the screen top a fair few inches. Very odd idea as A/S ended the plastic rails on the Duetto (similar van/year) just slightly forward of the door top....so nowhere near the screen. This may seem drastic but in my opinion you need to remove that part of the plastic rail over the windscreen by cutting it off and i'll explain why in a minute as it has no other purpose than mere decoration.

The windscreen is bonded and should you ever need a replacement screen, that area of rusted metal will come away with the screen making it impossible for a new screen to be fitted until a section of new metal is welded in. Screen fitters obviously won't do that as they aren't geared up to. You'd have to drive it without the screen to a welder.

This isn't a scare story either as what i'm telling you came from personal experience only in my case it involved the lower screen flitch panel on a van just two years older than yours.

hi 
I have a 95 and although i agree with the above comments but all is not lost. my symphony was just like your photos , i cut the gutter behind each front door removed the screws in front of it and then with a wood chisel set about removing all the sealant holding on the fiberglass gutter.
i found most of the corrosion was where water had leaked down the screws.
i cut out the rooten metal, welded in new, painted sealed and glued gutters back on. i am sure you could find a mobil welder to do that bit.
I did have the screen removed as i found a new one could be fitted for the grand sum of £95.00.
time consuming yes satisfying very it was 5 years ago but still have van and done 60K in it.

i would post pictures but currently looking after elderly parent away from home.

best of luck

nick
edit

just remembered i also cut the roof back a bit to get at corrosion but it was under the gutter so just used pu tigerseal to bond it on before bonding the gutters back on

nick_at_home wrote:I have a 95 and although i agree with the above comments but all is not lost. my symphony was just like your photos , i cut the gutter behind each front door removed the screws in front of it 
i cut out the rooten metal, welded in new, painted sealed and glued gutters back on. i am sure you could find a mobile welder to do that bit.
I did have the screen removed as i found a new one could be fitted for the grand sum of £95.00.

It's certainly best to dispense with that section of plastic trim as it explains how the top section of screen has rusted away on "kchimeras" van. In my case it was the flitch panel on a '95 Transit and the first i knew about it was when i needed a new screen and half the metal came away with the screen! Ford hide that flitch panel with a plastic trim which looks fancy but is a wonderful trap for leaves and crud which get behind and start the rotting process...unseen and unknown by many owners....until screen replacement time comes!