New windscreen & other matters!!

Hi, This is Caroline's Dad (better known as chief repairer and funder of repairs).

We have had the windscreen replaced. Autoglass put us on to a body shop in Stoke-on-Trent where Autoglass could take the old screen out and necessary work done before fitting a new seal and screen. It was a bit of a mess in the gutter with rust and needed quite a bit of cleaning up and some filler before it was primed and repainted prior to fitting the new screen. The final result looks good and hopefully will last a good few years. I'm glad I didn't try and tackle the job!

I contacted Auto-sleeper's service department to enquire about removing the plastic side trims which cover the joint between the body and the hi-top. They said that these are fibreglassed in place and not easy to remove. Also, no replacements are available now. The fixings are under the tape on the exterior of the panels and the fixings are covered in filler. Question: Has anyone successfully removed these mouldings and if so was it difficult?The reason I ask is that there is some rust under the moulding. The only other option is to drill a small hole and inject some Waxoyl.

We have a patch of rust under the side door guide which is on the outside of the body. I can see how this is attached at both ends but am not sure of the implications of removing the guide to enable the rust to be treated. In the short term we have put Waxoyl on the affected area but as the rust extends behind the guide the only proper solution is to remove the guide. Any suggestions?

Finally, well for this week hopefully, I noticed that the external plastic panel attached to the rear offside of the body appears to cover a window. One of the forward fasteners appears to be doing nothing and the panel is not well secured although a black sealant has been used in places around the edge. Furthermore, there are a couple of cracks in the moulding which gave me some concern as water might be getting in somewhere. Obviously this isn't a problem if there is a well sealed window behind. I can onlt summise that there was some type of fixing applied to the window which then allowed the plastic panel to be fixed in place. Any clarification would be welcomed. I thought my life would get easier when she sold that Morris Minor years ago!

Hi Caroline’s Dad , I don’t think life gets any easier when you get older, especially with daughters ! I have three.

On your last query I can tell you the offside panel covers over the rear window glass of the original van. (On the Trident model it is used so you don’t see the back of the wardrobe when looking at the van from the outside). Onto the glass is stuck some strips of wood to which the panel is then screwed. This is not a great design, water gets in behind the panel and rots the wooden strips causing the panel to distort, letting in more water etc. If your panel is in reasonable condition then unscrew it, remove the wooden strips from the glass. Then fix new wooden strips back onto the glass with suitable adhesive such as Sikaflex and screw the cover back. You may be able to repair any cracks in the panel with a suitable black sealant prior to re-fixing

If the cover is not great then one option is to use a window tint on the glass from the inside, this is what the later design vans did. However you will most probably have to remove the wardrobe to get access.

Good luck
John