Duetto Seals

Hi All

I’ve just had the windscreen replaced on the Duetto (1997 Mk5 Transit). The Autoglass chap said that the rubber seal above the screen is not the same as the one Ford fitted to the standard fibreglass high top Transit so presumably it was fitted by AS when the van was made.

The problem being that the Ford version is attached to a metal plate and is removable/replaceable and the AS version isn’t
There is what I can only describe as a tiny rubber flap (Duetto owners will know what I mean) which is part of the rubber seal above the screen and extends down over the windscreen rubber.




In order to fit the screen he had to cut away the flap by running a Stanley blade along the bottom of the seal just above the windscreen rubber. I’ve now got a tiny gap between the top of the screen and top seal (actually it looks neater if anything).

My question is does anyone know what the flap was actually for? Is it supposed to be a water seal?
Is the whole seal part of the water sealing between the roof and the van or is it just cosmetic?

Said Autoglass chapie thought it couldn’t be a water seal because it was just resting over the screen rubber and if anything would suck water up by capillary action.

I could run a bead of black silicone along the gap bit It’ll probably look worse and there are some rusty bits (though not as bad as I expected) that I won’t be able to get at so I’d rather not do it unless it’s absolutely necessary.

Any comments / advice greatly appreciated.

Brod

I've had several semi-high & high-top Transit vans, & they ALL had the 'normal' cab low type roof, the high tops were bonded onto these, so the

windscreen was bonded to the cab roof & NOT the high top, so, in your case, I suspect the rubber is simply a 'finnisher' & not the actual seal.

modelman wrote:

I've had several semi-high & high-top Transit vans, & they ALL had the 'normal' cab low type roof, the high tops were bonded onto these, so the

windscreen was bonded to the cab roof & NOT the high top, so, in your case, I suspect the rubber is simply a 'finisher' & not the actual seal.

This is correct.

The screen is bonded and the rubber does absolutely nothing.

Hi Brodco,

I've recently been to a windscreen fitter as my screen as begun to de-laminate slightly.

He knew a lot about transits & confirmed to me that yes, it was a trim finisher. Normal transits don't have this extra bit of trim.

Hi to all,

I'm just reviving this thread, because I had my Duetto windscreen finally replaced today (but haven't picked the van up yet). I phoned Autosleepers & asked about the top trim (the guy knew the part no of the top of his head) & they sent me out a length of said replacement trim, they didn't mention anything extra special about it being fitted.

The windscreen fitter took the old upper seal trim out, but, hasn't fitted the replacement upper seal trim as he says it really needs a body shop or someone to fit it. I'm going along tomorrow to have a look.

I just wondered if anyone out there can shed any more light on this windscreen upper seal replacement before I call Autosleepers on Monday.

scovell001 wrote:Hi to all,

I'm just reviving this thread, because I had my Duetto windscreen finally replaced today (but haven't picked the van up yet). I phoned Autosleepers & asked about the top trim (the guy knew the part no of the top of his head) & they sent me out a length of said replacement trim, they didn't mention anything extra special about it being fitted.

The windscreen fitter took the old upper seal trim out, but, hasn't fitted the replacement upper seal trim as he says it really needs a body shop or someone to fit it. I'm going along tomorrow to have a look.

I just wondered if anyone out there can shed any more light on this windscreen upper seal replacement before I call Autosleepers on Monday.

BIB would suggest your fitter doesn't know what he's doing!

It's not a Bodyshop job at all.....it's a screen fitters job.......but preferably one who knows what he's doing! Also as mentioned before the rubber seal is not so much "a seal" but simply a 'finisher'. The screen is bonded. That rubber "seal" does nothing.

From the post date i'm hoping you've found all this out by now but just hope you located a decent screen fitter!

Bulletguy,

All has now been revealed. That upper seal has a 'very' important job. Underneath that seal is a gap where the fibreglass top of the van attaches to the roof of the transit. The gap is say 5mm. Looking into the gap, you can see some expanding foam sealant. On the left /right sides of the gap there is a rivet, this rivet goes through the upper trim seal.

So, what I've had to do was get a motorhome repairer to pop theses 2 rivets out, put the new upper trim seal in & then re-rivet.

certainly something that has to be born in mind if you ever have to get your screen replaced. I talked to 2 different windscreen companies and neither was familiar with the duetto. The normal transit high top has an upper trim seal which just screws into place, autosleepers, in their 'wisdom' decided to do it differently!

scovell001 wrote:Bulletguy,

All has now been revealed. That upper seal has a 'very' important job. Underneath that seal is a gap where the fibreglass top of the van attaches to the roof of the transit. The gap is say 5mm. Looking into the gap, you can see some expanding foam sealant. On the left /right sides of the gap there is a rivet, this rivet goes through the upper trim seal.

So, what I've had to do was get a motorhome repairer to pop theses 2 rivets out, put the new upper trim seal in & then re-rivet.

certainly something that has to be born in mind if you ever have to get your screen replaced. I talked to 2 different windscreen companies and neither was familiar with the duetto. The normal transit high top has an upper trim seal which just screws into place, autosleepers, in their 'wisdom' decided to do it differently!

OH!!!

Must admit i've not had a screen replaced in this van, but did in my previous......and though that was a Transit, it wasn't an Autosleeper conversion.

BIB does not surprise me one bit. Autosleeper made some weird 'alterations' and 'modifications' over the years which were not always to the benefit of the owner. The roof aerial is a pet hate of mine when there was never a need to fit any extra external aerial at all.....as the Status aerial works perfectly for radio signals. Replacing that stupid roof aerial is a two man job and entails removal of two sections of roof lining before you can remove the aerial mount.

Crazeeeeeeeee!!!