Sliding side windows

[AKBASSKING]

Started to refurbish the side windows. I ordered the window seals from Taylor made which they told me were replacement part.

The existing window has a hard plastic piece that slides into a track and the windows rides on this. Then there is two pieces of felt ( I call them feather fingers) that fits into tracks on either side of the glass.

The seal Taylor sent me was a one piece plastic with felt on the sides. Once I figured out how to install it I put the window back in.

Issue: The handle on the window is a metal piece that runs down the entire side of the glass and will not fit into the new gasket.

Do I have the wrong part?

 

[Mooner]

Hey there,

I also have a window issue....my seals are in bad shape too. My window handle is a round one and does not run across the entire window as does yours. How did you remove the windows? Easy or hard process?
Keep in touch,
Mooner

 

[AKBASSKING]

Hey Mooner,

I called Taylor Made and they are going to refund my money. He gave me the right part number:

Thomas,

I have reviewed your e-mail and have received your voice mail. The gasket that you ordered is used on all of the narrow Cabin Windows that we sold to Sea Ray. These narrow cabin windows ran about 8 – 12” tall. The windows you show in the photos for the 1986 Sea Ray are not this type of narrow cabin window. The windows you show in the photos are the regular Cabin Windows.

The black plastic that is located in the bottom window track (that the glass slides on) is obsolete and no longer available. However, the gray fuzzy material (you called feathers) is still available. The correct name of this material is called “Schlegel”. This Schlegel is part # 4965390 and it is sold by the foot ($.33 / foot). This is located on each side of the glass and goes all the way around the windows. You will have to measure to determine how many feet you require to order.

Thanks
Andy Coco
Taylor Made Systems

 

[Mooner]

Thomas,

That's awesome! OK, so does this schlegel replace the old black plastic that the windows slide in (on)? How do we get the windows out? Merely a 'lift and pull' process? I've looked at a buddy's 83 SRV 245 and his are worse than mine. I can pull out pieces of black deteriorated plastic. Keep me updated on your progress. I want to fix mine soon.

Mooner

 

[AKBASSKING]

Take the screens out, then from the outside just lift and pull out the windows. Then take off the plastic shield (3 screws) off the drains. These plastic covers can also be purchased from Taylor Made). Wash out the tracks to get rid of all the crap.

The hard plastic runners should be OK. I had to pull out the old nasty schlegal out of the channels. The top and side ones seem to be OK, just the bottom ones are the ones I will have to replace.

I also took cate of some corrosion on the inside and repainted the frames. On the outside, I used aluminum polish compond to "shine" it up a little.

Will post pictures when I am done.

 

[Tail Chaser 661]

Very informative post :thumbsup:
Funny...Ive never taken the time to figure out what them broken black plastic cover pieces were for :lol:
I guess I know where the track drains are now also.

 

[Mooner]

Tom,
Great info...I'll be tackling my window project soon. Can't wait to see your photos when completed.
Over and out....
Mooner

 

[AKBASSKING]

Got the "Schlegel" yesterday, all 210 feet of it. Each window takes this stuff on both sides, all the way around.

I tore down the aft port windows last night. Took a wire brush to the inside part of the frame and painted it. Took some aluminum paste and worked the outside of the frame. It looks OK, but not happy with it.

Does anyone have a good product to bring back weathered aluminum, so that it is nice and shiny?:huh:

Cleaned out the window channels and removed all the "original schlegal." One thing I noticed was that this stuff was installed in the channel regardless if the window went all the way down or not. These areas I am thinking of not installing the new stuff as it there is no window there to protect.

I also noticed rubber stoppers, so you could only slide the glass so far.

I replaced the weather stripping that is in the middle of the window channel on the sides and top. This prevents the glass from making contact with the medal frame.

Putting the new stuff in was a pain at first. It isn't as easy as just sliding the new piece in. Taylor Made crimped the channels to prevent the stuff from sliding out. I started by taking the new piece and laying the bottom part in the channel, then took a flat tip screw driver and pushed the top portion into the schlegal channel. This was very slow and frustrating as there are 4 pieces for each window that needs to be installed.

After about 2 hours of this, I had enough and thought there would have to be a better way. There was. The admiral sacrificed a very old ice pick. I took a pair of pliers and about a 1/4 from the tip bent it to a 90 degree angle. I placed the bottom schlegal in the channel, started at the end and worked the top into the channel for about an inch. Then I laid the pick on top of this portion with the point "away" from the direction I was going, applied a little pressure while moving to the other end. A strip of about 28'' took me less than a minute to install. The screw driver method took me almost an hour!

Sorry for the long message. Just wanted to articulate the process I went through and keep everyone updated. 6 more windows to go! Then off to rebuild the water system.

The admiral has our camera and is at a family reunion, so next week I will take a few pictures to post.

Another question: The back window has a mineral deposit on it from the weep drain above it from the bridge. I tried lemon juice and vinegar to get it off but it is still there. Any ideas?:smt100:smt017

 

[BillyT0020]

Does anyone have a good product to bring back weathered aluminum, so that it is nice and shiny?:huh:

If you want the aluminum to look like Stainless Steel you can polish it. First you have to sand it down until you get through the clear coat that it comes with from the factory, and then take the bare metal to a buff/wheel with a good emory buffing compound. It will look just like Stainless when your done. What happens is the sun penetrates through the clear coat and tarnishes the metal. There are no cleaning products that can bring it back. I would start with a 220 Grit Sand Paper. You can tell when you get through the coating when the metal starts to look shiny again. If you have a Harbor Freight near you, you can get a pretty good buff wheel for a decent price. I bought this one when I was reuiling my motorcycle that has a lot of aluminum parts and its now the most used tool I have.

http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/displayitem.taf?Itemnumber=94327

Good Luck!

 

[AKBASSKING]

Thanks Billy!:smt038

 

[rondds]

HOLY CRAP TOM! Nice job and great research! MY windows look like chit and I'm afraid to open them b/c they DO NOT leak currently and I would like to keep it that way. And the black streak disease the runoff creates!! Fuggeddaboudit! This sounds like a nice project to take a stab at. Not sure I have the patience though. How'd you get the proper info from Taylor Made? Just the model and year of the boat?

 

[AKBASSKING]

HOLY CRAP TOM! Nice job and great research! MY windows look like chit and I'm afraid to open them b/c they DO NOT leak currently and I would like to keep it that way. And the black streak disease the runoff creates!! Fuggeddaboudit! This sounds like a nice project to take a stab at. Not sure I have the patience though. How'd you get the proper info from Taylor Made? Just the model and year of the boat?

A little patience helps. I use my wife’s 3X reading glasses so I can see the track. It really isn't that bad. Just about finished with the port side. With all the tracks cleaned out it will drain the water a little better. The windows fit a little snugger too. My problem was when you sprayed water into the tracks all this black rotten shlegal would come flying out all over the deck.

I just called Taylor Made and send them pictures of the window. They sent the wrong part first. They are spendy.

 

[AKBASSKING]

Finished the port side today. Found some CLR and that took most of the mineral stains off the windows.

Here are some pics.

1/2 done, stbd side gets started tomorrow.

 

[AKBASSKING]

More pics

 

[AKBASSKING]

DONE!!!! Ya hoooo

It took 2 days on the stbd side. What a mess. When I pulled the old "schlegal" up, it was covered in moss, mildew and dirt! I was just plain nasty. Washed the channels outs and then used air!

I repainted the inside of the window frame and what a bear it was on this side because of the helm.

Windows look good and slide a lot better, smoother.:thumbsup:

BTW, the Admiral let me know that the "ice pick" that I used was her grandmother's and probably older than I was!:wow::smt009