Maintenance & Restoration

macmarilyn · 11-26-2016, 01:14 AM

I have a 1974 Hunter Compact - water collected in the inside window rails - I will take photos if someone can help. Are what I think are drain holes supposed to be open or plugged up? We are tracking down rusted screws and tightening others. If the seals are leaking can we run a bead of silicone around or do you have to remove the window and reinstall? TIA

Borrego Dave · 11-26-2016, 02:34 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by macmarilyn

I have a 1974 Hunter Compact - water collected in the inside window rails - I will take photos if someone can help. Are what I think are drain holes supposed to be open or plugged up? We are tracking down rusted screws and tightening others. If the seals are leaking can we run a bead of silicone around or do you have to remove the window and reinstall? TIA

Drain holes should always be kept open. A piece of grass trimmer line works well for that. You do not want to use any silicone on FG TTs. Removing the window, cleaning the mounting surfaces and replacing the butyl tape is the way to go. Others with hands on HC knowledge will be along soon.

macmarilyn · 11-26-2016, 02:33 PM

lol - as we started checking to find where the water was coming from, we realized when the previous owner reinstalled them he may have in advertantly rotated the side window 180 degrees and the drain is on the top. However the front window also has a little hole in the glazing (between the glass and aluminum frame.) It looks like we may want some plugs in the front window drain holes when driving because rain seems to push water in while we are driving.

jish · 11-26-2016, 04:11 PM

My wife and I renovated our CJ this past summer and chief amongst the issues were windows. What we did was:
1. Made sure the drain gaps at the bottom of the window track was open
2. Took all screws out and removed the windows and cleaned and sanded gunk and rotted wood
3. Butyl taped window to body
4. Installed thicker window trim inside (most was rotted anyway) to allow for longer holding screws
5. Re-installed windows with longer holding screws.
6. The crowning feature though was that we installed a 'splash guard' at the top of each window using the original screw holes. These I 'manufactured' from a strip of aluminum 90 angle roof edge - 1 1/2" drip run slightly bent down for drainage. We sealed the top raw edge with sealant. The feature extends 1 1/2 inches out from each side of the windows and the edge was rolled down slightly.

We encountered 2 major rains this past summer. The splash guard redirected the water and caused less to accumulate in the bottom rail of the window.

Good luck fellow Compact owner. We rule.<_<