Taking pop out windows out of my bus

Asesapie · Joined: 29 Jun 2009 Posts: 224 Location: Spokane

Ok well I'm trying to take my pop outs out so that I can sand and paint. I'm having trouble getting the screws out that hold the hinges of the window frame to the bus. Some came out with ease others are not wanting to budge, I soaked them with PB blaster and I'm going to give it another shot tomorrow. If they don't come out do you have to drill them out and if so how do you put new screws in? Tap the hole or self tapping screws?

Let me know what you all think

hubcapt · Joined: 25 Sep 2009 Posts: 666

You can get one of those little torch style lighters and give them some heat to see if they will loosen up.

When I took mine out of my bus to paint I had to drill a few out, but only took the countersunk head off. The remaining screw acts like a pin and I just used the remaining working screws. I think some of my windows are only running three screws.

Some other things you could try is getting one of those home wart remover kits that freeze warts off. I've never tried it but have thought about it several times.

Maybe be a good idea to put some anti-seize on them when you run them back in too.

vwrus66 · Joined: 04 Jun 2008 Posts: 134 Location: Springdale, WA

Wolfsburg West sells an oversize screw for popouts. I used them when I had to drill out some of my screws when I redid my popouts. They work really well.

michaelp · Joined: 02 Sep 2010 Posts: 21 Location: Spokane Valley

I use computer dust off to loosen screws and remove small dents in body panels. cheaper than wart remover and can be used in more projects. just turn can upside down and use the little straw ether from other product or the one that comes with it and spray the screw. Borrow a impact screw driver and hit it with a hammer and they should pop loose.

sandals · Posted: Mon Jan 10, 2011 11:33 am Post subject:

I just used computer dust off to freeze some candy that had been left in my daughter's pocket and stuck to the inside of the dryer. Froze it, then chipped it off.

They now sell a similar product at auto parts stores called Freeze-Off. Same concept. It is sort of the reverse of using high heat. The freezing shrinks the metal, and breaks the bond of rust. Theoretically. It does not always work, but often it does.

An impact driver isn't really practical in this situation since the screws are tiny. I have not seen a micro impact driver yet. Just make sure you have a nice, new, quality screwdriver and that the screw head grooves are clean.

If that doesn't work, drill them out as small as you can, or just remove the screw heads as was said before. Maybe you could grab the remaining part f the screw with a vice grips after the window is out.

Asesapie · Joined: 29 Jun 2009 Posts: 224 Location: Spokane

So I drilled my second window out today and cracked the glass
So now I'm wondering if anyone out there has a pop out window glass and frame that would want to trade for mine with some cash. I really wasn't planning on taking the frames apart so if I could get glass in a frame that would be awesome