TheRealLefty

I suppose this is the reverse of the "how do I fix a delaminating hatch" thread.

This Saturday, I'm trekking into the wilds of the Morgantown/Uniontown area to fetch a well-bought lexan hatch glass replacement and two lexan quarter windows with the trick ducts.

Looking for ideas (and pix if available) of good ways to mount the new hatch and still retain the stock wing. Don't need at GT3 wing with an NA racer...but I sure can use the weight savings.

potent951turbo

Maybe Karl (Porschedoc) will chime in here, I believe he has fully removed the glass on a couple of hatches.

Wormhole

Smash it. By far the easies way, the factory molds them on, not made to be replaced without the frame.

2bridges

exactly - Big hammer and eye protection LOL

95ONE

+1. No seriously. Its inevitable. Morgantown and Uniontown eh? PA. is a nice state. I think I went to a boyscout camp near Uniontown somewhere. been a long time.

shiners780

From Porsche Doc, hope he doesn't mind: http://karl.wilen.us/images/944HatchReseal.doc

potent951turbo

Thats a great write-up, I wasn't aware Karl had taken the time to take all the pictures etc. and post it online.

Does the 3M Super Fast Urethane Primer, part #08608 that Karl says to use put a new black trim around the glass?

Also if Karl checks this thread, how long has that hatch held up since it was reglued and has there been any trouble from it?

ehall

http://www.pelicanparts.com/techarti...ss_repair2.htm

potent951turbo

I did a very similar repair to my hatch like the one in this link and it lasted about 2 years and it is now slipping out again.

Ski

find someone else to do it. PITA!!!!!!!

Got Me a Porsha

I completely removed and resealed my hatch...took three weeks...but it came together nicely.

I put new "fretting" (black band) all the way around the glass, and used Sika primer and adhesive. Its great stuff, but I wouldn't recommend it unless you have the heated caulking gun...as it gets too thick too fast.

The best way I found to seperate the frame from the glass is to use several cheap utility knives (as they have the thinnest blades) and WD40 to cut as much of the glue away from the frame as possible. Then I used solid core mig welding wire wrapped around two screwdriver handles, and lots of WD40, sawing the wire back and forth through the glue. Just go easy, and don't cut into the frame or the glass.

Blue painters tape works well if you plan to save the tint. Just don't leave it on for too long. My tint survived just fine.

hosrom_951

^^what he said, go to a good automotive windshield repair shop, they usually have good experience in replacing automotive glass and resealing them.

Got Me a Porsha

Ha...Good Luck! Seven glass shops in Phoenix...

Five "It cannot be done"s

One "If we break it our insurance will total your car...but a new one is three grand"

and finally "Here's the **** to do it with...GOOD LUCK!"

PorscheDoc

Man, I have 2 hatches separated in my basement waiting to be glued back in. One of these days I will do that and finish the writeup, it just hasn't been high priority. Anyone who wants to finish it, by all means have at it

There really is no easy way to separate the frame and glass, but what I used in the writeup worked the best. It takes a lot of elbow grease.....a little swearing might help too. I tried a bunch of other "tools", and gave up on them quickly. I have had hatches that have taken as little as 2-3 hours to separate, and others that have taken me up to 10 hours. I've always said I wouldn't touch resealing a hatch for a customer for under $2k, because, quite honestly, it sucks. Lot of work, and there is always the risk of busting the glass as well. Make sure you work on a carpeted area so you don't have an accident The key is to go slow, don't rush. Slow cuts, a little at a time. Sh944 is another who is pretty familiar with the process, so he can chime in as well.

Since my buddy is a head tech at a VW dealership and does a lot of windows, I am going to try some of his glues that they use on the VW stuff on those next few hatches. We installed a lexan windshield last track season with his stuff, and it went well. I can't remember what VW glue we used for the windshield, but I can find out tomorrow when I see him. I do know that it was only about 20 bucks a tube for the glue (We used just over one tube for the lexan windshield), and the primer wasn't much either, and you barely used any of it because it goes on so thin. This was much cheaper than the 3m stuff.

TheRealLefty

Rennlist rules, as always. Off in my war wagon to the wilds of WV to fetch the lexan. ROTFL on some responses here. Sounds like this is much like stripping 100 year old woodwork with ten coats of paint on HGTV's "Curse This House"...no easy way to do it and it would cost a king's ransom to have someone else mess with it.

I might just look for a salvage hatch for practice