Quiet Paths

Replacing our 13 foot front Scamp window

Christine September 14th, 2007

We started on our Scamp project of replacing the front window just this morning as Matthew has the day off. We are over half way done right now and haven’t cussed yet, so I guess that is a good sign. We thoroughly cleaned the area of any dirt or residue after removing the old window. That was the easy part. That said, I must here fully emphasize the fact that replacing the gasket is a royal pain in the behind. We used warmish water to try and limber the gasket up a bit because it is very stiff, and of course when it’s covered with dish detergent it’s like wrestling a wet, slippery, angry, black eel. We watered down a mostly used bottle of liquid dish detergent and have used most of it up on the gasket alone. Make sure you put a towel down around the ledge on the inside of the window as you will most certainly drip soapy water. We found that if you push the soap down the inside channel of the gasket, it does help, but be prepared for the gasket to work itself loose around the corners as you attempt to proceed. Be prepared to practice a little before things go forward. The rubber will eventually get used to the idea of staying put; acting as though it has a mind of its own! Click on the photos to get a better view of our progress so far. The gasket is the big one on the left and the new lock strip is on the right.

And here you see we eventually did prevail and all before lunch. The gasket is in and we pushed in the old, used lock strip to stretch the gasket during our lunch break so the window will go in more easily. Our friend in Colfax, WA suggested we try this method first. As we slide the window in then we pull the old lock strip out… or that is the idea. Thanks, Bill. Ah we will now continue with our window adventure. Yes, any moment now we’ll go out there and tackle it again.