on 5/9/01 12:10 AM, Jason Stevenson at jstv4man@home.com wrote:

Fellow listees-
I am in need of assistance again.  On my 1984 Vanagon, I went to replace the
bushings (VW officially refers to them as guides) on the bases of the middle
sliding side windows.  Upon checking with the dealer, and discovering that
the originals were discontinued, I checked into whether the later model ones
were still available.  They were, and I was told that the only difference
between them was that the later ones were black in color.  I ordered them,
and received them promptly.  However, when I attempted to install them, I
hit a bit of a dead-end.  They obviously slide into the existing slots and
grooves in the window frame, but they have sort of a retaining tab about 3/4
of the way down them.  I could slide them on to that extent, but no further.
After monkeying around with it for a few minutes, and trying several
different tools to get them to slide in the rest of the way, I stopped,
because the plastic that they are made of is rather soft, and I didn't want
to damage the parts.
So, my question is this:  does anyone have any suggestions as to how to get
these guides slid into place without damaging them, the window frame, or the
glass.  I'm sure there must be some small trick to it that I'm simply
overlooking.  Thanks in advance for the help!

Jason Stevenson
1984 Vanagon
1998 Cabrio

I installed these on my 83.5 Westy by VERY CARFULLY trimming the tabs off
and continuing the slot. Use an exacto knife but think about where the blade
will go if you slip, because you can cut yourself very badly with this type
of blade. They do tend to slide out though...  I will try glueing them in
place soon.
--
Miguel

[text/html]