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Message |
CoryDaneRTSIIIL (4.17.253.201)
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Friday, August 16, 2002 - 10:38 pm: | |
I picked up some side panels with the compartment doors for the RTS but there is a problem. When the panels were removed, they cut the rubber hinge to make the panels easier to handle.
The problem is they rubber hinge was glued in with some kind of gook. Mine on the windows were to, sort of, but I was able to get the rubber hinges out. These are, like, permanently married to the hinge fastener, top and bottom.
Is there anything that can loosen this crap up, like WD40 or ???.
I thought maybe cutting it out but the rubber is pretty hard.
I am open to any suggestions as all mine have run out.
Does Universal Coach still handle the rubber hinges??
Thanx, cd |
Dwight (67.213.8.79)
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Saturday, August 17, 2002 - 12:18 am: | |
Hi Cory ?? just a question ??
why do I not see your name in the Yahoo RTS BUS NUTS Group
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/RTS-bus-nuts/
on the hindge yes the rubbers are still available
mine had a small screw that held the rubber in place...if they were gluded in ??????? I had some that I just grabbed one end with a pair of plires and just pulled it out, not sliding it but fourcing it straight out of the grove... |
CoryDaneRTSIIIL (4.17.253.53)
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Saturday, August 17, 2002 - 1:33 am: | |
My computer does not negotiate well in the bus nut group, after I reformat the HD I will try again.
The screws are out, the glue is in and holding!! Tried the pliers, the rubber just breaks off. Removing this rubber from the channel will not be a fun part of this conversion unless someone has an idea. thanks cd |
FAST FRED (63.215.224.199)
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Saturday, August 17, 2002 - 5:26 am: | |
Aircraft grade paint remover ( mase for use on aluminum)would be choice ,
AFTER a shot with a heat gun.
Good luck, use tiny screws from the inside ,
like GM did when you replace it.
FAST FRED |
Richard Bowyer (Drivingmisslazy) (66.190.119.82)
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Saturday, August 17, 2002 - 7:13 am: | |
Cory, if and when you get it out, I have read that a rifle cleaner rod with the proper size wire brush does a good job of getting the slots clean. It is important that everything is removed so that the new rubber slides in easier. You will still probably have to use some type of rubber lubricant to get them in.
Richard |
CoryDaneRTSIIIL (4.17.253.52)
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Saturday, August 17, 2002 - 1:21 pm: | |
The whole problem is just getting the siezed rubber out. I don't know if GMC installed them but what ever whoever used is doing a helluva job cause IT AINT LETTING GO. I am not to the point to look for replacement channels yet but it has been mentioned by others. I'M telling you, this stuff could hold the bus together.
When I placed the new rubber hinges in the windows, we used baby powder to slide em in, in most cases, worked ok. Ill try the gun cleaner brush, sounds like a good idea and I'll do anything to get this done. cd |
CoryDaneRTSIIIL (4.17.253.219)
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Saturday, August 17, 2002 - 8:03 pm: | |
FF, does the paint remover loosen the goo or soften the rubber?? Either way, I have tried a number of methods, I swear, never seen this before, at least on the buses I have seen or worked on. Nothing except beating something in to tear it loose seems to work, but hey, I have 6" clear so far, worked on it all day. hmmm and I have 3 upper and 3 lower panels to do yet. Gonna be a long week end. cd |
doug woodin (24.170.175.8)
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Saturday, August 17, 2002 - 10:51 pm: | |
I guess being in the woodworking buisness, this fix came easily to me. I took my small trim router, installed a 3/16 straight carbide bit and used it to cut right down the center of the hinge rubber strip. Be sure to install a guide both top and bottom of the hinge channel.The router will run true between these guides. [I screwed 1x4 pine boards to the side of the bus with sheet metal screws. The holes will be filled when repainting.]It took longer to attatch the guides than to remove the hinge rubber. Set the depth carefully, just higher than the bottom of the alum channel. The old hinge practly fell out.
If you don't have experiance with a router, be careful, IT WILL BITE YOU!
Hope this helps. |
Dwight (67.213.8.152)
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Saturday, August 17, 2002 - 10:55 pm: | |
not sure if it would work but what the heck !!!
electric wire brush on the grinder, brushing length ways with the grove may eat up the rubber and remove it from the grove ???? |
Tom Caffrey (Pvcces) (64.114.233.166)
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Saturday, August 17, 2002 - 10:57 pm: | |
Cory, I don't really know if those hinges are really rubber, but if they are, or if they're most kinds of plastic, they they should be easily softened with a heat gun.
Once you get them soft, then it's just a case of dragging a tool down the groove until you've worked the rubber part out.
Then, cleaning out the adhesive will depend on what it's made of, but if it's that strong, then it must be fairly hard.
To test the idea, just concentrate the heat in an area no bigger than you've already cleaned, then run a tool down that part of the groove. With some practice, you ought to be able to get the heat and the tool pretty well figured out.
Just remember not to mix solvents and heat. If I remember right, rubber gets awfully soft in the 300 to 350 degree range.
Remember all those highway gators? Heat is what made them come loose.
Good luck on your struggle.
Tom Caffrey PD4106-2576 |
FAST FRED (63.215.230.111)
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Sunday, August 18, 2002 - 5:30 am: | |
BY heating the tang of an old file it can be bent 90deg and makes a great scraper.
Quench after bending.
Tape the teeth of the file ,and most anything can be ripped out.
The grove in the coach needs to be VERY clean for the new stuff to slide in well.
FAST FRED |
CoryDaneRTSIIIL (4.17.253.135)
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Sunday, August 18, 2002 - 7:34 pm: | |
Thank you all for your suggestions. I tried all of them BUT, this stuff is incredible and determined to stay put. Someone told me this crap was the lube when they installed it, SHEEEESH!
I tried everything I could think of AND everything mentioned here. IT LAUGHED at me!
I ended up taking a screwdriver and grinding it thin to fit the groove. I used a Cutout tool to cut into the rubber, this made the rubber more agreeable to come out, not agreeable at all if you dont cut the rubber. After cutting the rubber with the cutout tool, you can get the screwdriver between the back of the channel and the rubber, pound it under about 1/4 inch then pry it up out of the channel. Yes, just a 1/4 inch each time but it moved, it was my turn to laugh. but the gook was still secure on the channel, this has to be scraped off, wont come off any other way, nothing seems to dilute it. UNFORTUNATELY, scraping does not leave the channel the smoothest, even after I tried a small wire brush on it, but I can slide a small piece of the rubber hinge into it. Whats it gonna be like to get the door on the hinge? Oh its gonna be another long day. Well, I have the top piece cleared, it took all day!, lessee, 5 more to go, oh I am making so much progress I could just....Errrr...laugh. Thank you all for your persistance, understanding and HELP. cd |
FAST FRED (63.208.85.69)
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Monday, August 19, 2002 - 5:22 am: | |
Roll some sandpaper or emery cloth into a round shape and slide it so the groves are as smooth as you can get them.
They need to be real clean & smooth for the rubber to slide in easily.
I use Joy , or other cheap dishwashing soap as lube.
Supprised that aircraft paint remover (bro methalyne chloride) would not soften the glue, the stuff will even soften hard epoxy!!
FAST FRED |
CoryDaneRTSIIIL (4.17.253.138)
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Tuesday, August 20, 2002 - 4:58 pm: | |
Hey Ya'll
got that stuborn hinge out and that terrible stuff finally too. Those panels sure look TOO GOOD on the side of that ole bus. Boy am I sore but sure looks a lot better. LOL
- What an adventure, this was much much worse than the windows I had to clean and hang, and the windows weigh lots more than these panels. The new rubber hinges had some kind of coating on them already, slipped right in, only needed a little coaxing with a plier. GOOD RIDANCE!! Hope those hinges last about 20 or so years, I won't have to bother with them again. All that is left on those panels is to mount a locking latch, oh Buss'n is good, sunshine days and birds swimming care free on the lake. WHOO HOOOO!!!!!!
- As for anyone else, if you come across this stuff, you have your work cut out for you. I was told this was a lube but it dries a chalky white color and it don't friggin let go. Best I can say is get a cut all tool, they use em for cutting drywall with a rotary blade, cut the rubber, I went about 6" at a time, careful not to cut the aluminum, IT WILL. Make and use guides if you need. then get an old thin screwdriver and shape it to fit in the groove. Use the driver to slip (if you count pounding with a HAMMER) under the rubber, between the rubber and aluminum, and pry it up toward the channel. Me, Mr I know a better way, thought once I started it through the channel, I could just pull it out, Yeah, right, the rubber would break under the channel again. try to get about 1/4" under the rubber then pry, you have to do this all the way down the channel. Then, Clean the crap out from the channel, don't forget under the lip. Use a scrap hinge piece to make sure you have it cleaned out well enough.
- There were a lot of suggestions here, and I appreciate them all. I am sure they all worked on one job or another, but UNFORTUNATELY, this crap was impervious, it was like chalk or fine sand and held together extremely well, UGH!
- I try not to call for help too much, but I was looking for help anywhere I could find it, this was a terrible part of the conversion and I was at a loss.
- Many thanks to all for the support and ideas. This is certainly one for the books - cd, a very thankfull bus nut. |
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