JBugs Video Series

1971 VW Super Beetle - Vent Wing Rebuild:

Exterior

Video Overview:

Disassembling just about anything is simple, it’s getting it back together afterwards that is the hard part! Either way, our tech goes over disassembling, and then covers the reassembly of the vent wing windows for our 1971 Super Beetle Project. This was a little more difficult as we painted our frames black but the same processes will apply for stock, chrome plated and polished assemblies. It will just be easier since there is less worry about scratching paint!
Vent wing disassembly: 1:13
Glass and inner frame removal: 1:39
Latch catch removal: 2:43
Latch removal: 2:55
Vent wing reassembly : 3:53
Latch installation: 4:02
Glass to frame installation: 4:33
Vent wing seals installation: 5:28
Latch plate installation: 6:40
Glass and inner frame installation: 7:05


Video Tips:

Disassembly tools used in this video:

3/8” Drive Ratchet
3/8” Drive 10mm Driver
Small Flat Blade Screw Driver
Large Flat Blade Screw Driver
Pocket Knife
Rubber Mallet
Small Punch
Drill
1/8” Drill Bit
1/4” Drill Bit
Side Cutters
Pliers

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Assembly tools used in this video:

Large Wood Vice
Vice Grips
Brass Hammer
Pop Rivet Tool
Trim Tool
1/4” Drive Ratchet
1/4” Drive 10mm Driver
Needle Nose Pliers
Various Punches and Chisels
Large Flat Blade Screw Driver
Razor Blade
1/8” Drill Bit
3/16” Drill Bit

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Chemicals Used:

Weather-strip Adhesive

Video Transcript:

Hello! I'm Sam with JBugs.com
We're continuing the rebuild of our 1971 Super Beetle 
and just finished installing the headliner in our last video. Next, we want to get the doors on and reassembled but before we can, we have to rebuild our vent wing assemblies. They were removed when we disassembled and removed the doors and we'll continue tearing them down further at our workbench.
That begins by removing the remnants of the old felt channel 
from the back of the vent frame with a flat blade screwdriver. Then, scraping the channel to remove any glue or stuck pieces. Next, we pivot the glass open and remove the vent flap seal, which can be difficult. We use a smaller screwdriver to pry and tear the rubber away, and eventually get to a point where they can be pulled out of the vent frame.
Now, we can work on getting the vent wing glass removed from the frame. 
We flip the frame and drill the bottom side of the upper pivot rivet with a quarter-inch drill bit. We don't want to drill through the frame, we just want to remove the rolled edge of the rivet. Once it is, we use a small punch and a mallet to pop the rivet out of the vent glass frame. Then, we pivot the window open, loosen the pinch bolt at the bottom of the assembly, and we can pull the vent glass up and out of the assembly.
We pull and tear out the old vent wing seal away from the outer frame, by hand where possible, 
and use a screwdriver as needed until the old seal is all removed. Then, we use our drill again to remove more of the face of the old vent wing rivet, punch the rivet up through the pivot, and use a pair of side cutters to remove it from the frame. 
We use this method of removing the rivet so that we don't open up the center hole of the pivot 
as that can cause it to be loose later when we reassemble it.
We remove the vent wing latch catch which is pulled from the upright by bending back the tabs that hold it in place, with a flat blade screwdriver. 
There is an alignment hole to ensure it goes back in the right place later.
The last bit of teardown will be removing the vent wing latch and the glass from its frame. 
We start with a quarter-inch drill bit and drill the center of the rivets that hold the latch in place. Once the head of the rivet is removed, we swap to an eighths inch drill bit and carefully drill through the rivets. Now, we can remove the latch. Sometimes they can be pulled out by hand but in our case, a rubber mallet is needed to remove the latch from the frame.
We pry the frame away from the glass with a screwdriver. 
We can pull the glass from the frame, pull the rubber pieces off the glass, and out of the frame. The rain deflector is pulled from the frame and any remaining rubber pieces are removed.
Once both assemblies are pulled apart, we clean them, sand them, 
and since we're eliminating most of the chrome from our car, paint them black and we can get them reassembled.
We start the reassembly but cutting our vent wing glass to frame seals 
in half so that we have more than enough to use for both our vent wings. Then, we test fit our new vent wing latch, along with the new rivets. We drill the holes in the base as needed so that the rivets will fit through the frame and the latch. With both of them in place, we use a pop rivet tool to install them.
We test fit the glass to frame and we can see that we have to tap the head of the rivets down a bit to clear. 
So, using a variety of methods including chisels and dollies and a brass hammer, we flatten down the rivets on the inner edge and the outer edge.
Next, we run a bead of weather-strip adhesive along the edge of the vent wing glass 
and along the center of the rubber seal we cut in half earlier. Once the glue is tacked up, we stretch it and lay it over the vent wing glass, and let it cure for a bit while we do the same to the opposite side glass.
Once the rubber is in place, we lay another bead of adhesive along the outer edge of the rubber and the glass. 
Then, inside the glass frame as well. 
The rain deflector is set into the frame, 
making sure the latch is on the opposite side. 
Then, the frame is pressed down onto the vent wing glass 
and we make sure the seal is in place, all the way around the glass and the frame, as well as the vent wing latch base.
Then, we hold everything tightly while the glue sets. 
A large wood vice does the job nicely while we finish up the opposite side. While the glue is curing on the glass, we'll work on the door frames and start by installing the vent wing seals.
There are left and right specific seals as the seals have a cut for the upper pivot. 
Using the pivot as a starting point, we slide the seal in place and begin pressing the seal into the frame. We aren't done as getting the seal fully set in place requires getting the bottom edge of the seal fully seated into the channel in the frame.
We start by getting one side started by hand 
then we use a trim tool on the opposite side to press the seal down into the channel. Once the seal is in place, we make sure that the hole for the lower post lines up with the pivot at the bottom. You can tell when the seal is in place as it will sit relatively flat across the bottom of the vent wing.
Next up is the vent flap seal and after noting the more angled side sits towards the glass, 
we trim the seal to length, set it in place behind the groove the faces towards the outside of the car. Then we use a trim tool to press the back edge of the seal in place at the upright, and at the top and bottom edges where it meets up with the vent wing seal.
We snap the latch plate for the vent wing lock over the upright post, noting the alignment dimple, 
then bending the tabs back into place and crimping them with a pair of pliers.
Back to the vent wing glass, once the glue is set, 
we use a razor blade to cut the excess rubber from around the edges of the frame, the vent wing lock, and the glass on both sides.
The vent glass frame is then set in place into the appropriate outer frame, post first. 
Then, the upper pivot is lined up. The pivot washer is set in place between the two tabs at the upper pivot and a rivet is inserted through all three.
The pivot rivet is a compression rivet and it can be compressed with a pair of vice grips, 
a bench vice, or with a hammer and punch. We typically start with a hammer and punch and finish up with a pair of vice grips to make sure the pivot rivet is tight. 
The lower pinch bolt is tightened so that the window pivots but isn't too loose. 
The window is closed, the latch is locked, and once the other vent wing assembly is assembled, we're ready to install them in the doors.
Actually, we'll have to install felt channels in them first, 
but we'll save that for our next video where we'll bolt on our doors and get them assembled.
Thanks for watching! 
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