Rear Vent Window Frame Prep

The rear vent window housing is metal and needs to be painted to match the rest of the interior trim. I pulled the rear vent windows out of storage this weekend and went to work.

 First, I need to remove the rubber gasket that, after 60 years of baking in the California Desert ("It's a dry heat, man!") it has become as hard as a rock--if you'll recall, large pieces of it fell out when I opened the windows after first getting the car.

To get to the gasket, I need to remove the window. Turning the window over revealed rivets on the back of the hinge that holds the window in place.

After hitting the domed rivet with a punch so I can get my drill bit started, I drill through the rivets and the window slides out.

Then, using a dull, old chisel I remove the old rubber seal.

That old paint, and the small bits of surface rust, need to go. Out with the sandpaper.

  

After about two hours, the first window frame is ready for paint. I think I'll take a little break before starting on the second!