Rear Hatch glass resealing (properly!)

[djaychela]

So, before I fit the lovely new carpet I have for my 944 and so on, I thought I'd check out why the rear of the car gets wet. Having stripped the old carpet out, I got the hose out and soon found out why it was leaking; the glass was not bonded to the frame in a number of places - all along the top, pretty much, and at both bottom corners, hence the water coming in at the bottom and the top.

After some looking I found that this is extremely common, and there are various opinions on whether it's possible to do a decent DIY repair on it, so I spent a while (OK, a few hours) getting the glass out of the frame, and cutting the old sealer off (which I've nearly finished doing). This was after having spent a good hour removing all the bodgery that had been done to the hatch beforehand with all sorts of sealers having been applied, some under the spoiler and side strips, some which had set, other bits which hadn't (and some which looked like bitumen, FFS!). Clearly been noticed before and the previous owner was a bodging moron.

Has anyone on here done all this and got it all sealed up OK? I've seen recommendations for using 3M products (Window Weld in particular, but also their primer which will protect it from UV damage), but has anyone on here actually used them or DIY repaired their hatch? I can't see why it won't work (for a few years at least), but I'd be interested to know if anyone's actually done it.

 

[944Turbo]

Not done it, but have you seen the article here http://www.pelicanparts.com/techarticles/944_hatch_glass_repair/944_hatch_glass_repair2.htm
Good luck!
Tony

 

[djaychela]

Hi Tony

Yeah, seen that and a number of others; I'm not going to use Silicone, that would definitely come loose after a short time. There are a couple of other articles about it which outline what to do, so it seems like it should work, just needs decent prep (certainly the frame on mine needs some cleaning up after 28 years of water in it!)...

 

[vincematthews]

Yes, I've done it before - have a look at my post:-

"Rear Hatch Refurb - To do or not to do?"

http://www.porscheclubgbforum.com/tm.asp?m=127113&mpage=1&key=rear%2Chatch%2Crefurb&#127113

It should help . . . hopefully

 

[djaychela]

Thanks Vince, that's really helpful. Did it a) cure the leaks and b) last?

 

[vincematthews]

ORIGINAL: djaychela

Thanks Vince, that's really helpful. Did it a) cure the leaks and b) last?

Its the same mastic as they use for bonded front windscreens so it better not leak or else [][]
Its lasted so far.

Definitely worth leaving it to set for as long as you can as is makes the whole assembly much more solid. Also take your time with lining the whole thing up - will probably need an assistant to do it properly.
I did replace the pins and the catchers at the same time so the back end is nearly back to new.