Replacing a broken window

While we were removing some of the internal paneling, Elad accidentally broke one of our rear windows. We decided it would be cheaper if we could replace it ourselves rather than order this specially shaped window from International or find one online someowhere.

We got pretty lucky and found someone on Facebook Marketplace trying to get rid of some glass for free. It was more than twice as big as we needed, but we figured that gave us at least 2 chances to get it right. We made sure to clean it really well before we began the rest of the process.

Using a piece of carboard, we traced the shape of the hole that the rear window fit into and then added a margin of 5/16 of an inch to allow for the part of the glass that fits into the rubber gasket. With this cardboard template, we traced the correct shape onto our panel of glass with a sharpie.

Then we placed some drops of cutting oil along the marked outline on the glass and followed the outline with a glass cutter, making sure to use enough pressure to actually score the glass. This video is very simple, but demonstrates steps 4 and 5 very clearly. We are not professionals so our process did not go so smoothly.

This is the really stressful part. We began by trying to use the method in the video and broke our first piece of glass. After some regrouping and watching a tutorial video to make sure we were doing this correctly, we repeated steps 3 and 4 with the second piece of glass and tried again. This time with more success and a pair of channellock grips with a paper towel to soften the pressure on the glass.

We used 60 grit sand paper to smooth out the edges of the glass we had just cut, paying special attention to the curves. We did not want to cut ourselves or damage the rubber seal strip. Additionally, we wanted to make sure that the newly cut window would actually fit in the gasket properly.

Our rubber strip was S shaped, with one opening of the S for the window and the other opening of the S for the steel of the bus. We made sure to put it on the correct way, starting at one end of the gasket and slowly pushing it into place along the newly cut glass.

We used a window film that is tinted for privacy, UV reflection, and heat resistance. This film also adds a protective barrier for the glass. We simply follow the instructions on the box: cut larger than you think, spray and squeegee into place, trim the extra material, spray and squeegee again.

Ana stood inside the bus holding the window and tried to manipulate the rubber seal strip into place as much as she could - without causing the rubber strip to come off the window itseld. Meanwhile, Elad stood on a step ladder on the outside of the bus. He tried to put the rubber strip in place around the opening using the little screwdriver to dig his side of the S shaped rubber strip out from the inside of the bus and pull it out to his side of the bus. This took us many attempts, many poked fingers, and many moments of "what was that noise? Is the window breaking?"

Breathe a gigantic sigh of relief that the glass didn't shatter while you were breaking the score, fitting it into a gasket, carrying it places, fitting it into place, or driving the bus.