VW Type 2 Camper
Auto Windscreens do the deed, now it’s ready for the interior
It was a cold and wet afternoon, which kind of served as a warning to us all. The van needs to be made weather tight. Not simply so it can live outside when we need to push it out of the PC workshop from time to time, but because without the glass being in, we can’t get on with fitting the retrimmed panels from Newton Commercial.
We had been ready to fit the glass for a while, but other jobs had taken priority. We knew it would be a tricky fit as well. Our van used to be a panel van: it is a conversion, not an original camper, so the glass apertures might not have the same level of precision, making fitment a tough ask. Time to call Auto Windscreens then.
Get the experts in
These days, Tony and Dean from Auto Windscreens spend most of their time working with high-tech bonded glass. Their vans are full of all the kit required to make modern screen glass replacement as easy as possible. It is surprisingly technical. However, as we found out on the nominated day, they also preserve the kinds of skills required to fit old schools panes of toughened glass into traditional, old fashioned screen rubbers.
Watching them work was a joy. They are craftsmen in their own right – and they know glass. One pane on the Type 2 in particular was very difficult to fit. It was the only flat pane of glass and the guys were fairly certain it was a replacement. A ‘pain’ it certainly was, requiring precision use of force and lubrication. I can absolutely guarantee that, if we had done it ourselves, this pane would have ended up in pieces on the floor. As it is, it is now probably the most secure glass panel in the whole van.
Moral of the story? If you have a specialist job to do, get a specialist to do it. Now we have glass in, everything else can arrive. It is time to fit the interior. I’m looking forward to it.
practicalclassics@bauermedia.co.uk