ok can it be done by someone with no mechanical experience at all??
or is it just better to let the professionals do it??
ive got a 1976 kombi van-the windscreen is fine! its the
-four side windows-two have quater windows
-and the back window which looks the same as a side window without quater window

any good books on how to do this?
the only book i have is Haynes' VW 1700/1800/2000 Transporter
Owners Workshop Manual

Anyone can do it so long as they have a helper. The hardest part for me is getting the rubber onto the window. Once rubber is on the run a piece of cord/thick string around in the groove which locks into the body of the car. I generally use a bit of insulated electrical wire cos I dont have cord lying around. I have the ends of the cord at the top of the window but I guess it makes no difference, and overlap the cord a bit. Your assistant places the window into the hole and applies pressure while you gently pull the cord towards you from the inside which pulls the rubber lip over the ridge where its sposed to go.

Its a bit hard to put in words. I guess it would be easier if you could see one being done first.

Your 1/4 vents may be a little trickier. And be prepared for rust holes in the body underneath the old rubber and in the 1/4 vent frames.

any idea where i can get unrusted quater windows?

Try the Buying/Selling section.

The quarter vent windows are easy, the rear ones go in after the larger fixed pane.

Azz

Well that was my answer too but I thought I'd sound like a smart arse.

The rust quarter window thing is true. Helbus had three quarter windows in the back, and they were all rusted. This was on a bus that had no rust anywhere else at all.

I ended up putting just plain glass in with plain rubber seals. The glass was $50 a sheet, sent down from Sydney (VVDS I assume) and the rubbers were something like $60 each as they were WCM, not Brazillian.

The WCM rubbers fit well without lifting in the corners.

Make sure your headlining material is well stuck down before pulling the glass in.

Regarding the 1/4 vent windows, I'm not sure if kombi stuff is harder to come-by, but Boris just got me some stainless steel 1/4 vents with glass for my Oval.

Is it worth trying VVDS or not?

When I replaced all my Kombi's windows, there was just no way I could get the vent windows back in AFTER the larger pane. I had to push the large pane out again, put the vent and frame in first, THEN finally the large window. An un-rusted vent outer frame has two locking tabs that fit either side of the body's window lip.

My vent frames (inner glass frames) were OK except for a few bubbles, which I ground down and filled with metal epoxy filler. Fantastic stuff, it looks like a silver plasticine snake with a black core. You cut off a bit, knead vigourously until the black/silver are combined - it will also get hot - and then apply. It sets hard in less than 10 minutes, and by the next day you can file, cut, drill or even tap the result. Sand smooth, paint and it looks and feels like metal. And won't ever rust.

The outer frames...different story. They are ALL rusty. I managed to find half a dozen OK ones, and cut-weld them until I had three good ones. Then I found one complete, unrusted one in a burned out Kombi near Lake George. Keep an eye out at wreckers and swapmeets, it's the only way.