An update on my window repair progress.
I bulked out the seals with 4mm rubber cord (threaded through with bike gear cable, which was doable, but fiddly). I cleaned up as much of the rusted area at the top as I could, then fitted the seal back in - we bit of black Stixall at the small section on the RHS that seemed to have been bonded from factory, as well as a bit around the rusted section.
I dry fitted the rest of the seal around the perimeter and set about reinstalling the sliding window, as per the original posters guide. All was going well until almost the final stage. When I tried to close the window, the locking mechanism wouldn't close down properly. I stupidly tried a water test when I had the window closed as tightly as I could - tsunami!
After a bit more inspection, I could see that part of the seal was catching, pulling it out of position and preventing the window from closing fully. I decided to try Stixall around all the seal to try and keep it in place and then had another go.
It was still almost impossible to close the window, but with a bit of coaxing the trim back inside and plenty of pressure, I eventually managed to slip the top pin in to lock it shut. With a bit more manipulation,I finally got the bottom one in and put the handle back on.
With the window properly shut (handle/opening mechanism correctly closed and pins fully in place at top and bottom) and looking correct from the outside, I decided to do another water test.
Bone dry after a few pint glasses of water launched right at the seals. Night and day compared to the previous attempt (and to how it was before I had taped the whole window up to temporarily stop the leaking). Hopefully this will stand the next few days when rain is forecast - in going to leave the tape off and stay vigilant!
At the moment, I don't think the window is usable - I'm pretty sure I wouldn't get it shut again with all of the trim, etc back on. My only hope is that if I leave it closed for a few weeks that the seal (and the new rubber cord) might get compressed into the new shape and be more amenable to opening and closing.
The main thing for now would be stopping the water - I'm hoping that I can at least take that as a win!
Thanks to
@TallPaul_S for the rubber cord suggestions posted previously - did you find it more difficult (almost impossible!) to close the window initially, after inserting the cord into the seal?
