Thread: Gullwings - Removal Method for the Rear Sliding Windows of a PUMA Defender ?

Originally Posted by rijidij

I rarely do installations / fittings anymore, I need to concentrate on production, but for a Gullwing install on a Puma I would quote for four hours, so around $360.
That’s for a vehicle with easy access inside, if there’s cargo barriers or other stuff that needs to be removed it can add quite a bit of time to the job. A lot of Defenders are fitted out in the back, so it could easily escalate to a $500 job.

Yep $400 and then some is about what I charge.

A big key note here is: as your Defender TDCi (2007 on puma) gets older that bonding sealant used to glue in the window frame gets harder and harder to remove. The last one I did was a 2009 model and I fitted the gullwings about a year ago. It was bonded beyond belief, that it took longer than I ever billed the customer for.

I have always used plastic trim knives and plastic scrapers.
The next one I'm going to take to my local panel shop and see if they are way more clever than me, it wont surprise me that they have it done in no time at all (lets hope anyway).

Originally Posted by DazzaTD5

Yep $400 and then some is about what I charge.

A big key note here is: as your Defender TDCi (2007 on puma) gets older that bonding sealant used to glue in the window frame gets harder and harder to remove. The last one I did was a 2009 model and I fitted the gullwings about a year ago. It was bonded beyond belief, that it took longer than I ever billed the customer for.

I have always used plastic trim knives and plastic scrapers.
The next one I'm going to take to my local panel shop and see if they are way more clever than me, it wont surprise me that they have it done in no time at all (lets hope anyway).

Yeah, the older sealant can be a pain, especially if they’ve been a bit too generous with it. A couple that I’ve done had sealant on the inside which had oozed through. In this case you need to cut the sealant from inside the vehicle, otherwise it hangs on to the edge of the panel opening making it difficult to pry the window out, even if you’ve adequately cut the sealant and tape from the outside.

Originally Posted by Baytown

Geez you’re easily triggered there Karlz.

You really shouldn’t keep telling me what I have and haven’t done, or paid.

I did remove (almost) the right side window install. I spent over a day, and it still wasnt out. I used knifes, hooked blades, reciprocating blades and dedicated wire on a handle I ended up scratching the inner paint, and had to retouch up the paint around the Cil.

I then gave up and drove 9kms, paid the Glass people who took bugger all time as previously mentioned (two working on it) and charged me $60, as it took under an hour.

.......

No slanging match, and maybe I am a bit easier triggered because I did this job entirely myself and it wasnt easy.
The rest of the professionals on this site have likewise stated that its a time consuming job, so when you say just drive down to your nearest glass bloke he will charge you $50 is misleading.

Anyway, its a worthwhile upgrade dont you think?

Well, I should have updated this post....

I did eventually install the 2 Gullwings into my Puma and yes like everyone mentioned, it was a PITA to remove the sealant from the frame. 1st one took me a fair while and the 2nd one was much easier. I just siliconed the gullwings back in and all is good. Used them on a big desert trip in 2021 and it made things so much easier... but I did find one downside and that's RAIN. If rain gets into the channel there is no where for it to runout/exit so u need to ensure the gullwing is closed during rain for sure...

Once I came back from my trip I ordered another set for my old tdi300 110 and after a 18mth wait I recently installed them. Again very easy on the tdi300 with just drilling out the pop-rivets. I siliconed the gullwings in though as I think it looks much nicer than pop-rivets