Reversing chrome on piano hinge windows

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rolesyboy
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Reversing chrome on piano hinge windows

Post by rolesyboy »

Hi.I gather you can reverse the weathered pitted chrome frame on piano hinge windows. Any suggestions on how to do this and what rivets I might need would be gratefully received. Cheers. Mark
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Re: Reversing chrome on piano hinge windows

Post by 1071bob »

The left hand frame becomes the right hand side and vice-versa, this puts the less corroded/pitted inner face on the outside. The frames themselves are not handed until you fit the catch and piano hinge section. You have to remove the frame from the glass to reverse the catch and hinge section, the biggest problem you'll have is removing the six countersunk screws without breaking them and when you remove the frame the rubber sealing channel will disintegrate! Replacement rubber strip is available but its a real pain to refit the frame to the glass. I think Mark had a cunning plan to seal the frame and I'm sure he will tell us in the morning :)
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Re: Reversing chrome on piano hinge windows

Post by mk1 »

My cunning plan as described above.

As Bob says fitting the rubber into the chrome then fitting the glass into the rubber is almost impossible to do. You need about 8 hands each of which needs the power of Superman in it, even then you aren't guaranteed success.

Having tried to do this on a couple of occasions & not being entirely happy with the result I now do it like this.

take 7 1" sections of the old rubberstick these to the glass using superglue or similar, they should be positioned with 2 on the top edge, 2 on the bottom edge 2 on the back edge & 1 on the front (hinge) edge. Once these are firmly in place take a tube of tiger seal, sikaflex or whatever your preference may be & place a bead all round the edge of the chrome frame. Re fit the glass which yopu will slide in as easy as anything fit the screws that retain the hinge & if necessary use a ratchet strap to squeeze out the excess sealer. Once everything is dry you can remove the excess from the glass using a razor blade.

This is an excellent solution to this problem BUT IS PERMENANT, once the glass is fitted in this way it will be impossible to get it out again in the future.
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