Bill,
Sorry about the windows, that's kind of a pain. Cub Crafters used 34,973 hour glue on my window handles. Funny because Kelly wanted to take a few pics with out opening the door, slid my window back and boom, handle departed the plane. 10 seconds later Kelly said, "Well mine just came off too." Thinking it was still in her hand, mine was just a few feet shy of my fence line and I knew it could find it with just a little looking. Later, she informs me that no,,,,hers departed too. Without they sure are flimsy and a pain to fly with sliding open and rattling while waiting on the new ones. Pretty sure mine are 1/16, 1/8 would seem awfully think.
Surprisingly, CC only dinged me $25 each for the ends with the little L break that acts like a handle, I'm sure the center ones are less, just flat stiffeners with a seal to cut down on drafts. They fall just short of touching either track. Point is, I think you can stick with what you have, install without removal and have a good long term solution. Though I did learn from Pierce that putting some female velcro on helps hold them closed for hours without moving, if properly placed. Start small and add more if needed, inside and or out.
BTW, silicone is advised from CC and to use some blue tape during test fitting so the line is exact. I overfilled mine intentionally to make sure I had a good seal, also used 60 grit sandpaper to give a roughed up surface followed by a few alcohol wipes. (think if CC had done this they would have never departed. Really hard to push on with all that silicone in there but protect the track with a paper towel and add the female velcro as needed. Viola, works great, stays light. It's actually listed as an escape door in the POH. Place both hands in the middle and push, I'm certain it would work.
Bottom line, less than $80 bucks, keeps the light weight, escape hatch, and have something that functions well. KISS Here's a few pics of mine, let me know if you'd like a specific angle, or if this even helps at all.
