The GTX (1969 Plymouth GTX)

Rich H. · May 31, 2024

Hoist refurb is nearly done, new rams and equalizer cables installed, and still in cleanup mode. It’s going to be so nice not to have an unsafe, messy oily floor! Three daily driver maintenance projects are lined up for the hoist, after that it’s back to the gtx.

Need to get my order done for the small parts to get the side glass back in, but most parts are still good and I’m hesitant to replace things just because it’s apart. I should probably get over that to some degree, given the age of the car.

I did do a little something, though, I bolted on some NOS goodness that I’ve had on the shelf for decades. I paid $75 for this back in the day which seemed too much. Now they’re $375 on eBay, if and when found/crazy.

I reused the thin oe nut on the inside since the one that came with the mirror was for a padded upper door. The purple tape takes away from how good the spi black base/clear came out.

Rich H. · Aug 5, 2024

Mostly caught up on other vehicles now, and have entered My first rodeo with door glass, glass setting tape, and a lot of parts coming off or breaking that seemed like they would be okay until I messed with them: denied.

This site has been super valuable to help with this area, thanks to all who have detailed it.

Original quarter window seal, dried up and mostly shot but still intact.

Can't get any more original than that....

Very faint amounts of yellow death used. I tried to duplicate that but used the black variety of adhesive instead.

New vs old.

Didn't expect it to pop off the glass but maybe I'm just naive and inexperienced.

Hacking out the shrunken glass setting tape.

OER had the smallest amount of tape available which seemed like the right thing for me.

Rich H. · Aug 5, 2024

Pin on Bottom of the vent window frame busted off. I didn’t want to wait for some to come along so I got reproductions which looked nice, but the handles fell off when hammered on to the glass! Turned out they were held on with solid pins, regular roll pins fixed it.

Original had the round-over at the top. reproduction doesn't. I'm not sure I even care LOL. Add a blob of RTV or leave it?

Alot of things fell apart when I started disassembling to replace the triangle shaped seal.

Oh snap. Literally: snap.

Shiny overpriced repro saves the day.

Of course the lever had to fall off the brand new part, leading to one more thing to troubleshoot.

OE

Reproduction: No workie. Had to drill it deeper for it to even fit. Par for the course. Lucky to get anything at all I guess.

Rich H. · Aug 5, 2024

I notched the Mylar and tried to copy the original slider setup best as I could.

I set the rivets with hammer/drift/vise anvil.

One of these and a cold shower/Summer sunday wrap up.

Finally, vent assemblies with new seals.
Nerd out: The vent glass pieces are solid 1968 parts, dated may '68, where the door glass is dated the same month/year as production.
Like alot of early '69 cars this GTX does have many 68 model year parts used up on it.

Close up of original/slightly damaged slider and mylar

My version of the notch and slot on the left.

Another milestone.

Yes!

Rich H. · Aug 5, 2024

Top Cat whiskers were approved by the local authority, but the rear clip didn’t line up on one side. I used adhesive and jammed the line up punch inside to put pressure on it until the adhesive dried, and then pulled out the punch and slid the window up to let it sit overnight. I guess it's not realistic to expect anything to be perfect.

Rich H. · Aug 5, 2024

Still needs adjustment but it’s coming along.

ckessel · Aug 5, 2024

Not sure if you're aware, the rubber tape for setting glass into the lift channels is available in 3 different thicknesses. I got educated on this 8 years ago working on a pos bowtie. I have the rolls in my inventory courtesy of a glass shop I used to deal with.

Rich H. · Aug 6, 2024

Yes sir, the different thicknesses were a reason to stop and figure it out.

I measured the old tape best as I could and compared to what was available, kind of guesstimated how the old stuff must have shrunk over time, and 1/16" tape got the nod.

ardentind · Nov 8, 2025

Digging up an old thread but its worth it, just to say thanks for your in depth posting throughout the build of this car. I came across it looking at painting threads and wow, its been inspiring. Lots of details, plenty of passion and confidence boosting mentions.
Im getting closer to spraying mine and while I wanted to do it in my 2-car garage just to say I did, I think I'll opt to rent a local booth somewhere. Regardless, I want to be the one pulling the trigger if the shop will let me. Ive painted a couple in the past but nothing in metallic.
Thanks again! I know its not easy and it takes a lot of work to keep these threads going with pictures. Much appreciated.

Rich H. · May 8, 2026

Last reply from 11-25 and sorry I missed it. Greatly appreciate the acknowledgement!

A few times, in the moment, I did wish I had rented a booth.
As time went on, I realized it would have caused complexity, more of a time crunch and some additional pressure that I didn't feel equipped to deal with. The 2 other completes I have done had a time crunch involved, I felt way too rushed and I had it set in my mind I was going to take my time on this one.

Since this will bring the thread BTTT:
Life didn't cooperate for over a year, so I took some time off from the GTX and all the forums.

Things are still quite a bit more complex than I wish they were, but I've been able to spend more time on the car
recently and hope to be posting some small updates soon.

Rich H. · May 20, 2026

There aren't any exciting pics of this, but...shiny new paint is really slippery and I was a little too conservative on the bolt torque
for the doors. Late 2025 I changed all the weatherstripping out, which caused the doors to lose adjustment and then life took
a turn that didn't work for me, so I walked away.

Glad to report That's all corrected now and the doors fit as well (or as mediocre) as they ever did.

Currently the rear quarter windows don't seem to work at all and are bound up pretty hard against the new weatherstrip.
Don't quite understand what's going on with that and will need to mess with adjusting them. It's almost as if the weatherstrip
could use a lubricant or something.

To get the glass adjusted and front doors closed actually did require lubricant, I used Vaseline (as, I think, was recommended on someone's thread over here). But the quarter weatherstrip currently isn't making much sense to me. Maybe after I loosen up all the adjustments it will help it get moving.

I also noticed two rear armrest clips missing, which have never been there the whole time I owned the car, and will probably annoy
Jim with another little tiny order for those, although there has not even been a back seat installed since around 1992 or something....and nobody would want to climb over the roll bar to get back there. Still I'd like the ability to put the stock stuff back in.

Rich H. · May 20, 2026

I couldn't seem to find a stapler that would go through metal in my office supplies, so I used screws to attach the rear inner cat whiskers like so many helpful folks have shown over the years.

Rich H. · May 20, 2026

On the subject of cat whiskers, one of many substantial losses in recent years was my best buddy.
I'm glad he's immortalized on this thread, and may seem to have very little to do with the car but his reaction to
it firing up was quite an entertaining thing to the family over time.

I had 16 great years with him and will probably get another cat, but am not quite ready yet.

Rich H. said:
View attachment 1706147

ckessel · May 20, 2026

RIP!

All of my cats were Mopar themed. Had Max[ wedge], Dart, Cuda. Max was a 7 toe version, cool cat. Dart made it 17 years and her sister Cuda made it 19 years. 12+ of those years was kitten hood for that pair.

Rich H. · May 26, 2026

Way back when I cut the rust off the first time in my folks' driveway, I remember a thing or two.
It was decades ago.... detail....a few round pieces of white plastic (and maybe blue as well) fell out of the holes I'd cut.

Thought to myself:
"But the windows still work okay, so it couldn't be the window regulators, could it?"

This is how naive I was in my early 20s....However, maybe ignorance really is bliss, because the windows never gave me
a lick of trouble until now and they certainly don't owe me anything.

Found a mangled regulator arm. Well that explained that.....

I'm so darn inexperienced with these things initially I thought it was supposed to look like this, until I compared to the other side
and the lightbulb appeared above my head.

Rich H. · May 26, 2026

A little heat, hammer and dolly straightened it out, and yet another order to Mr. Fillmore at DMT should help wrap up this portion of the work. I previously replaced the up stops, separately. The down stop is the original, still pliable, without dry rot.

Lacking any experience with this kind of stuff I was fortunate to not tear into the opposite side at the same time, so I'd have a visual aid. It felt a little like the first time I worked on drum brakes.

Every day is a school day-I'm still enjoying the process.

Rich H. · May 28, 2026

All set except lube, glass, and adjustment. Sorry the videos don't actually play, this is just a screenshot from other social media.
The service manual wasn't much help and I was halfway into it before I thought to check the parts manual/probably better....I went right for the internet and it didn't fail me. Thanks to those with build threads here on the first few pages, steve mirabelli and junkerup on youtube, and other places I forgot I visited.

Rich H. · Jun 2, 2026

"Adjustment" further displayed my inexperience with glass.

It took several tweaks from inside the cab, to bend the regulator arm just right, to where it was back in the normal range provided by the track adjusters.

Multiple attempts, much doubt and second guessing involved.
Self talk: "I must be doing this wrong. No, it needs to go over that way further, but it's at the end of adjustment and it can't.
Well Of course it can't, it was bent before, and you didn't bend it back quite far enough. Go look at the other side, does it look the same? Yeah, but if I bend it too far, then I will have to take it all apart to bend it the other direction and I don't feel like doing that" etc etc. In and out of the car, bending it, looking at the other side, bending, looking, etc etc

It's no fun crawling under the roll bar to get back there, but for now I still mostly accept it.

Finally made the left quarter glass do what I wanted! Not very exciting, but important.

Now I'm hoping the right side will go smoother, since I supposedly have some expertise now....and also (mostly) because that regulator isn't wrecked like the left side.

Rich H. · Jun 9, 2026

I have good news, and I have bad news.

Bad news:
Regret: I should have researched the AMD quarter glass problems before buying it for the right side. It didn't work at all. It has the same issue everyone else's has (too curved). I've had it a couple years and I'm sure they won't take a return...Yuck.

Good news: An OEM quarter glass was immediately bought off ebay and is sitting on my porch as of now.
Hope it survived shipping :praying:

Good news:
Rain shield is on the left rear, headliner rails are painted, one is installed (spi epoxy/spi base/acme finish one clear....could have used rattle cans...went the extra mile I guess). The previously painted upper inner quarter metal and trim is on one side, which of course required another window adjustment.

I can't speak highly enough of the quickie trim polishing process/felt cone on a die grinder with mother's mag wheel polish.
Perfect for my purposes and existing tool collection.

It occurred to me I still haven't decided which clear to use on the engine compartment when the time comes.
I have used SPI Universal exclusively on the exterior class a surfaces and it's an excellent product.
I have used Acme Finish 1 on interior parts like the rails shown here, it's also good and an incredible value for the dollar.
I've experimented with both on my cut-off door skin test panel, working, sanding, polishing and all that.
The SPI is a show car clear and is very easy to polish, but also seems to require polishing to stay in shape.
The Finish 1 is a general purpose, car lot kind of a clear, and is hard as concrete, and not easily damaged, but when it is damaged it's not as easy to work with. It almost seems like the lower line clear might be a better choice for the engine compartment?
I won't be able to throw wrenches at it like I did in the past so maybe it doesn't matter.
I'm tempted to use the show car clear and just be careful + maintain it.

ckessel · Jun 9, 2026

10 years back, I ran into the same glass issue on a 67 Camaro. Arc of the door glass didn't meet with the quarter glass seal. Touched top and bottom, 1/4" gap in the middle. He supplied his own glass, so that was on him.

The GTX (1969 Plymouth GTX)

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