Who the #@*$ engineered this thing?

[CARSofComfrey]

Who was the engineer who did the doors on these B-bodies???

I have never had such difficulties tearing down a door in the 20 years of doing bodywork (10 years of restorations).

Anyone have a copy of the shop manual to show the proper re-assembly procedure? Cause I know there has to be a specific order of assembly because tear down is not going smooth at all.

(thanks for letting me vent)

 

[theman440]

??????? - they are very easy....

 

[lake71383]

There not that bad

 

[eagleone1983]

I agree I've never restored anything in my life and was able to take apart my '69 roadrunner doors fairly easy. My only hang up was getting the vent window and frame out.

 

[res1vw21]

I agree I've never restored anything in my life and was able to take apart my '69 roadrunner doors fairly easy. My only hang up was getting the vent window and frame out.

The early doors are different

 

[CARSofComfrey]

I just can't wrap my mind around what in the world they were thinking with the window track assembly. I got it all apart but the retainers holding the glass to the tracks were all rusted tight and spinning. "Normal People" would have made it so all 4 of those screws were accessible at the same time AND give you room to get an arm in there to hold the spinning retainers (ok, very few doors have alot of room).

I can't see how a tech would be able to work on the latch without gutting the window and tracks. What's up with the metal slides for tracks? Odd idea but I guess there is no rollers to wear out.

The window stops... Really, they couldn't have made a notch in the front top of the door frame to get the glass out easier??

The first one took me 2 hrs, second one 1 hr. I got them, everything is bagged and I pray the dozen pics will help with the assembly. Hmmm, did the latch go in first or the regulator??? lol

Give me a '70 and earlier any day!

 

[Sputnik]

Try it when it's about 99 degrees , humid , sweat dripping , arms won't fit without contortions and cuts , etc. :angry9::angry9: The rear quarters are a blast, too.

 

[Cranky]

Yup, the early doors are very different. If the newer B's are anything like an E body door, they do take longer. With an E body, you have to hold your mouth in a certain way for the window to come out. The first time took me a long time but the 2nd was much easier. If you do it a lot, it gets faster but on a side note, I can get my 66 2dr post window out in less than 15 minutes and that includes getting the panel off...

 

[tpodwdog]

i have a shop manual for 1970 b bodies on CD. let me know if thatll hepp ya and ill get ya what ya need out of that!

 

[CARSofComfrey]

i have a shop manual for 1970 b bodies on CD. let me know if thatll hepp ya and ill get ya what ya need out of that!

'70 is different but thanks for the offer!

 

[scotts74birds]

I work at the factory. And we make them for ease, and speed of assembly. Service is an afterthought. It was the same back then.

 

[oxytousc]

Yeah, the windows are a PITA!!! If anyone has reinstall tips, I'm all ears.

 

[Cranky]

It's been years since I've worked on this design window but iirc, put the glass into the door first then load all the support parts with the exception of the stops at the bottom. Put them in first. Sorry I can't be of much help but I sold off all of my E body stuff in the late 90's and probably haven't worked on a window in one since the late 80's. I never worked on any 71 or newer B stuff but I can't see why they would be much different if at all. I do remember that once the window is attached to the supports, all adjustments are made with the window in the up position.

 

[Dako]

... With an E body, you have to hold your mouth in a certain way for the window to come out. ...

And much like starting an old chain saw, you have to know what words to use...:icon_mrgreen:

 

[72RoadrunnerGTX]

Who was the engineer who did the doors on these B-bodies???

I have never had such difficulties tearing down a door in the 20 years of doing bodywork (10 years of restorations).

Anyone have a copy of the shop manual to show the proper re-assembly procedure? Cause I know there has to be a specific order of assembly because tear down is not going smooth at all.

(thanks for letting me vent)

It’s actually a very well-engineered window lift-door design with several access holes in the door shell to provide tool access to fasteners. I never had any problem servicing them back in the day. These cars were never designed to last more than ten years or so, the biggest problems I’ve run into more recently with these are rusty fasteners forcing a work around disassembly procedure. Basically, the glass is designed to be removed by first removing the three or four phillips head screws that secure it to the lower “stabilizer channel”. Rolling the window up or down until these screw heads line up with several access holes while reaching in behind the glass to hold the nut plate for each of these screws, careful not to lose track of the rubber washers that isolate the glass from the metal parts. The glass is free to come straight up and out the door shell. Should these screws be rusted to the nut plates, as you have mentioned, the work around is to unscrew the rollers that secure the “stabilizer channel” to the vertical guides. Dismantle and remove the regulator, guides, up stops on the inner door shell, and the up stop buttons from the bottom of the glass. The glass can then be carefully removed with the channel attached out through the top of the door. Reverse order for reassembly for both described scenarios.
From the 72’ FSM;

 

[moparmarks]

They are not to bad IF you can get the usually rusted all to hell screws out of the glass. If you can't it's a real pain. The 71/4B quarter glass is worse.
E's are easier then 71/4B's. In the process of rebuilding all 4 regs and installing new AMD glass in a 70 Cuda vert.

 

[scotts74birds]

I remember those screws! Remember to put valve-grinding compound on the tip of your driver, and you will be OK!

 

[Satellite72]

Not to highjack this thread, but I was actually going through this whole process of taking out the glass this afternoon with my 72 b-body door. I two have run into the whole rusty bolt / rust washer-nuts holding the track to the glass. does anyone know if there is a tool that you can use to get these washer-nuts off. I've noticed that they have two slots in the washer portion so that something can grab hold of it. I could probably rig something to get the job done if not. Any tips would be great though.

 

[iraqivet01]

Yea, my first door was my learning curve. the second door I had it out in less then 15 minutes.