Front Door glass channel R & R 1956

[Bonniewyn]

Working on the right door of our '56 and I would like to renew the glass channel ( fuzzy ) as the fabric is falling off. I have the repro channel from CASCO. Looking at the service manual I see all the adjustment points but after removing those few screws I still can't slide the chrome housing up and out. What is the trick to pulling this. I really don't want to pull electric motor and window glass ass
y.

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[jack-in-sac]

Working on the right door of our '56 and I would like to renew the glass channel ( fuzzy ) as the fabric is falling off. I have the repro channel from CASCO. Looking at the service manual I see all the adjustment points but after removing those few screws I still can't slide the chrome housing up and out. What is the trick to pulling this. I really don't want to pull electric motor and window glass ass
y.

Are you talking about the front pillar channel? I do not recommend moving the pillar withour indexing it first. The pillar moves in several planes and can be very frustrating to realign. when I had our car painted I did not do this. I got one pillar adjusted pretty well in a short afternoon. The second pillar took a day of trial and error to align.

 

[Ward 57]

I've got the "whiskers" for the door panel but the originals are stapled. Not sure how to adhere them . The side channels just seemed to pop in. Now I just need to pull the gearboxes for my power windows and clean and replace the old hard grease.

 

[Bonniewyn]

Yes front pillar holds fuzzy track for glass and its well past worn/rotted away. Pillars on both sides have never been in correct alignment and after starting to tear this apart i found screw at bottom of pillar that holds pillar fast and adjusts it was removed sometime in the past. All obvoious hardware ( all little screws) has now been removed but although pillar moves around it will not pull up andout. Since electric window and door panel is now off I have not reconnected wires to complete circuit. Window currently is about an inch from being all the way up. Should I repower switch and run glass down and then maybe pillar will come up and out ??

 

[Bonniewyn]

I've got the "whiskers" for the door panel but the originals are stapled. Not sure how to adhere them . The side channels just seemed to pop in. Now I just need to pull the gearboxes for my power windows and clean and replace the old hard grease.

I have replaced these on a couple birds. Usually the cat whiskers come with a dozen or so staples. Same size as ones on cork that goes on front of air cleaner. I use a .070" diam drill bit and ignoring original holes where factory had staples I drill thru the whisker into the original mount. push staple thru your new holes and bend legs over with large pliers. Yes the outer whiskers pop into slots in door easily. Sometimes a bit of #M adhesive helps keep them tight.

 

[Ward 57]

I'm trying to remove the glass in the passenger door of my '57. I've got the clip off the rear roller but am having a devil of a time getting the front one off. The shop manual isn't much help. I did this once 30+ years ago but getting almost nowhere. Forgot how I did it. Walking away to get a different perspective. Any help out there?

 

[jack-in-sac]

I'm trying to remove the glass in the passenger door of my '57. I've got the clip off the rear roller but am having a devil of a time getting the front one off. The shop manual isn't much help. I did this once 30+ years ago but getting almost nowhere. Forgot how I did it. Walking away to get a different perspective. Any help out there?

I use a pick with either a right angle end or hook end to pull the clip off allowing removal of the roller. By the way the original rollers were durable and made of metal, the replacements are plastic and not so dependable.

 

[Ward 57]

I use a pick with either a right angle end or hook end to pull the clip off allowing removal of the roller. By the way the original rollers were durable and made of metal, the replacements are plastic and not so dependable.

Thanks. There is so much grease on the roller I can't figure the orientation to pull it. I do have a appropriate pick. I'll just spray some carb cleaner or breakklean so I can see it. I need to pull the whole mechanism out because the grease is so old & stiff it really struggles to go up or down.
Once the window is out can I pull the whole mechanism out in one piece? The glass is good on the driver's door, do I have to pull the window to pull and grease that one?

 

[jack-in-sac]

Thanks. There is so much grease on the roller I can't figure the orientation to pull it. I do have a appropriate pick. I'll just spray some carb cleaner or breakklean so I can see it. I need to pull the whole mechanism out because the grease is so old & stiff it really struggles to go up or down.
Once the window is out can I pull the whole mechanism out in one piece? The glass is good on the driver's door, do I have to pull the window to pull and grease that one?

If you have removed the rear roller you will have noticed that there are two ears on the closed side of the clip. You can rotate the clip to access it and pull off the clip. It is hard to see due to its position within the door and is done partially just by feel. I would not use carb cleaner. I would use Brakekleen if it is the version sold in California. I believe that is the green label one. You can ask at the auto parts store to get the less harmful formula. The other probably the red label is not pleasant n close quarters required to spray. At any rate wipe off as much grease as possible with paper towel or rag. That may be enough to see the clip.

 

[Ward 57]

If you have removed the rear roller you will have noticed that there are two ears on the closed side of the clip. You can rotate the clip to access it and pull off the clip. It is hard to see due to its position within the door and is done partially just by feel. I would not use carb cleaner. I would use Brakekleen if it is the version sold in California. I believe that is the green label one. You can ask at the auto parts store to get the less harmful formula. The other probably the red label is not pleasant n close quarters required to spray. At any rate wipe off as much grease as possible with paper towel or rag. That may be enough to see the clip.

I understand the chemical thing, and especially the finesse part. I've actually gotten pretty good at removing and installing fasteners backwards and basically in the blind.

 

[jack-in-sac]

I understand the chemical thing, and especially the finesse part. I've actually gotten pretty good at removing and installing fasteners backwards and basically in the blind.

Who knew we would ever have these skills let alone need them.

 

[Ward 57]

Are you talking about the front pillar channel? I do not recommend moving the pillar withour indexing it first. The pillar moves in several planes and can be very frustrating to realign. when I had our car painted I did not do this. I got one pillar adjusted pretty well in a short afternoon. The second pillar took a day of trial and error to align.

Jack, I've finally got my window out and the front roller sides are all buggerd up. ( probably my fault when I was young and dumb). Wasn't rolling at all. So you are saying I should try to repair the roller instead of buying a replacement? Casco has The metal ones thanks for the warning. I'm rebuilding and greasing the whole system from top to bottom.

 

[jack-in-sac]

Jack, I've finally got my window out and the front roller sides are all buggerd up. ( probably my fault when I was young and dumb). Wasn't rolling at all. So you are saying I should try to repair the roller instead of buying a replacement? Casco has The metal ones thanks for the warning. I'm rebuilding and greasing the whole system from top to bottom.

If you can get the metal rollers great. The plastic rollers work smoothly, however they are not as robust as the originals. Properly installed either does the job. The roller slides need to be in good condition for the rollers to do their job properly.

 

[Ward 57]

I have replaced these on a couple birds. Usually the cat whiskers come with a dozen or so staples. Same size as ones on cork that goes on front of air cleaner. I use a .070" diam drill bit and ignoring original holes where factory had staples I drill thru the whisker into the original mount. push staple thru your new holes and bend legs over with large pliers. Yes the outer whiskers pop into slots in door easily. Sometimes a bit of #M adhesive helps keep them tight.

Do you think staple gun staples would suffice?

 

[Martin P]

Are you talking about the front pillar channel? I do not recommend moving the pillar withour indexing it first. The pillar moves in several planes and can be very frustrating to realign. when I had our car painted I did not do this. I got one pillar adjusted pretty well in a short afternoon. The second pillar took a day of trial and error to align.

Jack
Any advise on this issue?
need help on 1955 t bird Window issue. Replaced window and having issues with adjustments, window goes half way and binds, have worked on pillar adjustments and regulator only issue I can see is the arm that aches to the small door glide seems like it may be causing some of the binding issue, can’t determine what that function is I assume it’s for the top left to right leveling at the top of the window, left side roller and regulator arm seem a little difficult to engage the pin of the regulator arm into the roller. I have given up using the metal rollers as they bind ind the groves of the tracks even with lubricating they are not smooth sliding so went back to nylon rollers. All felt in the channels has been updated and replaced, I assume that those are not to be lubed as they are felt? I have seen others suggest lithium grease in those channels? hopefully I can figure this out but I believe that the roller in the small track that is attached to the door was free and not engaged into the roller when I removed the old window. not sure if that would mess up anything on the regulator arms that attach to the bottom of the window frame or not. Any help would be helpful at this point.