2nd Gen Side Glass Adjustment
 

Just spent 2 half-day sessions wrestling with the door glass on the driver’s side of my 73 TA. Right now, it is maybe (likely?) as good as I am going to get it. I am completely happy with: front/rear tilt; front/rear height when fully rolled up; and inward pitch. My problem is that the glass still sits too close to the ‘A’ pillar in relation to the rear. And I am literally backed up against the furthest rear of the front-to-back adjustment slot.

This is not my first rodeo adjusting the windows on 2nd Gen F-Body cars. But I am far from a seasoned pro. I have learned along the way that every single adjustment affects every OTHER adjustment. For example, the further you pitch the glass ‘in’ toward the cabin, the higher you need to set the height stops to get the window to contact the top weatherstrip. Pitch the window ‘out’ away from the cabin, and you need to drop the height adjusters to compensate.

So, does anyone who has more experience than I do have any ideas for glass that seems to ride too far forward - even with the adjusters at the furthest end of the rear adjustment slots?

I did post this in the body-shop tech forum ‘cause those guys pull and replace glass all the time. But I also figured I’d post here as well, only because this sub forum gets a ton of traffic.

THANK YOU!

What's the history of the car? Survivor, restored, any collisions/damage repairs? Roof ever replaced?

Solid car - just repainted and took everything down to the factory primer with no significant repairs or body work. As I compare my drivers window with the passenger window (which fits beautifully) I can see that both windows are in roughly the same position front to back. It now appears that the difference I am seeing is the drivers glass is scooted out further away from the body at the lowest point where it touches the top of the door. The passenger side lowest portion of the glass is pulled in closer to the body so to speak and centers in the weatherstrip better than the driver's side. The 'in/out' adjustment uses the point where the glass meets the top of the door mainly as the 'fulcrum' to pitch the very top of the window along the roofline in and out. I may not need as much 'inward' pitch at the roofline and it may be that relaxing the inward pitch at the top will draw the bottom of the glass inward at the door(?)

I am betting that after 49 years with the driver's door likely being opened and shut 10 times for every one time the passenger door was opened, I may have a tired driver's door hinge.

Yes, proper door fit is essential. Is the fit good and no slop in the hinges? I would think that if you have good panel fit, even if the hinge is worn, you'd still be able to get decent window fit when the door is closed. Dit it fit before you had it taken apart?

I was never quite as happy with the drivers door or glass as I was with the passenger door after paint. I hoped that I could get it squared away with some patience. It’s definitely better than it was. I may try relaxing the inward tilt at the front of the glass just to see if that improves it. As she sits, she’s definitely better than when I started adjusting - and honestly good enough for the limited fair-weather, windows down driving I will be doing.

Is the door possibly tilted outward or out away from the body?
Just a small amount would be magnified by the glass at full up.


:confused:

I am about to tackle some of the same issues on the 76 TA. I found this, maybe it will help.

https://www.banditpowdercoat.com/Dow...ment_Guide.pdf

I have used that guide form my Body Shop manual. But you are right one adjustment changes all the others. Then for an electric motor window if you have the #3 too tight it is hard to roll up in certain spots with the curve to the window. And since the door panel is off you don't have the window felt to support it and the window flops more than with door panel on.

Thank you for posting those pages from the shop manual. Yes - I’ve got those printed off and use that as my main ‘guide’ when trying to adjust these huge, frameless sheets of curved glass!

Here are a couple pics of the drivers and passengers side. The passenger glass definitely seats deeper into the center of the weather strip than the drivers side. But I do have a definite - if small - bead of weather strip gently squeezing out between the leading edge of the drivers glass and the ‘A’ pillar. Window rolls up and down easily, door closes firmly. Maybe with a 49 year old car this is good?

It doesn't look too bad in the pictures but sometimes that can be misleading. I found this helpful when I did mine. look at page 17, post #328.

https://forums.maxperformanceinc.com...keepat&page=17

I had a writup I posted back on Firrebird Nation when I was Mod there. I'll see if I can find it for ya

Here ya go!! I still have it shared on my old Powdercoating website.

https://www.banditpowdercoat.com/Dow...ment_Guide.pdf