replacing door glass

[kennycoulter]

i have new doors from an svo(i know theyre all the same) that i will be putting on soon.....was going to do it the other night, but saw i dont have glass in the new doors. the mechanisms are there, but the glass is out. does anyone have any tips on how to get the glass out without drilling the rivets?

[svobud]

I always drilled the rivits. I'm not sure it's even possible to remove them without doing that ...

[vrinner]

Originally posted by svobud
I always drilled the rivits. I'm not sure it's even possible to remove them without doing that ...

It is possible but not recommended if you want a nice door when your done. On my track car, I just pulled and pried, and twisted and bent sheet metal until it came out. I did it without breaking the glass then realized about a month later that I should have just broken the glass because I threw them out anyways.

[kennycoulter]

i dont know how to explain what i mean, but there is a roller on an arm that goes in a channel. the roller and arm and everything else was left in the doors. doors are perfect. so the only thing taken out was the glass and the piece of metal riveted to it that has the channel that the roller goes in. hope that is clear. i dont know maybe the old glass was broken out.

[vrinner]

I think

bud is right on taking out the rivits. I'm sure that an auto glass company has some tricks to do it without going through all the hassel. I just know that in order for me to get the glass OUT, it was a big pain. I would think that getting the glass in would be even harder. This one might be worth spending a couple of bucks to have a pro do it.

[nemiro]

I had to replace the driver's side window on my 86, and did it without drilling anything. You have to take the tracks apart, and run the window mechanism up enough to make it 'fall off' the lower track. I did have to bend the metal interior side opening a bit, but I did it without scratching or creasing anything. Put the new glass in, in reverse order, bend the metal back in place, button it all up. Took me about 1.5 hours from start to finish, which also included replacing the weatherstripping/window belting, which took most of the time, is a pain, but worth it.

[kennycoulter]

ill see what i can do tomorrow. yeah i already have the weatherstripping off.

[kennycoulter]

i looked at my "new" doors today. no glass in the bottoms, but there are metal shavings.....the rivets mustve been drilled out....i think if i unbolt the channel/guide pole thing, i can get the glass and guide assembly out with no drilling.

[nemiro]

That's how you do it!

[kennycoulter]

i got it done!!!!. not too bad of a job, but my door panels and such were already off the car. theres just the 2 bolts that hold the guide, the guide has no stop on the end, so it can slide out of the bracket that is riveted to the glass. then after having the glass at the bottom of the door, and the rail/guide post out(have to kinda pull at the window hole), push the plastic "thing" on the lifter arm out of the channel/bracket that is bolted to the glass. then you can pull the glass up.......mine already had all of the weatherstripping and trim off of the doors, so there is more room to work with. you will have to bend or pry the window hole to get the bracket out with the glass. what kind of grease is best to use on the guide post? dielectric? or bearing grease? or other?

[indiana dave]

Is there a trick to aligning the glass? On my drivers side window, I have to push out o nthe top front corner to make it go into the groove in the window frame. I've adjusted the post that it slides on in as far as it'll go.

[kennycoulter]

i will be putting the glass in my new doors today, so ill check that out. BUT, i remember on my 85 gt i had to push out on the glass on the drivers side toward the b pillar to get it to go into the weatherstripping. it only needed this at highway speed, from the air pushing in on it. i always thought it was the weatherstripping worn out.