Want some opinions on fixing doors and Windows; pictures inside

[arlowf]

Hopefully this thread goes better than my last one....


Doors:
I've gotten different advice on fixing my doors. I am bad at visually measuring or picturing things, so I can't tell if these are sagged or twisted or what: but they don't close right.

I've already replaced the striker and had plates welded in to get rid of any jam flex. I've adjusted the striker as much as possible and it's not closing any tighter.

I've been told I should replace the shims, or I should do the "bend the door up a smidge with a Jack and a 2x4" trick.

The guys recommending the bend trick actually owned G-body's and were old heads; so I didn't want to immediately dismiss their advice. The idea is to bend the door/hinges up a quarter inch.

Which should I do/what's going on here?

Secondly, my driver side Window: what the heck is going on here? YouTube and Google don't seem to have my exact problem. The window rolls itself down (slams itself down) while driving or just closing the door. It's not off the track, I checked. My understanding is it's the regulator? Is there a shop that can fix that? A manual window regulator is a huge pain to get out and back in, and are hard to find IMO. Can anyone think of a type of shop that would fix door window regulators?

 

[Texas82GP]

I would start with grabbing the back end of the door, with it open about a foot. Left shoulder against the rear upper corner of the door skin, right hand under the the lower rear corner of the door. Window down. Left hand on top of the door, above the door handle. Lift up to check for slop in the hinge bushings. My money is that's the problem. Also, if the door drops when
you open it, it's most likely slop in the bushings. New door hinges are available as are hinge pin and bushing kits to fix your hinges.

As for the window, my guess is the window is detached from the regulator but I'd have to get into it to see. Anyone competent enough to get the door panel off without tearing it up should be able to fix the window. Parts are readily available. Hope this helps.

 

[arlowf]

Gr was

I would start with grabbing the back end of the door, with it open about a foot. Left shoulder against the rear upper corner of the door skin, right hand under the the lower rear corner of the door. Window down. Left hand on top of the door, above the door handle. Lift up to check for slop in the hinge bushings. My money is that's the problem. Also, if the door drops when
you open it, it's most likely slop in the bushings. New door hinges are available as are hinge pin and bushing kits to fix your hinges.

As for the window, my guess is the window is detached from the regulator but I'd have to get into it to see. Anyone competent enough to get the door panel off without tearing it up should be able to fix the window. Parts are readily available. Hope this helps.

Thank you. I'll try the slop trick; I just have trouble telling because the whole car moves up and down with it. I guess it must be slop because I have to slam it hard to shut it though.

On the window; I can and have had the panel off but getting the regulator off and a new one in is hideous (according to YouTube). I just don't know where to take it to pay for this. Like what sort of shop does old door window fixing? Lol
If the window was off the regulator it wouldn't roll up and down though.

 

[clean8485]

Does your car have manual or power windows? You will likely have to separate the window glass from the regulator, and lift it up and completely out of the door. Then you can remove the fasteners from the regulator, then adjust the position of the regulator arms, either by winding the manual window crank, if its manual windows, or by using the window motor if its power windows, until the regulator arms are in a position where you can remove the regulator assembly through one of the openings on the inside of the door shell.

 

[arlowf]

Does your car have manual or power windows? You will likely have to separate the window glass from the regulator, and lift it up and completely out of the door. Then you can remove the fasteners from the regulator, then adjust the position of the regulator arms, either by winding the manual window crank, if its manual windows, or by using the window motor if its power windows, until the regulator arms are in a position where you can remove the regulator assembly through one of the openings on the inside of the door shell.

You have to drill out rivets. Regulator is manual. And yes, have to pull glass completely out. I'd rather pay $600 in labor than do this myself.

 

[ck80]

On the old c10s there was a bandaid using a small piece of pvc slipped over the striker which had the effect of thickening the striker post which pulled the door higher as it closed. But, it wasn't a true fix, just a bandaid for bad symptoms, and, it didn't look the best. But that's when trucks were just trucks and not selling for $20000 and up.

The better question seeing how you had plates welded behind your posts is if whatever stroker posts you used were either unworn or correct gm angle/thickness pieces.

If the hinges are good and tight in pins and bushings, your next area to look at is to adjust the hinges themselves vis a vis where they attach. There is some give where they mount to align up/down/in/out slightly. To make that adjustment properly though the fender comes off, you close the door on the striker, then loosen the bolts and use shims to get the door where you want before tightening the hinges down. At least that's how I used to do it putting them back together over the years out of spare parts.

As for the window going down issue, it's been hit by the above. Some shops will give you an 'I don't want to do this price' but any body shop technically can. It's the same process as needing to swap the guts over replacing any door shell in an accident, except, they don't get to markup all the collision parts and paintwork so there's less profit for the number of labor hours involved. May take a few shops before you get a reasonable price, especially given the staffing issues so many have these days.

 

[arlowf]

On the old c10s there was a bandaid using a small piece of pvc slipped over the striker which had the effect of thickening the striker post which pulled the door higher as it closed. But, it wasn't a true fix, just a bandaid for bad symptoms, and, it didn't look the best. But that's when trucks were just trucks and not selling for $20000 and up.

The better question seeing how you had plates welded behind your posts is if whatever stroker posts you used were either unworn or correct gm angle/thickness pieces.

If the hinges are good and tight in pins and bushings, your next area to look at is to adjust the hinges themselves vis a vis where they attach. There is some give where they mount to align up/down/in/out slightly. To make that adjustment properly though the fender comes off, you close the door on the striker, then loosen the bolts and use shims to get the door where you want before tightening the hinges down. At least that's how I used to do it putting them back together over the years out of spare parts.

As for the window going down issue, it's been hit by the above. Some shops will give you an 'I don't want to do this price' but any body shop technically can. It's the same process as needing to swap the guts over replacing any door shell in an accident, except, they don't get to markup all the collision parts and paintwork so there's less profit for the number of labor hours involved. May take a few shops before you get a reasonable price, especially given the staffing issues so many have these days.

Sweet, so a body shop/collision repair shop is that I'm looking for? Also, I replaced my strikers. I'm being lazy; I'll replace my pins and bushings. I already bought them I just don't want to do it because I'm afraid of scratching my door. It's a chore.

 

[565bbchevy]

I'd rather pay $600 in labor than do this myself.

Why?

 

[arlowf]

Why?

Because I work 62 hours on average a week and take care of two autistic small children? And I don't want to screw with a window? No satisfaction in fixing a window regulator myself when a pro could do it in 4 hours.

 

[ck80]

Sweet, so a body shop/collision repair shop is that I'm looking for? Also, I replaced my strikers. I'm being lazy; I'll replace my pins and bushings. I already bought them I just don't want to do it because I'm afraid of scratching my door. It's a chore.

Yes, but the issues is finding one that quotes you anfair price and not just a 'nuisance' tax where they overpriced it.

Joe's shadetree mechanic services isn't as used to working with weatherstripping, body trim clips, etc during the repair and either breaks it when they shouldn't, or, wouldn't bother replacing the ones that snap from being 40 yrs old on disassembly.

Used to be you found a 'slow' time and had them do work for you. Lately they get swamped and have jobs lined up a month or two out.

We always let a body shop replace our broken windshields as well instead of glass companies. Why? Well, the ones we used are least, when they removed the old windshield if they saw fome rust in the channel they'd clean it up, epoxy prime it, then put glass back. Glass companies don't care they just slap it in.