Door Glass

[DaveF]

Dear Boating Bill;

I found the same problem with the staples being too heavy a gauge from Restoration Specialties.........
I wound up using regular staples from my staple gun.

Dave F. #10113

[joefrazer]

It sounds like the folks at RS are using a different staple than in years past. About 3 years ago I completely replaced all of the whiskers on a 54 and they had the correct staples at that time. The trick to getting them deep enough into the whisker so that they don't scratch the glass is to spread the nap a bit with your fingers and then insert the staple. Having been a carpet installer for several years and working with close nap Wilton wool carpet, I borrowed that trick and it worked.

And, you will need to reuse as many of the clips for the inner upper door garnish molding as you can. RS didn't have any at that time and as dumb luck, I had a jar of NOS to fall back on.

The job is not easy, but can be tackled by anyone with patience.

[boatingbill]

Well, I completed the rear door channels and "cat whiskers", but I can't seem to be able to remove
the front door vent assembly on my '51 Kaiser. I have removed all the screws on the vent wing and
yet there is not enough movement to remove it from the door. I don't want to crack either glass, so
is there a trick to get all the glass out? There rear door glass removed easily.

[joefrazer]

To remove the vent glass and frame, you need to remove the door glass first. Lower the window and reach thru the door opening and remove the clips that hold the glass to the actuator mechanism. Once the glass is out of the door, you can then remove the frame. Installation is the reverse.

[boatingbill]

Joe: I removed the glass clip and tried to move the glass up and out by hand, but there is still not
enough room. I tried to rotate the glass 90 degrees, but there was not enough play in the
channels to do that. I tried to slip the glass out of the channels, but again not enough play to do
that either. Did you unbolt the channel at the lock mechanism for more play? How do you get the
vent wing channel out of the way? I have all the screws out of the wing channel and the glass
clip out of the window regulator. It should not be this difficult. What am I missing?

[dpledger]

Hmmm-can't find a 2182 in the 2011 Resto Spec catalog, but they have a 2348 that appears to me to be identical to the Kaiser ones. Supposedly fits chrysler, Ford, and GM in the 50's. A bit surprised they didn't come up with these.

[boatingbill]

The tag on the bag says 2348 and the other clips sent were 5978's. Neither clips will work. The
picture of the 2348 looks correct, but the picture is inverted. FYI, the screws that hold the SS trim to
the door (the trim just below the door glass outside the body) takes a #6 x 3/8 sheet metal screw.

[dpledger]

In which plane are the clips inverted wrt the picture? The prongs are on the same side as the clip or the little tabs are pointed the wrong way or the prongs are up closer to the tabs? Can't quite visualize-have only enough NOS and salvaged to do about half, so getting concerned I might have to fabricate about 25 from scratch. Yaarg.

[dpledger]

Took the old whiskers off a back door moulding and was surprised to find quite a different style of clip-a single prong and no pointed tabs to push into the whiskers. The little slightly  curved tabs that go over the bead were elongated and bent farther around, digging into the back side. Easier to install for sure and seem to work the same. No clue as to why one door was different from the other 3.

Also took off the whiskers that attach to the chrome trim on the outside. Stapling looks like way too much diddling, and the nice smooth surface presented when the old ones are removed seems to cry for gluing. New cars rely on adhesive for connections of this sort, due to heroic advancements in the area. Guess I don't see any reason to go through all the contortions. Anyone have any anecdotes relevant to this approach?

[boatingbill]

dpledger: I don't know if glue would hold over time with the rubbing of the glass up and down. If it comes loose at all, you have to take the whole door apart again. They are subject to heat, cold, and moisture. The 2348 clips do not fit in the 1/4 hole in the window molding unless they are rotated 90 degrees relative to the cat whiskers and the prongs then face up away from the material, not down as they should. I too am still trying to figure out how to attach the molding to window frame as
some of my windows were missing the molding and the clips completely.

[Henry's HenryJs]

On my 57 Chev I used small flathead SS screws to hold the door wiskers on.

[boatingbill]

I was wrong. The 2348 clip will work from RS, but they do not hold very well. The prongs that go
into the cat whisker need to be bent over after being pushed into the material. I don't know how to do that properly without a jig. Some of my door moldings have different clips from over the years
and the one that works great, I do not see at RS. The 2348 clip is .40 at RS. I ordered several clips
and they came jammed together, and that is why I at first thought they would not work until I
realized that it was two clips!

[DaveF]

Dear Bill;

I also found this clip from RS worked well but required careful attachment to weather-strip. 

I first 'pushed' clip on the backside of weather-strip leaving a witness/mark of 2-prongs......... Then I made small holes for clip prongs with a punch on a lead block......... Next I put a small amount of clear silicone cement on area where clip goes, I 'pushed' clip into pre-made holes and using a riveting hammer and steel block carefully hammered clip into position and finally hammered prongs down.  The final result was a very secure attachment.  Time consuming but results were excellent.
Dave F.  #10113

[boatingbill]

DaveF: Wow great solution! The reason this is so difficult is because RS cat whiskers use a solid
metal base for the cat whiskers. The tabs on the clip just bend when trying to push them. through.The original cat whiskers has metal as well, but it was perforated so the tabs on the clip could go through easily. It seems that after market parts usually leave something to be desired.
Your work around solution fixed a problem that RS should have seen since I used their clips and
their cat whiskers. I have completed one door so far and am not looking forward to the other
three.

[dpledger]

Glad to hear the RS clips work-sure looked like they would from the pic. Appreciate the data so I can now order. I  tried drilling through the metal of the RS strips and elongating by moving drill up and down, This might be somewhat easier than using a punch. Excellent idea to pre make the holes.

I tried our53HJ's approach of the  idea of using very small screw to attach to the trim strips-seems to work well. Thinking that 3 per strip and cement between would be an optimal combo. With all 4 doors to go this winter I wish 'twere spring.