1982 Frame Off Restoration

[Rich]

I think it may be because of the rotation of the rods. They are probably not designed to rotate on the opposite direction of what they were made for at Grumman Aerospace or whatever.

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Confirming that's exactly why they designed the fixed end of each of the two bars differently - so they're not interchangeable L-R.

Enough torque in the incorrect direction for either door may delaminate/break the bar.

This is why you must torque each one ONLY in the correct direction for that side when installing them - in the direction that helps open the door on that side of the car.

[Rich]

I can't tell from the photos whether your upper door seals are oriented correctly.

The correct orientation has each seal with its concave side facing up with the door closed.

You can't count on duplicating the orientation of the old seal due to possible PO repair mistakes.

I put Tam to work painting the hinges, etc. I scoped out the new top door rubber seals.

I am not sure which way this is supposed to go. The new seal has a curve to it. If align the shape of the old part with the shape of the new one the curve seems to go the opposite way.

I took my best guess and drilled holes through the rubber.

I glued the rubber to the plate

[SupercoolBill]

I can't tell from the photos whether your upper door seals are oriented correctly.

The correct orientation has each seal with its concave side facing up with the door closed.

You can't count on duplicating the orientation of the old seal due to possible PO repair mistakes.

I was afraid you'd say that. I have them the other way. Which is the way the old ones seemed to be going.

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[SupercoolBill]

I found this video on YouTube.

https://youtu.be/ZgJZPw4qyLo?si=VhS_gf5uQrNIsVa5

Looks like we are trying to put the rubber pieces on the wring way.

This doesn't make any sense with how the seals are made and which one is labeled as left and which one is labeled as right.
I may have to do a YouTube video on this. It is difficult to properly explain through pictures.

Some people are telling me these "seals" are not needed and don't actually do anything except make noise when you open and close the door. Thoughts?



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[Bitsyncmaster]

I found this video on YouTube.

https://youtu.be/ZgJZPw4qyLo?si=VhS_gf5uQrNIsVa5

Looks like we are trying to put the rubber pieces on the wring way.

This doesn't make any sense with how the seals are made and which one is labeled as left and which one is labeled as right.
I may have to do a YouTube video on this. It is difficult to properly explain through pictures.

Some people are telling me these "seals" are not needed and don't actually do anything except make noise when you open and close the door. Thoughts?



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I had bought new seals. They were made a bit thicker than the originals. I had a problem with the new seals. They would fold over when opening the door and seemed to make the door not open fully on their own power. I ended up removing the drivers side. I don't think the seals do anything except hide the gap and hinges from sight when doors are closed. Any rain would just drain as normal down the tub ridges. I did try to put that seal back in recently and cut it 0.3 inches from the edge of the stainless seal plate. I have it installed and there is a little gap in a few areas. I should have cut it 0.4 or 0.5 inches. The seals will fold over hitting the hinge bolts.

[Timeless]

Yeah I may be interested in selling it. PM me.

PM sent.

[SupercoolBill]

We worked on the car for 6 hours today.
I spent some time looking at the door seals again. I thought maybe DMCH had their left and right mixed up but after looking at all the options I realized that there was pretty much only one way they would fit right.


And this meant that the concave side faces down. So that is how they are installed. Installing these is challenging and there is definitely a trick to it.

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[SupercoolBill]

This is the left side done.


We set up the plate one notch less than it was before.


The door rests at almost closed with the lift strut not installed yet which is less than suggested but because our D-go lift struts are pretty powerful and we are going to be replacing the lock solenoids with new lighter ones, this is where we wanted it.

With the lift strut installed the door opened perfectly.


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[SupercoolBill]

Next up the right side. By the way if you ever work on your doors do yourself a favor and buy a truck bed load pole from Harbor Freight. You can set it for any height, it ratchets, and it is cheap. And you can use it in your truck or SUV to keep loads from sliding.


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[SupercoolBill]

We removed the wiring boot. I ended up lifting the door as far as I dared to.


Yuck

This thing looks funny. Looks like a snail or something.
So it turns out it isn't torn. It had just become dislodged at some point. If someone had time and patience they could probably get this one back into usable condition.
My best imitation of it-


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