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Can any of you guys offer some suggestions or tips on what to pay careful attention to when rebuilding the doors? Right now in both of my doors, the windows rattle a LOT when I drive around with them down (so much so that my GF has often asked if I'm worried they'll break). Is there a good way to secure them to prevent them from banging around when I'm driving and when I open/close the doors with them down?
Also, any good source for reproductions of the plastic trim along the top/interior of the doors? Mine are broken around all the screw holes.
Plastic trim and wipers can be had from either the junkyard or paddock/year one.
You will have to check around for your plastic grommets to retain the window...
The most common problem with the '73-76 duster is the doors are so heavy they actually wear the hinges and hinge pins out and 'sag', this also wears out the door striker and can cause some grooving in the latch mechanism in the door, replacing the hinges and locating a set of greaseable hing pins with bushings from ACME in Washington can help this. The window strips/ 'wipers' are supposed to stabilize the window so it doesn't rattle, any extra wear in this area just lets it rattle around...Sadly, since the car doesn't have a nice set of window rails to guide it in the door body, the things have always 'rattled' (even my dad's '76 Feather Duster did it right off the lot...).
If you decide to pull the door and work on it, you'll need a buddy to help, with the crash bar in them and all the hardware they are fairly heavy and awkward to handle alone.
-D.Idiot