'40 coupe door glass adjustment

V8 Bob

V8 Bob

Well-known member
I have new door glass that doesn't fit up well with the vent glass, so I first want to be sure I have it adjusted correctly before any correction/replacement takes place. Is there a procedure, or is it simply making sure the glass easily moves fully up and down?

I'm completely re-assembling my coupe, and the doors have been a real pain, OK....challenge!
 
V8 Bob said:
I have new door glass that doesn't fit up well with the vent glass, so I first want to be sure I have it adjusted correctly before any correction/replacement takes place. Is there a procedure, or is it simply making sure the glass easily moves fully up and down?

I'm completely re-assembling my coupe, and the doors have been a real pain, OK....challenge!
Click to expand...
By "does not fit up well" do you mean it is not parallel to the vent glass?
 
I don't recall a specific step by step procedure but, when I installed new door glass in my 40 coupe 40 years ago, I found it to be a very tedious process where you learn as you go.

Do not be tempted to force the glass to fit as it will break. You have to be very patient and figure out how each adjustment effects the fit in the channel and against the vent window. Finally did get it to slide up and down very easily. Take your time. Good luck.
 
V8 Bob said:
Yes. The passenger side is not parallel at the bottom, and is obvious when viewing the division bars lined up from the right.
Click to expand...
Try loosening the regulator mounting screws. This will allow the whole assy. to be rotated a little.
If not enough, I have elongated the screw holes in the door panel to achieve the alignment it needed.
 
Thanks Merc and Forty. I will spend more time trying to adjust for a better fit. The person who cut all my glass is very experienced and will do what is necessary when he has time to drop by. I just want to get the best adjustment before hand.


Deuce, I didn't want to offend anyone with pictures because the car is not a restoration. :)
 
If your car is the one shown in your avatar, it looks worthy of posting.
Doesn't have to be a restoration.

Please post photos.
 
OK. Here are pictures of the division bar to wing fit. First two are the right door. Second pair are the left door.
The upper wing hinge screws will be replaced with rivets once I'm through fitting the pieces.
 

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V8 Bob said:
Thanks Merc and Forty. I will spend more time trying to adjust for a better fit. The person who cut all my glass is very experienced and will do what is necessary when he has time to drop by. I just want to get the best adjustment before hand.


Deuce, I didn't want to offend anyone with pictures because the car is not a restoration. :)
Click to expand...

Nah, no offense. Pictures help. You're a good guy and most if not all know that. I believe that if any of us can help, we will.

So, pictures...
Do you have the vent window installed in the frame? I'd like a good photo or two of that. I'd also like to see the edge of the glass at the top and bottom in relation to the wing window frame.

Coupe side glass is pretty easy to align. We'll get ya there.
 
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When I replaced the glass in my '40 coupe I used the old glass for templates and the new glass fit perfectly with no adjustments needed.
 
It appears as if you have the glass installed in the frame correctly. That was my first concern.
Are you 100% certain, the division bar is firmly seated on the side glass(es)?

All that's left after that is adjusting the roll up window mechanism and / or the division bar.
 
Now I am confused. It appears that the vent glass on passenger side is all
out of whack and not the door glass.
 
51 MERC-CT said:
Now I am confused. It appears that the vent glass on passenger side is all
out of whack and not the door glass.
Click to expand...

I'll admit my eyesight is not what it once was. My concern was that the glass was installed correctly. It should (and appears to me) even with the vent window frame.
I've seen some that stuck out past the frame. Those will never fit properly.
The vent window frame only fits in the door window bezel one way. That is, there is no room for adjustment.
So, it the glass is installed in it's respective frame correctly, all that remains is adjusting the mechanism and / or the division bar.
It's important that the division bar be installed prior to the glass channel. The division bar MUST be seated completely to the glass.
If the channel was installed first and the division bar fit to that, there may be the issue.
So, another question V8 Bob... what steps did you follow when putting the side (door) glass together?
 
All the glass was cut from my originals by someone in the business a long time. He also installed the wings and division bars, but I never checked if the bars were fully seated, something I will try to verify, as that could explain the mismatch on the passenger side. I'll get back when I know more. Thanks for your time so far. :)
 
V8 Bob said:
All the glass was cut from my originals by someone in the business a long time. He also installed the wings and division bars, but I never checked if the bars were fully seated, something I will try to verify, as that could explain the mismatch on the passenger side. I'll get back when I know more. Thanks for your time so far. :)
Click to expand...

The division bar MUST be installed before the channel. If you look at the bottom bracket of the division bar, you'll note there are two screws / nuts. Those go through slotted holes.
 
Kube said:
The division bar MUST be installed before the channel. If you look at the bottom bracket of the division bar, you'll note there are two screws / nuts. Those go through slotted holes.
Click to expand...


Mike, I would have got back sooner but had other business to take care of.


I used a complete glass run kit from Dennis Carpenter. I even used the black staples in the original garnish holes, although I would not want to pay someone for the time it took me to do this! (I did not want to drill multiple new holes in the freshly chromed garnishes).



The vertical D.C. channels use my original upper and lower brackets. What I have been calling a division bar is the SS vertical portion of the window glass retainer, and these and the horizontal or lower retainers were installed on the window glass by the person who cut the glass. I'll pull the glass and make sure it's full seated in the vertical retainer.


And, I will spend more time adjusting the regulator to hopefully better align the glass with the vent.
 
V8 Bob, Here's a 1988 photo of my drivers side coupe glass installed without the garnish molding.

I am wondering if it would be easier for you to adjust the door glass and then install the garnish molding. I think that is what I did in 1988.
 

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19Fordy said:
V8 Bob, Here's a 1988 photo of my drivers side coupe glass installed without the garnish molding.

I am wondering if it would be easier for you to adjust the door glass and then install the garnish molding. I think that is what I did in 1988.
Click to expand...


19Forty, the garnish has to be removed to access and adjust the top vertical channel brackets.
 
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