1972 Eldo door glass adjustment

[abriddell]

Hello All,

Does anyone have any tricks for adjusting the window position in the door for a 72 Eldorado or similar?  I'm working from the shop manual and there isn't a lot to go by. 

The glass is "cocked" slightly in the down position with the rear edge lower than the front edge. It appears to be level in the up position. 

In the up position, the top edge of the driver door glass is not contacting the weatherstrip on the rear quarter glass or at the top of the windshield pillar - there is about an 1/8" to 3/16" gap.

I've been into the door and tried to adjust the mechanism as described in the manual but I'm not having a lot of luck. 

Thanks,
Andrew

[The Tassie Devil(le)]

G'day Andrew,

With these cars, the rollers have to be in good condition, or everything becomes sloppy.

The stops and central alignment tube also need proper adjustment.

And perseverance is the key.

I have trouble with my drivers door glass as the rubber door weatherstrip is new, and it wants to hold onto the glass, and the glass wants to pull it down with it.   Replaced the passenger door weatherstrip, and it is working perfectly.

Bruce.

[abriddell]

I'm having the same issue with the glass pulling down the weatherstrips.  These are new on both sides.  I put a dab of silicone spray on the strip and that helps a little bit. 

I'll bet the rollers are work as there does seem to be a fair amount of slop in the mechanism.  Good winter project!

[TJ Hopland]

Which piece gets pulled down?    My window alignment is horrible so I am surprised I don't have that problem too. 

My window alignment has always been terrible but my top was not very good either so I just tried to avoid needing the top or windows for the last 15 years.  Got a new top this fall and did not have enough money left in the fun budget to have that shop work on the windows so that is going to be an upcoming project for me too. 

Are the rollers and such available for these cars?   Hopefully the same as other GM's?  If so which ones?

[abriddell]

The weatherstrip at the aft edge of the door gets pulled the worst.  The front edge does as well but not as badly.  The silicone spray seems to help a little bit. 

I've had good luck with USA Parts Supply http://www.usapartssupply.com/cadillac.php.  They are based in West Virginia and are very helpful over the phone and email.  Window rollers are on p. 41 of their 1971-1985 catalog.  If you need something that's not in the catalog give them a call and they often can get you what you need. 

My top is in pretty good shape - not original but sound.  I need to get the passenger side to retract another inch or so to take some pressure off of the parade boot.   The rear window is vinyl and can't be removed, so the scissor top components don't have as much room to fold up as they would have with the original top. 

[TJ Hopland]

Seems strange about your window.   Originals were glass so besides being thicker they can't bend so if there was going to be a problem it would be with the glass, not a vinyl one that can flex.    With my old top I think the passenger side was the side that I would stop it part way down and manually reverse / invert one of the folds and if I did that it would settle down a lot nicer.   The new top that fold goes the way I was manually doing the old top but overall it does not settle down very far.   If I had any sort of boot I don't think it would fit at the moment.   I had only had the top for about a month when I put her away for winter storage.   I expect that next summer (if it ever gets here) after some use and sun it will get a lot better. 

[abriddell]

I think on the original the glass window unzipped from the canvas top and slid backwards into the trunk on a pair of spring-loaded brackets.  I have the brackets but there are detached from their mounts in the trunk. 

It's 7 degrees here in WI heading down to minus 18 tomorrow.  Driving weather is a long way off!

[TJ Hopland]

The original glass windows and most of the replacements are attached directly to the top material.   I think its some sort of heat fusion process that is not very common any more so one more thing to add to the cost of a replacement.   Its also not a process that can be done on the car, its a factory sort of thing.   I think there may be some springs involved to help the glass lower into the correct resting position rather than letting the rest of the material push it down.   Normally there is no operator assistance required other than to make sure you don't have anything sitting on that upper deck in the trunk. 

[abriddell]

That makes sense. 

[The Tassie Devil(le)]

The springs and guide structure pull the glass rearward and down out of the way of the rest of the top as the roof is being lowered.

With my door glass problem, the glass "grabs" the soft rubber sections of the weatherstrip corners, when the door is closed, and tries to pull it into the door opening.

When the door is open, it is not a problem.   Closing the door pushes the inner part of the rubber outwards, against the glass.   It is like the rubber in that area is too thick, but it is the same size as the Passenger side, so the next thing is to see if the door is too close to the body, but everything seems to be in alignment.

Bruce.

[abriddell]

Bruce that's exactly the same thing that's happening to my driver door - and to a lesser extend the passenger door.  I have to open the doors to allow the windows to travel freely. 

I did manage to improve the glass alignment on the driver door today, but it still seems to be extending too far upward in the full-up position.  This causes the glass to hit the top rail too far outboard and creates a gap along the quarter glass and the windshield pillar.  The upper stops are set as low as possible so there must be something else in the mechanism causing the excessive travel. 

It's coming though...

[abriddell]

There is a rubber washer on the guidepost "floating" between the upper and lower guide assembly.  It doesn't appear in the shop manual.  Do you guys know if its supposed to be in there? 

The 72 Fisher Body manual also references a "glass bearing button" that is supposed to contact the glass bearing plate when the window is in the full-up position (Doors, p. 6-59).  Does anyone know what this is about?

[Scot Minesinger]

An outside the box idea that worked for my 1970 DeVille Convertible that suffered misaligned glass was to replace the hinge pins and bushings on both doors.  That made my window glass align perfectly with the windshield, top rails, and quarter glass.  Those heavy doors take a toll on bushings and hinge pins causing all kinds of annoying problems.  I know the rear drive 1970 is way different car than the 1972 Eldorado, just hoping this might help.