Re: window channel 56 400

Posted by BH On 2012/8/6 9:10:55

I don't know of any x-ref to direct bolt-in replacements in the aftermarket for the run channels.

They appear to have been fabricated from standard industry materials. If you study the details, you may be able make them yourself, with some careful measuring, cutting, drilling, and just a little bending. I haven't yet attempted, but looks like the hardtop doors use rigid, lined run channel front and rear, fastened to other parts with tube rivets. Sedan doors take a different, perhaps easier approach, but rear quarter windows on the hard tops and convertibles are a whole 'nuther matter.

The channel at the very bottom of the door glass is known in the trade as the sash channel. This is made up of different pieces of formed metal, welded together; as such they sometimes suffer from rust, but can usually be repaired. The sash channel is fastened to the window by rubber glass-setting tape - basically, a friction fit. I've seen a few let channels let go from old age (and not just in Packards); any glass man that's been at it for more than a couple of decades can set them with new tape, provided they can properly index the channel to the glass. (Be mindful of any "witness marks".)