I recently had to replace the front driver's window on my 51 200, and thought I would share my experience. The window broke as the felt in the track was completely worn out and let the glass bounce around. I contacted my local glass shop - they had the felt tracks in stock, as it is a fairly generic item. I also got some "cat's whiskers" this is the felt on the outside of the glass. See the first photo. I removed the U track - this is the part on the top and rear of the window. It fastens to a channel on the bottom rear of the door. The original track is stapled to the channel; I installed the new track using three small phillips head screws. I cut the protruding part of the screws off. I then bent and measured the track so that it stopped just aft of the vent window. You have to remove a large phillips head screw, the one close to the window winder handle. You can then remove the screws on the vent window (this assumes you have already removed the interior window trim) and remove the vent window. You have to do this to remove the old window glass. There is a clip on the bottom of the window mechanism. You also have to remove another large phillips head screw to remove the L shaped bracket that prevents the window from going too far down. Once you have removed the vent window and L bracket, you can remove the clip and pull the window out thru the top. You will have to knock the U channel on the bottom of the glass loose using a large block of wood and a hammer. You can then take the new glass and put some window felt on the bottom of it - it looks like old electrican's friction tape. You will need to tap the U channel onto the new glass, using the large block of wood again. Place the window back in, and reinstall the clip on the window mechanism. Put the L clip back in, but don't tighten it up yet. I attached the top portion of the U channel with a few spots of contact cement and one small screw after drilling a hole in the door. If you put lots of glue on it, it will be a mess to remove in the future. You can now install the U shaped felt on the back side of the vent window, which is the forward track that the window sits in. This is a smaller version of what is used on the rear and top of the glass. Sorry I didn't shoot a photo of it before I put it in. Reinstall the vent window (this is a great time to install new rubber from Steele). Reattach the large phillips head screw at the bottom of the track to fasten it securely to the door. The cat's whiskers go on the outside of the glass. Remove a small section of the felt and pound the metal flat on an anvil. Then drill a tiny hole in the metal and install it on the door. The other end you can glue on. Forgot - clean and grease the window winder mechanism while you have everything apart. It's also a good time to vaccum out all of the junk at the bottom of the door so it will drain properly. I also put undercoating on after cleaning up the surface rust. Your window should now work easily - you will probably need to move the phillips set screw up on the L bracket so that the window doesn't go down too far. I wrapped the lower leg of the L bracket with several layers of electricians tape so that it wouldn't make a rattle noise when the window is now. The whole job is fairly easy - if anyone has any questions, please let me know and I'll post more photos.
David, Thanks for this posting, as it shows me a little of what I'm up against in one of my winter projects: replacing vent window seals and division window felt on my '53.
Glad to help RIch. For what's it worth, it took about 2 hours to do the driver's door, including painting and undercoating. I suspect the next door will go even faster. Let me know if you have any problems - just pm me.
(77.39 KB)
