Fighting with door glass

[JonS]

I've got the 71 Challenger just about totally torn apart and ready to be sent out for blasting.  Literally the only thing left to do is take out the door glass.  The driver side door glass came out with no problems.  The passenger side door glass is giving me one hell of a time... The phillips screw that holds the track on the forward most part of the track won't come out.  It simply spins the plastic nut on the opposite side of the glass. 

I can't get my fat hands to the other side of the glass to grab the nut while I turn the screw.  Any ideas on what I can try to get that screw out of the plastic nut?  I tried getting some channel locks on it, but they were slipping and I can't get a good grip because of the goofy angle I was reaching from.

I'm a new poster that has been lurking for a few months.  I've literally gone back hundreds of pages and enjoyed the wealth of knowledge that is cuda-challenger.com

[Topcat]

First of all, welcome to CC.

These cars were never easy when it comes door, alignment and glass.

Do you have anyone you can confide in to help? Sometimes a second set of eyes makes big differences in progress.

I've done these side glass numerous times. The more you keep going at em; the better you get. But above all; learn to walk away for a while when you start getting stressed on these.

Some long needle nose vice grips could possibly work.

[72rtchallenger]

yea they can suck,,u could drill it out as long as u can get a new screw,,u can try to apply pressure under the screw head as u turning it to see if it might help,back it out and lock the nut in place with the applied pressure,,,or as stated above use needle nose pliers or a small set of vise scripts to lock on it ,,and of course use some wd-40 or pb blaster to soak the threads

[JonS]

Mike,

Vice grips were the first tool I reached for but realized I had them at work... I thought I could make the channel locks work, but it wasn't happening.

I'll bring them home tomorrow and try again.  I just didn't know if someone had an idea or an angle of approach I hadn't thought of.  From what I can see and from what I've read; the only way to get the glass out of the door is to remove the track from the glass... so somehow I need to get this plastic nut off the back of the window.

72,

Everything down there is soaked in PB Blaster.  Didn't help   I did try to gently pry under the track with a flathead screwdriver to see if I could create enough resistance to unscrew it, but I was too scared to crack the glass. 

I'm thinking that the vice grips will be the ticket.

Thanks for the suggestions!

[Chryco Psycho]

I have never tried to get the screws out of the glass , if you use a long allen wrench you can go through the glass & undo the bolts @ the top of the slides & carefully slide the glass out the top of the slide track

[JonS]

Chryco,

Correct, but the regulator arms keep the glass stuck in the door, which is why I'm trying to remove the channel piece.  Is it possible to slide the regulator arms off the channel while the glass is still in the door?  I had tried with a bit of wiggling, but it didn't seem like it would go so I went back to trying to get the channel off.  I'm going to give this another go tonight.

[Topcat]

Did you loosen the bolts on the track underneath the door too? There's 4 of em.

[Chryco Psycho]

yes the ruglator channel need to be removed from the glass , the screw at the front has to be removed , the bolt at the rear only needs to be loosened as the channel will slide out from under the bolt 

[66/72RAB]

Just went through the same thing with mine this week. Got there rear attachment undone, but the front screw would just spin in the plastic piece on the backside of the glass. What I found was that I could pull up on the glass so it was almost out of the door ( but still attached at the front) - had a helper with a sawzall saw through the screw while I held the glass. I am sure this is not the text book method , but it worked.

[JonS]

Just a follow-up.  It finally came loose with a pair of vice grips holding the plastic nut on the back and an electric impact drill removing the phillips screw on the front.  I have no idea how it was on there so good, but even with the vice grips on there I couldn't get the screw out with a regular screw driver.  The impact took it right out.  I was going to go the sawzall route, but fortunately I didn't need to.

[Chryco Psycho]

Glad you got it out 

[E-Body Products]

I always left the plastic guides on the glass and slide out of the tracks.  Never tried your method before.  Glad you finally got them out.  Now, when you put them back together, let me know, cause that is where I am at on the Challenger. 

We are afraid to drive it, especially after getting over 10" of rain in about a day.   

[JonS]

E-Body, on 2nd thought, that is what I should have done.  I think that if the plastic nut isn't stuck then my way is probably easier / better.  If it is stuck, then sliding the arms off the track and taking the glass out that way would definitely be the way to go. 

I'll probably put the plastic nut back on and slide in on the tracks for reassembly.

Jon

[Chryco Psycho]

I have always had the plastic slides attached to the glass & just slid them into the tracks