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Rebuilding 1971 Chevy Camaro Doors - Door SlammerWe Blow The Doors Off A Second-Gen Camaro And Then Rebuild Them Back To Factory Fresh. From the January, 2011 issue of Camaro Performers By Steven Rupp Photography by Steven Rupp
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The '71's door panels were... The '71's door panels were far beyond any chance of rehabilitation. Aside from the ugly color and shabby looks, the mechanical parts inside the doors were worn out and barely functional. Even the glass was unsalvageable. "Out of site, out of mind" is a phrase that applies to many areas of hot rodding. It's easy to focus on the obvious and major items like engines and paint jobs, but getting the little things right on your Camaro is really what's going to make it fun to cruise and show off. Car doors are fairly low glamour, but they need attention just like any other area. Windows that roll up and down like they are riding on cubes of high-fat butter are a joy to operate. Aside from the mechanics, doors often end up "aesthetically challenged" after decades of being opened, closed, kicked, leaned on, and otherwise abused. Luckily the aftermarket has made the task of rebuilding old Camaro doors a lot easier than the old days when parts were scarce and worn stuff had to be fixed and made functional. Today, if you have a busted latch or jacked-up roller, there's a replacement readily available, and chances are it will function as good as the original before it became a victim of time or neglect. In this case, we had a '71 Camaro in the process of getting a new paintjob, so it seemed like the perfect time to rebuild the F-body's doors. The first step was digging out our Classic Industries catalog and order up the parts to make our tired doors look factory fresh once again.  Our trusty door handle removal...  Our trusty door handle removal tool made short work of releasing the window crank clips. If you don't have one, get one. They are worth the few bucks you'll spend. Classic sells one for only $8 (PN T16000).  With the window crank out...  With the window crank out of the way, Dick Kvamme of Best of Show Coach Works in San Marcos, California, removed the door panel sections.  Dick used a marker to trace...  Dick used a marker to trace around the bolts, holding the old parts in place so we would at least be in the ballpark after installing the new pieces.  We then started removing the...  We then started removing the old window tracks from the door. Since ours were in decent shape, we decided to reuse them, but Classic does sell replacements (PN 14967, 14968).  The major cause of the scratches...  The major cause of the scratches were the worn out window guides. As you can see, the felt is long gone, leaving metal up against the glass.  The door latch was held in...  The door latch was held in place by three screws. Unfortunately they were locked in place by decades of grime, rust, and paint. Dick had this cool Snap-On impact driver for breaking the screws loose. Once the screws were out, we were able to replace the assembly with the new one from Classic Industries.  The reproduction window regulator...  The reproduction window regulator (PN 9833310, 9833311) with new rollers was then slid into the Camaro's door.  We removed all the brackets...  We removed all the brackets we could, which gave us the clearance needed to lift out the door glass.  We then removed the old window...  We then removed the old window regulator assembly. It has to be turned just the right way but, trust us, it will come out.  With the new door latch installed...  With the new door latch installed (PN 1748554, 1748553), we were able install our shiny new door handle (PN 360, 361). We had to file off some of the fresh paint from the edges to fit the lock cylinder back in the hole.  Using the marks we made before...  Using the marks we made before taking everything apart, we then bolted the regulator in place.  The original glass, like the...  The original glass, like the rest of the door, was a mess. Most of the damage was in the form of scratches caused by worn out mechanical parts in the door.  The hardest part of rebuilding...  The hardest part of rebuilding doors is that many of the parts are inside the door shell and hard to access. Here you can see the mechanism for the Camaro's door handle and lock system. The trick was to carefully slide the little clip up to free the rod without losing the clip. With this done, it was easy to unbolt the exterior door handle.  To keep our new glass looking...  To keep our new glass looking good and scratch free, we were sure to install new felt window guides.  Dick had this handy tool made...  Dick had this handy tool made especially for removing glass hardware. If you don't have one, you can carefully use a pair of channel locks or Vice-grip pliers to turn the washer. If you want to add one to your toolbox, we found it in the Classic catalog (PN T10020) for $19.95.  With the new glass in, we...  With the new glass in, we reinstalled the window guides. Again, the marks we made in the beginning gave us a good starting point in terms of adjusting the glass.  Moving to the interior, we...  Moving to the interior, we started assembling our new black door panels. On a second-gen they are actually three pieces: the upper header (PN K302), main vinyl panel (PN K70901), and a plastic section (PN 9816816, 9816817) that holds the armrest pad (PN K695301).  New glass really makes a difference,...  New glass really makes a difference, so we picked up some from Classic (PN FD4706, FD4705). We then installed the new rollers (PN 9820729).  The front window tracks went...  The front window tracks went in just like the rear. Before installing them, we made sure they were clean and, to make everything slide easily, we gave them a smidge of lube.  And here's the assembled lower...  And here's the assembled lower door panel. We needed to carefully cut holes for the window crank and interior door handle.  With the parts transferred...  With the parts transferred and the new rollers installed, Dick carefully slid the new glass in place. If you're worried about scratching your new glass, you can tape it up. This isn't Dick's first rodeo, so he skipped the tape.  The new scratch-free glass...  The new scratch-free glass really goes nice with the Camaro's fresh paint. Since we were on a roll, we also installed a new side view mirror (PN 9814436) to compliment our new chrome door handle.  Cris Gordziel then installed...  Cris Gordziel then installed the new upper plastic panel (PN K302) and taped on a fresh water shield (PN CA122).  The finished door panel is...  The finished door panel is certainly a lot nicer than what we started out with. Much like the exterior of the door, the new panels made the existing door handle and window crank look shabby. Our solution was to replace the handle (PN 9836343, 9836342) and crank with reproduction parts from Classic. We also picked up some interior paint (PN PQ801) to change some of our interior parts, like the kick panels, from brown to black.
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