Following up on a lead that brings you face to face with a vintage truck that’s been sitting in suspended animation is like a dream come true. Hauling it out into the light for the first time in decades gives you an opportunity to see just what it might take to bring it back onto the street. Fortunately for us, our barn find 1946 Chevy was in nice solid condition with a relatively clean frame and almost all of its original parts still intact. Laying out a game plan for a budget-conscious build is easy when you follow a basic plan addressing the areas requiring the most attention.
The journey has brought us through a number of areas so far (all covered in past issues), including work completed on the frame, suspension, braking system, windshield, and wiper system. Thanks to Scott Roth, co-owner of Rothspeed located in Milton, Vermont, we’re continuing on by addressing a number of areas with regard to the cab. When you think about it, the cab functions as a business office for the truck where all major systems are given their orders for each trip.
Imagine just how many times in over 70-plus years the doors have been opened and closed in all types of weather conditions while not always being treated gently. They just keep on doing their job but at some point parts start to get worn. It’s when doors might not latch right, windows fail to crank up as easily, and leaks begin to start making their way inside in inclement weather.
To start the disassembly, Scott Roth of Rothspeed used a 5/32-inch clutch head drive to remove the screws holding the inner door upper garnish moldings.
When we looked at the doors of our Chevy we noticed a number of issues, including yellowed and delaminated glass, dried out and cracked rubber parts, droopy door handles, hard-to-work latches, and nearly impossible to navigate window regulators so stiff you needed to lean on the window riser handle to coerce it to work. All it took was one call to Chevs of the 40’s, knowing they are the world’s most complete supplier of 1937-1954 Chevrolet car and truck parts. Their extensive inventory showcased a complete array of parts available to bring our doors back to factory-fresh working condition, including many parts that are available both individually and in kit form for when taking on a more extensive area rebuild.
In preparing for the challenge of restoring the proper working order of your doors it’s a good idea to make a list of all the parts so as to have everything on hand when you get started. Many of the jobs are tedious, like replacing the inner and outer rubber window wipers, however their replacement makes the final product of the rebuild perfect. Let’s follow along as Roth brings new life to the doors of our truck.
The moldings were then carefully removed from the doorframe.Next, the window riser handle and door handle were removed using the same clutch head drive.Once all of the door panel screws were removed the inner metal door panel was taken off.With the door panel removed you can now see the simple inner workings of the door, including the window regulator, support bar, and latch assembly.The window regulator support bar and door latch assembly were removed next.Once all of the hardware was removed, the window regulator support bar was lifted out.The window regulator assembly appears to be in good overall shape and once removed will be treated to a full refresh.The outer door handle was then removed.The door glass with frame and inner flex channel were the final items to be removed for the rebuild to commence.To begin the disassembly of the door glass, the outer frame lower screws were removed from both sides of the channel.Once the lower hardware was removed, Roth proceeded using a small wooden block and hammer to carefully tap the lower door glass setting channel loose from the setting tape.With the lower channel removed he carefully pulled the glass from the frame. This step takes a bit of time, especially since this was the original factory glass being removed.Chevs of the 40’s offers everything you need to update your door glass, including choices of clear or tinted glass, new lower glass setting channels, and setting tape.Once the glass frame was thoroughly cleaned it was ready for installation. Roth used a good coating of soapy water on the new glass and began working on the frame, carefully using a rubber mallet till it was fully in place.With fresh setting tape in place in the new lower glass setting channel, the reassembly process was completed using the original hardware with the fresh door glass completely in place.The outer rubber window wipers had deteriorated over time and required a full replacement. Roth started by first using pliers to roll down the channel and followed with a pick hook to remove what was left of the original wiper.The new outer wiper was cut to fit the application and set in place. A small rubber mallet was then used to reset the channel and hold the wiper in place.The inner rubber window wiper attached to the metal door panel suffered the same fate as the outer over the years. It was removed using the same format as the outer wiper with a set of pliers and a pick hook.With the old wiper removed the channel was prepared for the new rubber using pliers, followed by a mallet once the new stock was set in place.Since the window regulator was very difficult to operate, it was cleaned of all debris, using brake cleaner and a scrub brush. It’s very important to wear safety glasses during this step. A final wipe with a clean cloth in all the tight areas completed the job.The regulator was then fully lubricated with Wurth Anti-Seize Copper Paste for smooth operation on all moving components.The inner workings of the door latch mechanism were also thoroughly cleaned using brake cleaner and lubricated with Wurth Anti-Seize Copper Paste.With everything ready, the window regulator and door latch assembly were reunited with the window regulator support bar.To prepare the door for reassembly, Roth started by first installing a new flexible cloth-covered window channel from Chevs of the 40’s.The new door glass and frame were then slid up into the window channel.This image lets you see the restored and freshly lubricated window regulator in place, ready to go to work once again. The exterior door handle was also reinstalled, complete with a new door handle return spring to get rid of the handle droop.The final part installed to the inner door was a fresh window stop bumper.Here you can see the completed door featuring fresh glass, inner and outer rubber window wipers, flexible cloth-covered window channel, and window stop bumper, all from Chevs of the 40’s.Chevs of the 40’s offers an endless array of restoration parts for your doors, such as upper and lower hinges and many of the parts seen here, including check strap brackets, dovetail plates and bumpers, latch strikers, handle return springs, as well as ’jamb and hinge post bumpers.
With all the use over the years it was a perfect time to replace the worn latch striker plates. Installation was easy with standard screwdriver.The worn-out doorjamb rubber bumpers were replaced as well with simple tools, making installation a snap.
The dovetail bumperstops suffered the same amount of abuse and we elected to replace them with fresh units from Chevs of the 40’s as well.Team member Dylan King wrapped up the restoration by installing a fresh door hinge bumper post to replace the original worn unit.
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