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 Posted: 03-25-2019 02:10 am
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mechfeeney
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Hi All,

I was missing door window seals, so I ordered the Delta kit (interior seal, exterior seal, and clips for both driver and passenger sides). This was one of the first upgrades I decided to tackle. I've listed instructions and notes below, but it might be helpful to look at the PDF of images as you read. I linked it at the end of this post.

SIDE NOTE: Retention Clips
There has been a lot of debate in the past regarding the seal retention clips. Years ago, the Delta clips were too shallow and could not properly hold the exterior door lip and the exterior seal. At some point, Delta changed the clips and they now work very well.

Door Interior Disassembly
1. Remove interior door pull, which is captured by two hex head lags.
2. Remove the door latch handle, which is retained by a single Phillips screw.
3. Remove the window roller lever, which is retained by a single Phillips screw.
4. Remove the speaker mesh and unfasten any screws that capture the speaker to the door.
5. Remove the corner trim at the door jam and the trim at the leading edge of the door.
6. Remove the top door trim (rivetted in my case).
7. Remove all of the fasteners holding the door panel (lower edge a series of Phillips screws).

Window Mechanism Disassembly
1. Extracting the glass and the window mechanism is a bit of a pain, but with patience it can be done.
2. First remove the two fasteners on the under side of the door that retain the window edge guides. one of the guides is the 1/4 window edge.
3. The window mechanism is held in place with 7x large Phillips fasteners. 4 of the fasteners hold the roller mechanism and the other three hold a pivot plate. Roll the window nearly up to the top and loosen all 7 of these fasteners. You might have to remove some of them entirely to be able to shift the glass out of the captive slides.
4. Slide the glass forward as far as possible while adjusting the height of the glass as needed. Eventually the window will be able to slide out of the captive slides.
5. Pull the glass straight out.
6. Remove the foot on the bottom of the 1/4 window and pull the 1/4 window straight out the top.
6. Reach in the door and adjust the position of the window mechanism until it is collapsed and can be pulled out of the rear opening.
7. De-gunk and clean up the mechanism. Be sure to re-grease.
8. Clean the glass.

Exterior Window Seal Installation
1. I decided to borrow from a previous thread I read regarding VHB tape. Available on McMaster: https://www.mcmaster.com/75935a11. This tape is applied to the surface that the exterior seal will mount to (inside the door).
2. Clean the surface with a file to knock any burrs off and prep it with rough sand paper. Clean the surfaces with windex or isopropyl.
3. Lay the VHB tape along the entire length of the surface.
4. Measure the exterior seal and leave excess on either end of the door. Knotch the seal towards the back to all the seal to drop into the door.
6. Lay the seal in the door and press firmly so that it adheres to the VHB tape.
7. Using snap ring pliers, spread the clips out slightly and reach in the door to install. Install about 7 clips evenly spaced along the seal, being sure to capture both the seal and the metal lip.
8. Trim the excess seal at the leading edge of the door and leave the excess at the back for now.

Reassemble Window Mecahnism
1. Before installing the interior seal, put the window mechanism back into the door.
2. Start by installing the 1/4 window.
3. Then put the re-greased mechanism back into the door and start the 7 fasterners. Don't tighten them all the way because you need wiggle room to reengage the glass into the tracks.
4. Once the glass is reengaged, tighten the 7 Phillips fasteners and the 2 fasteners on the under side of the door for the window edge guides.

Interior Window Seal Installation
This seal definitely had me stumped for a bit because I saw no way to use the clips to hold the seal in place. I decided to take a different approach that I think is more secure than anything I've seen on the forum (certainly better than bonding or VHB tape alone).
1. The chrome trim is retained with rivetts or fasteners. Add two more of these holes towards the back of the door, evenly spaced with the rest of the trim holes.
2. Measure the correct length for the interior seal. It terminates at the 1/4 window and leave an inch extra at the trailing edge of the door.
3. Knotch the seal so that it can drop into the door.
4. No VHB tape is needed for the interior seal.
5. Lay the interior seal in the door and temporarily hold it in place with some tape. Be sure not to cover the holes that hold the trim in place.
6. With the seal aligned, transfer each of the holes that hold the trim in place onto the seal (be sure to include the 2 additional holes added). You can use a sharpie or you can lightly drill into the rubber through the holes.
7. With the holes transfered, use a small drill and gently drill into the rubber of the seal, being sure not to penetrate to the other side of the seal. The idea is to get an access hole into the hollow channel of the seal.
8. With all of the holes drilled in the seal, squirt some windex into the hollow channel of the seal and feed in 6-32 hex nuts to correspond to the hole locations. I used a chop stick to push the nuts (1 at a time). You can put the nuts in from both sides working from the middle out. You can bend the seal with your fingers for the final alignment. You can also use a poker to get the nuts perfectly aligned.
9. Thread in 3/8" 6-32 fasteners into the seal at each one of the holes. Keep them installed for now.
10. Use tape to hold the chrome trim in place.
11. Remove 1 6-32 fastener at a time and run the fastener through the chrome trim hole and into the rubber seal nut. Repeat this for each of the holes. I found that a flat blade screwdriver to support the interior of the seal was helpful while driving the screws in place.
12. There are two holes blocked by the 1/4 window frame, but there is enough room to get hex nuts at these locations. You might not have room so you can use CA to bond in screws.

Install the Door Back Chrome
1. Fold down the excess 1" length of the door seals and install the corner chrome piece. You may need to clip out the hard spine of the exterior seal to fold the seal.

The steps above are only so helpful. I put together some supplemental images in a PDF here:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1lqTyEDk1XfFUt3MIRFpgpz0z9Yt5FOqn/view?usp=sharing

If you're trying to do door seals, I encourage you to try this technique. It was a great learning experience and I'm very pleased with the outcome. It's tedious yes, but I think with these instructions, it should be relatively straightforward.

Last edited on 03-25-2019 04:53 am by mechfeeney

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 Posted: 03-27-2019 04:48 pm
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redracer
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As for replacing the outer window seal:
the original(7 of them) clips work fine, by slightly widening the gap(use a steel chisel for that) and making a holder to pull them up onto the rubber and steel frame. A little silicone grease helps.
However, one must press down hard on the top of the seal(use wood or some non paint marring item) at the point where the clip is going. If you do not, the seal will just push up and not be firmly flexed along the paint surface(and leak).
I imagine the factory had a special tool such as one picture framers used for inserting small nails. If I were doing this all the time, I would have made a better tool than the one I currently use

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 Posted: 03-27-2019 09:20 pm
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mechfeeney
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Hi Redracer,

On my doors, the sheetmetal lip that the clips would've interfaced to (for the inner seal) was pressed firmly up against the main door surface. It almost looked like it was welded to the surface. I was definitely hesitant to pry it away from the door to give the clips clearance...although I did consider it. The thing that really deterred me was not so much the door lip, but rather the lack of purchase available on the seal itself. Unlike the external seal, which has a long rib for the clips to bite onto, the internal seal has only a small tab. I'd ask for pictures from you, but I'm sure your door is already put back together :]. Despite the extra effort required for my technique, I'm confident the seal will stay there for a long time.

Last edited on 03-28-2019 07:53 pm by mechfeeney

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 Posted: 01-29-2020 07:58 pm
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chuckcm14
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mechfeeney.
Thanks for post for installing the window seals. I found the instructions excellent and it made it much easier to install the outer seals. The only thing I did different on the second door was to remove the 1/4 window prior to removing the roll-up window and installing the 1/4 window after I installed the roll-up window. Yes Delta's new retaining clip are easy to install. All it takes to do this seal replacement is a bunch of different hand tools, patience and few brews. Off to my next project for #20152
Regards,
Chuck McDonald

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 Posted: 02-18-2020 01:21 am
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mechfeeney
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That's great to hear, Chuck. I agree with your slight modification to the order of operations. I'm glad it worked out for you. Having new seals is functionally and aesthetically a good thing for the car.

-Michael

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 Posted: 03-18-2020 05:37 pm
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noomg
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Michael,

I'm in process of replacing my door panels which includes the interior wipe seals. I enjoyed your picture essay on the wipe seals replacement, but I found your final assembly a bit confusing. It appears that the stainless trim strips were swapped from door to door, also you mounted the strips in front of the door panel rather than behind, like mine.

I'm curious, is this how the car came to you from the PO or did you do it this way because the original hard wipe seals are NLA?

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 Posted: 03-18-2020 06:09 pm
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redracer
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Sorry I didn't read & look at the PDF; the outer window clips being sold are MUCH longer than the originals; the bottom of the clips(as in the "shorter OEM ones) abuts the metal door frame. If they do not, eventually(read"Soon"), the rubber strip wil sart pulling away from the door skin as the window gets rolled up, losing the seal it was meant to perform.
Also, the inner seal was fastened to the door card/panel and removal of the panel included this seal assembly. \
Also, the door panel itself was fastened with plastic reusable clips(available), not allen screws/
Sorry I didn't jump in sooner.

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 Posted: 03-18-2020 07:42 pm
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mechfeeney
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Hi noomg,

I kept the chrome plated trim pieces as they were installed on my car. It didn't occur to me that they could've been swapped (left and right). There is a notch on one end and slanted cut on the other. Are you suggesting the slanted cut goes towards the back of the car and the notch goes towards the front? (I'm referring to the interior chrome plated trim piece. As for this piece overlapping the door panel, again, that's the way it was when I purchased the car. I find that it also helps to keep the door panel secure up against the frame of the door. Please let me know if I'm misinterpreting your question. Could you also take a pic of your chrome plated trim pieces?

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 Posted: 03-18-2020 11:36 pm
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noomg
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Michael,

It appears your door panels were at some point rebuilt or replaced. An original panel has an inverted u shaped piece of aluminum extrusion fastened to the top edge of the panel which hooks to the inner steel lip of the door, then the panel fastens to the door with plastic snaps on the sides and bottom.

The stainless trim piece is attached to the back of that u with hooks on the wipe seal. That original hard wipe seal with attaching hooks is NLA which is why the new wipe seal has to be glued or attached with two way tape.

I just received a new pair of door panels from Rejen which are as I described. Also original panels have a foam bolster which runs the length of the top of the panel which would probably make installation of the stainless trim piece on the front of the panel very difficult.

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 Posted: 03-20-2020 02:50 pm
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noomg
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Michael,

On second look it looks like the chrome strips were just turned around and not swapped. Like my originals yours were probably badly damaged due to sun, rain and time. Unlike mine a PO of your car got a little creative and did a repair or replaced the panels altogether. While my panels were in rough shape they were basically untouched which provided a good template for replacement.

If at some point in the future you decide to go with an original set of door panels I'd highly recommend Rejen, their quality is off the charts. I got a set from them in leather for $750 but I think you can get them in vinyl for around $450.

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 Posted: 03-20-2020 04:09 pm
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mechfeeney
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Thanks, noomg! Very informative. I will keep Regen in mind.

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