1974 TCS Doors

[TCS4605R]

Has anyone every disassembled the doors on a 1974 Twin Cam Special?  I have gotten the key lock at the outside of the door, the inside door release and the door strike off, but the door handle looks impossible at the moment.  One of the nuts that fastens the door handle to the door is behind the rear rail of the electric window.  And, how do you get the electric window rails out?  Also, how do you get the fixed vent window out?

[TCS4605R]

OK - I got the vent window out.  There is a screw and nut at the bottom front of the window on the inside - the screw has a small phillips head that is impossible to get a good grip on due to the angle of the screwdriver to the screw - I manage to loosen it enough to cut the head of the screw off with wire cutters.  There is a pot rivet at the bottom inside rear of the vent window and another about 3/4 the way up the front inside edge of the vent window hidden behind the rubber molding.  There was a lot of caked dumb-dumb sealer at the bottom of the window that needed to be dug out, but once that was out, the window slowly released at the front bottom then hinged out - luckily no broken glass.  There are some guidelines on removing the electric motor assembly in the Workshop Manual, but if anyone has done this before, I'd appreciate their reply.

[BDA]

I'd like to help you out but it's been over fifteen years since I did mine. I don't remember having that bad a time getting the window channel out. One problem I had when I was putting the door back together was the pop rivets in the aluminum window channel. I had no idea how to set those. I ended up glassing in the holes, before installing the window felt, I cut holes in it to match where the rivets were, and used a sheet metal screw instead of a pop rivet to hold the window channel in the door. That's probably not the approved method, but it works for me.

[jbcollier]

To set a pop rivet in a narrow area, use a small washer on top of the rivet head and short piece of steel tubing to space out the rivet gun tip.  As long as it's not too deep, it works like a charm.

[EuropaTC]

To set a pop rivet in a narrow area, use a small washer on top of the rivet head and short piece of steel tubing to space out the rivet gun tip.  As long as it's not too deep, it works like a charm.

  Oh, now I like that one. Never heard of that method before but it's something to store away, thanks for posting !

On the door handle issue, I have taken mine off a couple of times for respray and don't recall a major problem. The last time I left the windows in place and just masked them off, so it must have been possible to get to the nuts with the window fully up and either a small spanner or 1/4" drive socket from underneath.  I do have a set of very small swan neck ring spanners and for some reason think it was those I used ?

But - the big point is that it's possible to get the handles off without removing the windows or channels.

Brian

[4129R]

I have just stripped two door completely for a respray two weeks ago. I built up two doors completely after a respray just before Xmas.

I ground the sides off the screw nose insert of the pop rivet tool so it fits easily into the window channel. It took a while, but was worth it.

When re-assembling, fit the door handle first, the door lock second, the end door lock third, then put in the frame with the glass in new rubber runners available cheaply from Banks. Ditto the horizontal brush along the glass.

I assembled my door on towels on cushions on a workbench so I could get at all the bits easily. Assembling it on the car can wear you out ask your arms get in strange places and positions.

Expect damage to hands, as usual.

Getting the clips on the bars on the locks is best done with long thin nosed pliers.

If you have any specific queries, just ask as I made a list of the order things go back for when I assemble the doors after the respray.

Alex in Norfolk.

[TCS4605R]

4129R

Thanks for the info - that is what I was looking for.  The shop manual is helpful, but getting input from someone who has done the job is better.

[TCS4605R]

OK - I got the window frame out.  There are (2) pop rivets at the top of the frame and (2) at the rear vertical.  You need to remove the felt window slides to get at them.  There are also (2) pop rivets on a tab at the front of the frame.  When I reassemble, I will definitely install the door handle first as the window frame is in the way of attaching the rear nut to the door handle.  Now ready to sand down to bare fiberglass, epoxy prime, then high build primer, then block sand, then urethane single stage.  Will fit the door when it is in bare fiberglass to see what needs to be done to improve the fit.  Thanks for the replies.

[4129R]

The hard part is putting the sliding window rubbers in place after you have pop riveted the window frame into place.

I think you leave them loose in the sides, put the top one in, then slide the side ones up after riveted in place.

I cheated and drilled through the rubber channels strips and pop riveted through the rubber channels when they were in place.

Alex in Norfolk.

[TCS4605R]

4129R

It looks like there was some caulking (really hard now after 41 years) between the electric window frame and the outside of the door.  When you reinstalled your window frame, did you clean out the old caulking and install new caulking?  What did you use for caulking?  Looks like rdent has the replacement felt slides for the glass - has anyone bought those and did they work?

[BDA]

I think the caulking was originally hard. I used black silicone - which shouldn't be taken as a recommendation but I don't have a better one. I believe I used r.d. enterprise's window felt and it worked fine.

[4129R]

I am using black silicone mastic too.

If you get some on the paintwork, it comes off quite easily without any damage to the paint.

Alex in Norfolk.

[TCS4605R]

Alex - great - thank you.  I think I'll use a clear silicon caulk.  The doors are rather light without the window lift motor, frame and glass - I can see why the S1 was lighter than the Twin Cam.

[4129R]

I am re-building the bare doors of 4688R, which have just been repaired and painted. The right hand door was badly damaged during the front and rear end shunt the car had about 40 years ago.

I had a short lock to end door latch rod missing, and all the rod clips were somewhat loose and could break up easily, so I went in search of those little clips that hold the 4 rods to the latch mechanism. 2 from the inner black door opener, 1 from the outside door handle and 1 from the outside door lock.

I found these on eBay.

 http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/LAND-ROVER-DEFENDER-DISCOVERY-1-ANTI-RATTLE-DOOR-LOCK-ROD-CLIP-SET-X10-BFP1265L-/302215091600?fits=Car+Make%3ALand+Rover&hash=item465d6c5590:g:rTkAAOSwo4pYlbsL

They fit the rods perfectly. But the plastic plugs fit a 6mm hole, not 5mm as the originals, so all 4 holes in the end door latch had to be drilled out carefully, plus the door lock and the door handle. Luckily there is enough meat in the levers so the holes don't weaken the metal, and with thicker plastic plugs, the clips are much stronger.

At £1.00 each, they solve the problem cheaply, and postage to the USA could not be very expensive.

I make it 6 clips per door, so two packs would do for a car, with spares.

I honestly thought they would not be currently available, so I was very pleased to find them, so I thought I would share this info.

The rods themselves seem to be 4mm wire, so I found some spare fencing wire, and bent and cut to shape.

Just after I copied the short bent lock rod off 3089R, I found the original lock rod for 4688R in a box elsewhere !!!

Now on to the headlining of 4688R.

[EuropaTC]

Bresco do a lot of this sort of stuff. Not the cheapest supplier but I've found them reliable in the past, plus you get pictures and the original fitment ! 

http://www.bresco.com/acatalog/Control_Cable__Rod_Clips_-_Metal_and_Plastic.html

Brian