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1974 Chevy Stepside - Window Dressing

New Window Felt & Weatherstrip
By D. Brian Smith
0601Cct John 01 Z
John's '74 Chevy Stepside has a street-credible stance--and lots of oomph from the 355ci Chevy V-8, to the tune of 440 horses--but it needs some serious attention in the cab. The next photo will reveal his challenge.
0601Cct John 02 Z
The interior is a prime target for customization. We'll attack the door panels today, in an effort to renew the window felt and doorframe weather-strip.
0601Cct John 03 Z
By following his Haynes Repair Manual for Chevy and GMC '67-87 pickups (PN 24064), he began by removing the armest.
0601Cct John 04 Z
After taking off the window crank, John detached the door-trim panel. One can use a door-trim removal tool or a flat-blade screwdriver for this simple step.
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With a Phillips screwdriver, he removed the three-window vent retaining screws, after rolling the window down the entire way.
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John judiciously consulted his Haynes Repair Manual to figure out how to proceed.
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Once he had loosened the inner and outer panel screws, which are accessible through the hole at the rear of the lower vent pivot, he began to turn the vent-window assembly 90 degrees. Doing so should allow him to guide the assembly up and out of the door.
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By using his trusty flashlight to ensure the vent assembly wasn't catching on anything, he continued to coax the assembly out of the door.
0601Cct John 09 Z
Success! With the vent-window assembly removed, John inspected it. Though worn, the channel rubber was still serviceable. Since he had the new rubber weatherstrip from LMC Truck, he'll replace the crusty old stuff with new a bit later in the story.
0601Cct John 10 Z
Brimming with confidence after making such quick work of the vent window, John attacked the windowpane.
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Almost out, the pane proved to be quite a pain to remove. The bottom scissor roller was interfering with the window channel. John painstakingly persevered and removed the glass.
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He uninstalled the inner door handle next.
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In preparation for removing the rear window channel, John loosened the lower window-channel bolt.
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The upper window channel retaining bolt is located in the doorframe's jamb. John removed it.
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Removing the rear window channel revealed that the lower bracket of the window channel had broken free from the channel. Originally it was fastened to the channel with pop rivets. John had wondered what caused that window rattle. It would need to be repaired.
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The lower bracket is supposed to fit to the rear window channel as such. Rather than pop-rivet the bracket back to the channel, John opted to weld it.
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Jason Scudellari, the Primedia Tech Center manager, kindly agreed to weld the bracket back together. By sanding the bracket and the window channel, he prepared the to-be-MIG-welded surfaces for the weld material.

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GMC Yukon XL Finding a fuel efficient automobile today is easier than ever. Check out the GMC Yukon XL buyer's guide providing information on car specs, reviews and fuel economy. The 2009 Yukon XL is offered with your choice of V8 engine, and it has a comparable warranty. Other similar vehicles are the Ford F150 and the Ford Expedition.
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