73 Duster - I didn't take it apart....body assembly questions

jarrett stockwell said
Thanks to all. The pictures from speedyD are a big help.

Regarding doors, at this point I don't have a single interior panel in my possession so I don't know what they are supposed to look like. Fortunately I have the side glass so we don't have to worry about tracking it down. Of course the regulators are way different, but the physical location of the interior door handles & window winder shafts appears to be the same. I already talked to the owner & he doesn't really care if the internals are different so long as the finished product looks the same. He's currently trying to buy another parts car with a really nice black interior to swap in, not sure but I think it's a 72?

I found the top track(?) pieces that bolt to the top if the door. They appear to hold the top of the interior door panel in place, as well as support the glass. The original for the 73 door has black fuzzy material glued to it where the window contacts, but the piece for the 72 does not. I assumed the fuzzies were missing from the 72 part but upon closer examination I don't see any remnants of glue or anything that shows fuzzies were ever there. What's correct? Other than the lack of the fuzzies the two parts are identical.

Yeah, I've done a few GM A-bodies. Currently own a 1970 GTO that is in the middle of a frame off. Also a 78 Trans Am that got a frame off. It's done, or at least as done as an old car can get...

You don't need the door panels, the 70-72 and the 73-76 Duster doors are pretty different on the inner shell. So you can tell just by looking at the door shell which range they fit into. Hardware and regulators vary year to year even in those ranges, but the use the same door panels.

'70-72 doors look like this

73-76 doors look like this

So you can see the interior door handles are in a totally different spot, the arm rests (and mounts below them) are different, and the door panel on the 73-76 doors goes all the way to the bottom of the door. On the '70-72 doors there are metal panels on the top and bottom of the door, so the panel isn't as tall

And the shells, this is a '70-72

This is a 73-76 (sorry, not my picture) You can see the door panel attachment holes are on the very exterior of the inner shell, the handle is in a different spot, the access holes are different, and there are not metal panels at the top and bottom.