73 Duster upper plastic door panel

-
M

mad dog

Well-Known Member
Joined
Dec 25, 2013
Messages
527
Reaction score
447
Location
ct
it appears that the felt looking cat whisker thingy is mounted inside the upper door plastic panel, does it come out because i would like to replace them, how do they come out and who is making replacement pieces, ive seen many companies making the cat whiskers for earlier cars but not for the 73.. ideas and suggestions welcome
 
I have a 74 Duster and you have to take lower panel off to access the screws that hold upper panel on. Upper panel is plastic and has the cat whiskers in it. I plan on repainting the upper panel black, which is now a light tan. Lower panel remove armrest, door handle cover only and snaps in around perimeter of door.
 
thanks for the reply Tony, yes to all of the above, i have the upper panel off the door, i just painted it black too... my question is how do the whiskers come off and who sells replacements
 
I didn't get mine off yet so I can't help you with the whiskers yet, maybe tomorrow.
 
Well I thought it wasn't so hard to do until I tried it. There are slots in the plastic that receive tits on the whisker that have to be pried up to remove the whisker. It's a case of it snaps in place easily, almost like the **** on new cars, easy to snap on and a mother to get apart, but may need something special to remove it. Mine are in good shape so need to remove them.
 
thanks Tony, is anyone making these pieces that you know of? my door plastic panels are pretty nice but the cat whiskers are not that nice, with my luck i will end up breaking/ cracking the panels trying to remove the whiskers ...lol
 
Go to justmopar.com website because they list a wx192 as a 73-76 window sweep for Duster. It lists for $117, but give them a call and maybe they can help in removal of old sweep.
 
That plastic is very delicate being almost 50 years old I thought about safest way to remove the sweep if the company can't help. I would use a Dremel tool with a cutoff wheel to cut the metal that holds it to the plastic and being very careful. It'll be a slow task but seems like the safest way without putting any pressure on the plastic. The paint job of changing from the gold to black came out very good on the plastic.
 
That was exactly my concern... I paid up to get theses panels and they are pretty nice except for the whiskers.. I really don’t want to wrestle this 50 year old plastic and end up breaking it...
 
I don't know if you contacted those people yet, but I read somewhere that the original are no longer made the old way and the new ones are to be glued in place. Maybe try and pick up a decent used set at a swap meet.
 
It’s funny that you mentioned that.. I spoke with Jim from Detroit muscle today... he doesn’t carry them but knows the guy from justmopar.. he couldn’t tell me much... I think I will just use the ones on there, they are far from perfect but good enough for now I guess.. I’ll look around at Carlisle, might get lucky
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
-

Back
Top