How to identify door years?

[Woodsman341]

My '75 Dart Sport project car came with '72 Duster doors, but a local racer said he has a pile of 73-76 Dart Sport doors and he would trade me plus throw in a little extra. Sweet...but I had to pick the best two out of the pile and I have no idea how to tell what year they are. I read on the forums here that the 73 was different from 74-76, something to do with the window mechanism, which is my dilemma. I'll be needing some rollers and parts for the regulators, but I have no idea what year(s) I should be buying parts for.

Any help?

Thanks, as always.

 

[Woodsman341]

Oh, I did do a search here and on Google, but I didn't see anything helpful, or I couldn't search properly.

 

[MoparMike1974]

Not sure about the dart sport but the swinger door had unique regulators in 73 only. The glass was also different because the holes are in a different location. Not sure if this applies to the sport or not.
If you swap them in pairs they should still work I think. I think the door panels are different starting in 73. The 72 back had metal at the top and it switched to plastic trim in 73.

 

[Woodsman341]

Not sure about the dart sport but the swinger door had unique regulators in 73 only. The glass was also different because the holes are in a different location. Not sure if this applies to the sport or not.
If you swap them in pairs they should still work I think. I think the door panels are different starting in 73. The 72 back had metal at the top and it switched to plastic trim in 73.

Yeah, these both have the plastic top panels, but are from different donor cars. I just picked through the pile of doors, so I have no idea which one is which year. I'll check out the windows and see if they are at least the same as each other.

 

[niceolddart]

I believe the windows & regulators in a Duster/Dart Sport are different also, because of them having curved door glass as opposed to Dart Swinger/Scamp flat glass. Also 73 to early year 74s had a different amount of regulator mounting holes in the glass compared to later 74-76 Dusters/Dart Sports, IIRC. If the door glass & regulators are still in the doors, they should bolt on & work OK,

 

[72bluNblu]

So you can tell the the ‘73 doors apart from the 74+ because they have the same window lift mechanism as the earlier doors, the window rollers ride in a C-channel style guide.

The ‘74+ doors use a round pole that runs from bottom to top,and the window has a flat plate with a hole in it that acts as a guide.

So the ‘73’s have the plastic upper style top, but the C-channel and scissor lift style mechanism. The ‘74+ door will also have the plastic upper door, but they’ll have a round pole as the guide. They will also have a heavy door beam that was added as crash protection. Not exactly sure when that started, the ‘74’s definitely had them, I’m not sure if it started in ‘73 or not though. If it did, it might have started mid year.

I have some pictures of the ‘74 doors I’ll try to find them.

 

[Woodsman341]

So you can tell the the ‘73 doors apart from the 74+ because they have the same window lift mechanism as the earlier doors, the window rollers ride in a C-channel style guide.

The ‘74+ doors use a round pole that runs from bottom to top,and the window has a flat plate with a hole in it that acts as a guide.

So the ‘73’s have the plastic upper style top, but the C-channel and scissor lift style mechanism. The ‘74+ door will also have the plastic upper door, but they’ll have a round pole as the guide. They will also have a heavy door beam that was added as crash protection. Not exactly sure when that started, the ‘74’s definitely had them, I’m not sure if it started in ‘73 or not though. If it did, it might have started mid year.

I have some pictures of the ‘74 doors I’ll try to find them.

Thanks, that helps a great deal. I'd love to see the pictures, if you can find them.

 

[Woodsman341]

So you can tell the the ‘73 doors apart from the 74+ because they have the same window lift mechanism as the earlier doors, the window rollers ride in a C-channel style guide.

The ‘74+ doors use a round pole that runs from bottom to top,and the window has a flat plate with a hole in it that acts as a guide.

So the ‘73’s have the plastic upper style top, but the C-channel and scissor lift style mechanism. The ‘74+ door will also have the plastic upper door, but they’ll have a round pole as the guide. They will also have a heavy door beam that was added as crash protection. Not exactly sure when that started, the ‘74’s definitely had them, I’m not sure if it started in ‘73 or not though. If it did, it might have started mid year.

I have some pictures of the ‘74 doors I’ll try to find them.

Also, since you're here, I was going to try getting the glass and regulators out tomorrow, but two people have said that I need to watch out because after removing one of the bolts, the spring will cause some part of the regulator to slam down on my hand. Any truth to that?

 

[72bluNblu]

Also, since you're here, I was going to try getting the glass and regulators out tomorrow, but two people have said that I need to watch out because after removing one of the bolts, the spring will cause some part of the regulator to slam down on my hand. Any truth to that?

Lol! No.

The regulator is just a mechanical crank, it's not like a garage door with a spring counterweight. Just a simple gear reduction to the window crank, if you don't turn the handle the regulator doesn't move.

Now if you disconnect the window from the regulator with the window in the "up" position it can drop, but that's still only gravity. Happens fast if you don't realize you just took out the last connector but that's about it.

 

[Woodsman341]

Lol! No.

The regulator is just a mechanical crank, it's not like a garage door with a spring counterweight. Just a simple gear reduction to the window crank, if you don't turn the handle the regulator doesn't move.

Now if you disconnect the window from the regulator with the window in the "up" position it can drop, but that's still only gravity. Happens fast if you don't realize you just took out the last connector but that's about it.

Thanks! I thought that sounded far fetched, but I'm not expert, so figured I'd ask someone who is.

 

[72bluNblu]

Oh I don't think I'm an expert, I've just seen a few of these things.

Here's a picture of the door impact beam, looks like '73's didn't get them (or at least not all of them). There's a little more information in this thread, although not all of it is correct. '74 is not a one year only door like suggested in this other thread

73 to 72 Dodge Dart door swap

I'll see if I have a picture of the lift mechanism somewhere

 

[72bluNblu]

Ok, so this isn't the most helpful angle, but the arrow points to the round tube that acts as the guide in a '74+ door. So if you see this thing instead of the usual c-channels, it's a '74+ door. The beam on the right side is the side impact beam. On the '74+ windows there's just the single round tube in the middle of the door that acts as the guide, and there's no scissor style window lift, just a single beam connected to the regulator

From the '74 mopar parts catalog, page 617

On the '73 and down doors, there will be 2 c-channels and the big scissor lift in the middle. This is a '72 Duster door, there are more pictures in this thread here 72 Duster door glass install help

On the '73 door you'd have a mechanism like this, but it would have a plastic top, or open upper structure that would be covered with the plastic top, instead of the metal top like a '70-72 door.

This is the '73 door, from the '73 Mopar parts catalog page 616

If you go to mymopar.com you can download the '73 and '75 Mopar parts catalogs and look at those drawings in a larger format

 

[townsend]

Federal regulations mandated all vehicles manufactured after November 15,1972 must have impact bars in the doors. So some early 1973 models did not have impact bars.
Dart Sports made after May 25, 1973 will have the same doors. Since you want left and right doors, here is an easy way to pick the correct year doors.
Find a left door and look at the date on the door sticker, then find a right one with the same interior parts.

 

[Woodsman341]

Ok, so this isn't the most helpful angle, but the arrow points to the round tube that acts as the guide in a '74+ door. So if you see this thing instead of the usual c-channels, it's a '74+ door. The beam on the right side is the side impact beam. On the '74+ windows there's just the single round tube in the middle of the door that acts as the guide, and there's no scissor style window lift, just a single beam connected to the regulator
View attachment 1716159406

From the '74 mopar parts catalog, page 617

View attachment 1716159410

On the '73 and down doors, there will be 2 c-channels and the big scissor lift in the middle. This is a '72 Duster door, there are more pictures in this thread here 72 Duster door glass install help

View attachment 1716159412

On the '73 door you'd have a mechanism like this, but it would have a plastic top, or open upper structure that would be covered with the plastic top, instead of the metal top like a '70-72 door.

This is the '73 door, from the '73 Mopar parts catalog page 616
View attachment 1716159411

If you go to mymopar.com you can download the '73 and '75 Mopar parts catalogs and look at those drawings in a larger format

Thanks! Exactly what I needed.

 

[pa340dart]

Check the date code on the window glass itself- should get you close.

 

[Woodsman341]

Thanks everyone, I got it sorted. Special thanks to 72bluNblu. I have a '74+ driver's door and a '73 passenger side door. No I just have to take them apart, perform some maintenance and see how many rollers are shot.