How to remove pop-riveted manual window regulators on Dodge truck

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MOPARoldtimer

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I'm doing the glass run channels on my '78 D300. The FSM says the manual window regulators are supposed to be screwed to the interior panel of the door, but they are pop-riveted instead.

How do I remove and re-install the window regulators?

Even if the window regulators were screwed to the door, I don't see how you would get the screws in.
 
I usually drill the rivets then use 1/4 20 bolts and nuts.Unless you get a regulator that has built in nuts
 
d5667 said:
I usually drill the rivets then use 1/4 20 bolts and nuts.Unless you get a regulator that has built in nuts
Click to expand...

X2 or you can buy the large head rivets at NAPA and put them back in like factory.
 
You need to take a punch and knock the pin out of the rivet, then drill it out with a 1/4" bit. If you don't knock the pin out, your bit will walk all over the place. It usually takes a pretty sharp lick to drive the pin out, too.

If you put it back together with bolts be sure to use lock washers as the bolts will work loose pretty easy if you don't.
Dallas
 
There are videos on youtube that will help. Doesnt need to be exactly the same to provide tips.
I always use 1/4 hex hd bolts short as possibie with nyloc nuts.
 
Thanks a lot for your help, guys. You've been great. Thanks especially to MOBodyman for telling me how to drill out the pop rivets, as I've never done it before and I can just see my drill walking all around and enlarging the mounting holes in the door panel, had I not known to bang off that tit first.

Would you mind if I asked: after I remove the window regulators, will it become apparent to me how the division bar comes out? (Right now it seems like a Chinese puzzle where I don't know how to remove the next piece.) Or would you leave the division bar in place and just install new window runs in it, if you were me?
 
MOPARoldtimer said:
Thanks a lot for your help, guys. You've been great. Thanks especially to MOBodyman for telling me how to drill out the pop rivets, as I've never done it before and I can just see my drill walking all around and enlarging the mounting holes in the door panel, had I not known to bang off that tit first.

Would you mind if I asked: after I remove the window regulators, will it become apparent to me how the division bar comes out? (Right now it seems like a Chinese puzzle where I don't know how to remove the next piece.) Or would you leave the division bar in place and just install new window runs in it, if you were me?
Click to expand...

Not sure what your are referring to as the 'division bar'. Is that the front window channel that is part of the vent glass assembly?
Once you get the regulator loose, you can slide it to one side or the other to get the roller(s?) out of the track on the bottom of the door glass. Then you can let the glass down to the bottom of the door. If you want to take the vent glass assembly out there should be a bolt (possibly another rivet, but I don't think so on this year) at the bottom of the channel and some Phillips screws at the top and forward edge of the vent glass assembly. Then you can pull the vent glass assembly back toward the window glass opening to get it clear of the channel in the door. Then you can lift it up and out of the door. You will have to twist it around a bit to get the bracket on the bottom to come out of the opening. Sometimes it helps to take the belt molding off first to give a little more clearance.
I hope all of that wasn't too confusing. I could have actually taken it all apart in less time than it took for me to type that. lol I may be mistaken about a small detail or two as it's been a long time since I took one of those apart.
Good luck,
Dallas
 
Dallas, thanks again. We're on the same wavelength insofar as what we're calling the "division bar". I can't get the regulator back into the door far enough for its crankshaft to clear the crank hole in the interior door panel. The regulator hits the division bar long before its crankshaft will clear the hole. Even pushing it in hard against the division bar, the crank still sticks out of the interior panel by about 1/2". That prevents me from moving the regulator backward or forward to release it from the window lift slots.

Any more suggestions?
 
MOPARoldtimer said:
Dallas, thanks again. We're on the same wavelength insofar as what we're calling the "division bar". I can't get the regulator back into the door far enough for its crankshaft to clear the crank hole in the interior door panel. The regulator hits the division bar long before its crankshaft will clear the hole. Even pushing it in hard against the division bar, the crank still sticks out of the interior panel by about 1/2". That prevents me from moving the regulator backward or forward to release it from the window lift slots.

Any more suggestions?
Click to expand...

Man, you are making me rack my brain. lol It's been a long time since I worked on one of those!
What you might have to do is take the vent window assembly out first. It will be harder to do since the door glass will interfere, but I think it can be done. Then you can move the door glass enough to either free it from the regulator or enough it will allow the crank shaft to come through the hole.
Good luck,
Dallas
 
I'd like to thank you guys again for helping me so much. I'm pretty sure the problem is that the division bar has to come out, but since I can't figure out how to remove it, I'm so desperate that I'm going to cruise up to a body shop and offer to pay the body man if he'll show me how to do it!

My '78 dually is pretty cherry, and the only danged thing wrong with it is that the windows would no longer go up and down. We can't have dat!

When I find out how to remove the division bar, I'll let you know.
 
Yeah, It's tough to get out with the door glass still in there. Too bad you aren't close by. I could have taken it out in less time than it took me to type all this. LOL
Dallas
 
By winding the regulator into a certain position, I was able to get its crankshaft to almost clear the interior door panel. Then all it took was a slight bending of the interior panel with a screwdriver (not enough to distort it) and I was able to get the regulator to drop down inside the door. From there I was able to slide its arms out of the window lifting slots and remove it from inside the door. The window won't come out unless you remove the division bar, however. I've got the old window runs removed from their metal channels, too, but that didn't help get the window out. It is still sitting inside the door. The division bar is fairly loose and I can move it toward the rear a little bit from the bottom, but something is holding it at the top and I can't figure out what that is. Also, I think it might help to remove the vent wing pivot, but I can't figure out how to do that, either.

Of course it is going to be much harder to put back together than it was to take it apart, and I am not looking forward to it. This is a really labor-intensive job.
 
You don't have to take the vent wing apart. Did you take the screws out on the outside of the door frame that hold the vent assembly in? I think there is one on the top and a couple on the a-pillar side of the door. If those are out check for a small bolt hidden in a hole in the interior door panel that secures the vent assembly. Some vehicles had them but I can't remember if the truck did.
I believe there is a piece of metal that goes from the inside of the window opening to the outside of the window opening to keep the door from spreading apart in the vent area.
Just keep moving stuff around until you figure it out. I can't believe the FSM doesn't show how to do this.
Dallas
 
Got it all apart! The secret is to remove the division bar as soon as possible because that gives you room to move everything else around and remove it. There is one bolt at the bottom of the division bar (accessible through a round hole near the bottom front corner of the door) and one phillips head screw through the door frame at the front of the vent wing assembly. Then the trick is to grab the top of the division bar (where the peak of the vent wing window would be) and pull it up and back. It snaps and lifts right out. You can't get the window out until you've first removed the division bar. When re-assembling, lay the window down inside the door, install the window regulator and insert its rollers into the window lift slots before re-installing the division bar.
 
I'm glad you got it apart. I knew it wasn't really that hard, it's just been a long time since I've done one for that body style so it's hard for me to remember exactly what needs to be done. Plus I get all the other makes mixed up together. lol
Dallas
 
"If you had an infinite number of monkeys typing on an infinite number of typewriters, they would eventually write the Bible" - old saying

You have to do it in this sequence: remove the two division bar screws. Lower the window and lift the division bar up and back a little bit, until it hits the regulator. It is now clear of the regulator. Then drill out the pop rivets on the regulator and you can remove it. While removing the regulator, lay the window down inside the door for safekeeping. Now the division bar will come out completely, and once it's out, the window will come out easily.

When reassembling, use the shortest available 1/4" bolts in two of the three regulator mounting points, inserted from the inside of the vehicle and toward the outside, as usual. But on the one mounting position that's partially blocked by the regulator gear, trim the bolt so it will slide between the mounting plate and the gear, and insert it from the outside toward the inside of the vehicle, with the nut on the inside.
 
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