I have googled and seen videos of mostly later C3s all with the inner metal door panel coming off.

Problem is my 73 seems to be one piece.. There's bolts but no seem for the entire piece to come off.

Maybe I'm being really stupid here and just don't see it or maybe the previous owner did something stupid with fiberglass.. But I see no way to get to the window regulator which is busted up and needs replacement.

Any help is appreciated.

 

Are you trying to take it out from the side of the panel or out of the top? It comes out of the top.

 

All of the pictures and videos I see have people taking the entire side panel(not the door panel which is of course already off) off.

I don't see how you could take that entire thing apart and pull it out of the top?

 

Can you operate the window at all? If not, what position is the glass in? Also is it a manual or power window?

Regardless of your answer to any of the above questions the regulator assembly comes out of the access hole in the rear center of the door whose cover is held on by five or six sheet metal screws and (maybe) a bolt that steadies the power window motor.

 

Power
Window goes up all but the last two inches.
Glass from what I can tell is in excellent shape for now which is why I'm trying to do this before it breaks.

I have opened that access panel but all I see is part of the regulator and all of the motor.

 

It's really not too bad to remove.

First remove the three rivets (or bolts if the rivets were replaced) that hold the regulator assembly to the metal inner door. Two are down low, one up higher all in the front half of the door. If bolts and nuts the nuts should be the type with plastic inserts at one end that prevent them from working loose with vibration. It may look impossible at first but you can get a wrench (box end is best) on the nuts or bolt heads at the inside.

Remove the electrical connector at the power window motor. Loosen/remove the anti-rattle pads attached at the top inside edge. Then raise the window until you can access the nuts (one at each end) in the upper horizontal track. There are access points through the metal inner door assembly If your inside door handle is in the same place as mine it's easiest to remove the bolt that retains it and reposition in order to get at the front nut retaining the upper horizontal track. Then remove the two nuts that retain the lower horizontal track to the inner metal door. These are a bit below the mid-line and in the rear half of the door--they are perhaps 10" apart and you'll notice they are installed in a diagonal adjustment slots.

Get a helper if possible as the window will be free to fall in the next steps. It can be done by yourself but until you've done it at least once it's best to have a helper holding the glass. (The factory service manual makes the ridiculous statement for a Corvette, "Use cloth tape to attach the window to the upper door frame.")

Reach in through the access hole and slide loose the lower horizontal track (only one roller inside it). Then slide the upper and much longer horizontal track from end-to-end to release the two rollers (one near each end) in it.

The glass is now freed from the regulator and you can move the regulator (motor attached) from the access hole.

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A broken and/or completely missing assist spring on the regulator is common. Carefully check the gear on the regulator for worn teeth. If the teeth on it show any significant wear you can be almost certain that the gear in the motor assembly is also worn and must be replaced. If the regulator assist spring is intact DO NOT simply remove the motor! Reconnect it to power and operate until holes on both sides of the "scissors" line up--insert bolt and attach a nut--then and ONLY then remove the motor!

There are two more rollers left inside the door that probably need to be replaced. To access them you have to remove the window. To remove the window just remove the bolts retaining the two vertical guide channels (two at the top and one at the bottom of both) and pull the channels up through the top slot. You can then remove the glass. One roller is attached to the front of the glass, another rides in the rear channel.

Even if they look fine, it's a good idea to replace the three rollers attached to the regulator while you are doing this. You drill them out and "peen" the new ones in being certain to give support to the other side of the metal shaft running through the roller and being certain to install the rollers on the proper side of the regulator. (As you might guess, that last bit of advice came from experience...)

Thoroughly clean and relube everything (both some grease and oil are necessary). With a little searching here you'll find instructions to clean and lube.

Reassembly is essentially in the reverse order. Again until you're familiar with the process a helper when reattaching the regulator to the glass is a GREAT asset.

You then face the fun of adjusting the window. If you are lucky--very lucky--you can just return all the nuts/bolts to their original witness marks and everything will work perfectly. Otherwise it can be a royal pain to adjust these windows and it may even be impossible to get everything perfect. A little searching here will reveal adjustment instructions.

 

Also would add that if you remove the outer felt and stainless strip it makes getting the window out a lot easier. It makes it so the window hardware will just clear the opening. The earlier vettes had bolts holding everything in. The rivets came later, can't remember which year exactly, but they drill out easy, and you can use 1/4" bolts, and nuts to reassemble.

 

Thanks guys, I'm going to print this out next time I'm at the garage later this coming week and get this done. Will report back with any issues but based off what I'm reading there should not be any.

Hopefully it's bolts! Most of what I had seen were bolts anyhow. Do not remember seeing rivets other than what was in the outer door panel trim.

 

Great instructions. I just did this on a 76. One man job is possible. I used two locking pliers with rubber in the jaws to contact the glass. One pair at the front of the window and one pair at the back.