The Stovebolt Site Forums Project Journals Project Journals 1952 Chevrolet 3100 Project

12/05/21: Things have not been going so well with rebuilding the door interior hardware. It started with a success, but quickly went down hill from there. I installed sound deadener (KilMat) in the drivers side door and that turned out great. Not the easiest to install, working in cramped quarters, but I was able to cover nearly 100% of the outer skin. I used an old wallpaper seam roller to press it in and had a radiant kerosene heater heating the door to soften the butyl rubber for better adhesion.

I then tried to install the rubber glass sweep I purchased from Classic Parts and I was too big to fit in the track. The track is approximate 5/16” and the sweep was 7/16”. The only known sweep that fits, is from the Filling Station and they are on backorder. Not sure what I’m going to do a about it. I may have to take a razor knife to it.

Next I tried to install the Glass in the vent frame. Again, I ordered the tape from Classic Parts and it turns out that it too big. The frame ID minus the thickness of the glass equals .088”. That leaves .044” for the tape (each side). The tape was advertised as 3/64” (.046”), would be near perfect. Unfortunately it’s .068” and that is just way too big. I ordered 3/64” tape from eBay and now I just have to wait.

Wanting to get a little success, I tried to install the new window rollers I received from the Filling Station into the window regulator arms, and in my opinion would not have lasted very long. The fit of the rivet into the regulator arm was really loose (over .010”). The rivet was hollow and the wall thickness (where its hollow), was only about .015”. When I peened the rivet, it split into several sections. If the fit was good, it may have been fine, but with such a sloppy fit, I felt it would have started to wobble and in time it would have fallen out. The original rivet was solid, the fit was a tight press fit and still solid when I ground and punched it out.

Again my lathe to the rescue. I fabricated two new rivets for the new nylon rollers that fit the arms tight. I installed them on the regulator arms and peened the over, so now they are tight and I feel like the repair will last.

The first picture shows the split rivet, Second shows the hollow rivet and the the rivet I made. The third shows the finished product.

There is a common denominator among these issues and others that I have experienced and that seems to be import parts. I have bought allot of of these parts from Classic Parts and it’s not just them. I have gotten cheap, ill fitting parts from most online vendors. It’s a shame that their quality assurance is not better. One thing I can say for Classic Parts, the Filling Station, LMC, Jim Carter and I’m sure there’s others, is they have resolved any issue I’ve encountered to my satisfaction. Unfortunately, that does not help with the disappointment, frustration and not to mention delays these issues cause. This forum is a good way we can help each other from falling into the same pitfalls that I and others have.

If you have a success or failure with your parts please share!