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Window Frame Removal Is A Breeze!!!

Tito

CB Fire Starter
Joined
Jan 29, 2006
Messages
10,781
Loc.
Bakersfield, CA
Alright I was doing some body work with Scott - nothin gay - and had some spare time so I wanted to try the window frame removal on one of my spare doors so...went and grabbed one, if you look you can see the spot welds very easily on each side.

Steps:
1. pilot drill in the center of each spotweld, eh, 3/16 or something like that

2. drill out the 4 spotwelds on each side with a 3/8 bit. The striker side pattern for the welds is kinda funky.

3. Take your cutoff wheel or grinder and start removing the weld that is holding the frame to the tops of the doors (the horizontal weld there...you'll see it). Take your time and go slow, do a little wiggle here and there. You can also take a chisel or screwdriver and wedge it where the frame slips into the door and clearance it out there.

4. Do this to the other side too.

5. Do some wiggling, check to see what weld material might be hanging you up, we had a little on one side as well as a spotweld that wasnt completely freed.

6. Do a little cleanup on the frame and door

7. I plan to either weld up the holes in the frame and then thread them so I can just send a really short bolt through the door into the frame or leave it as is and use a button head bolt sent through the inside to the outside with a nut. You could also weld some of those square nuts that are REALLY shallow onto the inside of the frame. The front side where the vent window is doesnt really need short bolts and nuts, just the backside because the window and the weatherstripping will go through there. I plan to use the spotwelds that were cut for the bolting so that it stays true to form and isnt tweeked side to side.

8. Enjoy the simplest vent window and weatherstripping install you could ever imagine as well as a sweet clean look in the summers when the top is off. I might make something stainless or body color to fit in the channel to clean it up if I get the itch.

Sorry for the crappy pics, it got dark on us. Thanks to Scott swa0330 for the assistance and brainpower.
 

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crawln68

Bronco Guru
Joined
Oct 8, 2004
Messages
3,045
Nice! That is a cool way to modify the later doors to have the removable frames. I think a new Tech Article is in order! ;D
 
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Tito

Tito

CB Fire Starter
Joined
Jan 29, 2006
Messages
10,781
Loc.
Bakersfield, CA
Thanks Patrick,

Yeah my 67 had the removable frames and I really like having them, the frames were out most of the year down in Bakersfield, makes for a much cleaner look with the top off.
I like what some of the guys have done, keeping the vent attached (for windshield support and a little style), maybe on another door I will try and figure out how to make the back frame piece slip in and out, might be tougher than I am picturing though.

This removal wasnt too bad but I didnt want to start with any of the doors on my rigs since they are pretty nice. Next step is to rip into my 76 doors. I am probably going to either chrome (Think I have a connection) or powdercoat them white like the top since they will come off when the top comes off. Also gotta put the windshield braces on the cage too before I get it powdercoated.

Anyways, I thought it was a pretty cool mod and had heard a lot of talk about it but hadnt really seen it much less did it myself.
 

Broncrick

Sr. Member
Joined
Jun 14, 2001
Messages
402
Loc.
Nevada City,CA
I did the same thing and love it! One thing I hated was pulling the panels to get my hands in there for the nuts! So I used nutserts and now I just have to use 4 1/4-20 bolts from the outside. Nice and fast when the weather changes on the trail ;)

Rick-
 
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Tito

Tito

CB Fire Starter
Joined
Jan 29, 2006
Messages
10,781
Loc.
Bakersfield, CA
That is a good idea, the nutserts fit in there without interferance from the window coming down the track? Did you put a rubber sleeve over the sert in there to keep the window from grinding while going up and down?
 

Broncrick

Sr. Member
Joined
Jun 14, 2001
Messages
402
Loc.
Nevada City,CA
PDXBronco said:
That is a good idea, the nutserts fit in there without interferance from the window coming down the track? Did you put a rubber sleeve over the sert in there to keep the window from grinding while going up and down?

No they sit behind the 'frame track', I only had a clearance issue with one (my fault, first one I did) and filed it down a touch. The bolts I had to grind down to be the perfect length with lock washers though. No grinding at all up and down. But I did have to actually tighten up some loose mounting hdwe that shoed up once I did this mod ;D

Rick-
 

gddyap

Bronco Guru
Joined
Mar 8, 2005
Messages
1,334
Loc.
Mtn View, CA
Skuzzlebutt said:
Nice write up. I was actually expecting to see the "two minutes with a Sawzall" method.

That's what I did! The doors are amazingly light with no glass, window crank assembly, or window frame. My original intent was to make half doors but I kind of like the no window frame look already so I may stop there. Just need to finish off the top edge where the glass used to be. Maybe remove the outer door handles and lock too.
 

fedrlbiker

Jr. Member
Joined
Oct 8, 2009
Messages
51
Loc.
Dallas, TX
No they sit behind the 'frame track', I only had a clearance issue with one (my fault, first one I did) and filed it down a touch. The bolts I had to grind down to be the perfect length with lock washers though. No grinding at all up and down. But I did have to actually tighten up some loose mounting hdwe that shoed up once I did this mod ;D

Rick-

Does anyone have any pics of this mod? I'm planning to start on some '72 doors I just bought. I have a 3rd to practice on, but it would be awesome to have a visual of how this works without interrupting the window track. The frame is so thin it seems like there wouldn't be enough thread to tighten well if the nut's were flush on the inside...

Anyone in Dallas want to help me try / learn how to do this one weekend? It'll save you from trial and error on your own doors and help me out! ;D
 

Explorer

Bronco Guru
Joined
Mar 2, 2008
Messages
4,390
Loc.
Raphine, Virginia
Thanks Patrick,

Yeah my 67 had the removable frames and I really like having them, the frames were out most of the year down in Bakersfield, makes for a much cleaner look with the top off.
I like what some of the guys have done, keeping the vent attached (for windshield support and a little style), maybe on another door I will try and figure out how to make the back frame piece slip in and out, might be tougher than I am picturing though.

This removal wasnt too bad but I didnt want to start with any of the doors on my rigs since they are pretty nice. Next step is to rip into my 76 doors. I am probably going to either chrome (Think I have a connection) or powdercoat them white like the top since they will come off when the top comes off. Also gotta put the windshield braces on the cage too before I get it powdercoated.

Anyways, I thought it was a pretty cool mod and had heard a lot of talk about it but hadnt really seen it much less did it myself.

Mine were cut off when I bought it and drove in a 3" piece of 3/8", I believe, solid rod in the ends to stiffen and weld. Might be able to make something like that work, maybe with a set screw. I ran it for a week or so before I welded it and it was fairly easy to remove before welding.
 

Dan's73

Bronco Guru
Joined
Oct 17, 2006
Messages
1,116
I bought a set of '68 doors just to have the removable frames on my '73. I had done a mod similar to yours on an earlier EB and had problems with the frames not being rigid enough to seal at speeds over 30mph. Of course, being young, I went the sawzall route to cut the frames off, leaving the vent windows in place. I had 1"w X 1/8"thick steel welded on to reattach the frames to the door & vent frames, but there just wasn't enough strength there to make it stiff. Your method looks much better and, likely, much stronger.

Now that I've got these '68 doors, my plan is to make a "channel filler" like you mentioned as the frames (with vent windows) will likely be off the EB most of the time. I'm thinking I'll machine something out of ABS that will fill the channel and give me a slot to capture the top of the window & keep it from moving around inside the door. When I get to that point I'll post up pics.
 
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Tito

Tito

CB Fire Starter
Joined
Jan 29, 2006
Messages
10,781
Loc.
Bakersfield, CA
True, we have several deceased members on here whose posts pop up from time to time. Interesting how you could have never met them in person but still get sentimental due to their life here on the board.
 

Fireball05

Bronco Guru
Joined
Oct 7, 2012
Messages
1,822
I just cut up my frames today. It was a bit of a pain cutting out all the weld. I had to hack up the frames and doors pretty good!

My question is this...on the rear of the door, what are you doing to secure the window frame to the door? If you weld a nut onto the frame, I think it would interfere with the window track.

How do the 66-68 doors work? Is the door itself just threaded? The door is only 1/16" thick or so, so that's only a few threads.

Here is a view inside my driver side. You can see the 4 pilot holes drilled through for the spot welded. The window tract runs inside here. I would like to use 2 bolts going through the door into the window frame, but not sure I can weld a nut into there.


Any advice is appreciated!
 
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Fireball05

Bronco Guru
Joined
Oct 7, 2012
Messages
1,822
Those frames are nice, but not the look I am after. I want to replicate the bolt-in feature of the doors just like the 66-68s had OEM. Plan to run with a bikini top and the frames out in the summer, but would like to have the frames in and be able to use the hard top or soft top for trips and the winter.

Thanks!
 

Marshall

Jr. Member
Joined
Mar 29, 2014
Messages
108
Window frame removal video

Hey guys. I've been wanting to do this so last weekend me and my son made a project out of it. Lots left to do (fill in holes, cover up cut spots, paint etc) Drilled the holes out on the spot welds on the passenger door, but that left holes to fill in. On the driver side, I left the spot welds and just removed. I plan to make it to where I can reconnect them in case I want to use the hardtop. Anyway, it's not the greatest quality video, but it might help someone. I like the way it turned out, looks wise. I would like to put covers over where the glass goes eventually, and clean all that up some, but as for the frames I like it much better this way.

https://youtu.be/37VY-gp1LRs
 

Godwick

Sr. Member
Joined
May 14, 2011
Messages
407
Loc.
Santa Barbara, CA
That is great. Thinking of doing this mod myself, but wanted to see how they look when they're done first.

Did you ever make the second video showing the install of the frames after the mod and it all buttoned up?
 

Marshall

Jr. Member
Joined
Mar 29, 2014
Messages
108
Ok so when I want To put the hard top on the cut window frame wasn't too friendly for That, so I ended up getting bolt in window frames to make it like a 66. I love it. Lot of work. I put a video of me putting it in after the work. It's not a good video but hey there might be something in there that helps someone. I got them From cjponyparts.com, can't complain they were a good deal. This thing is a time and money pit as I'm sure most of you are experiencing. " hello my name is Marshall, and I am a bronco-holic."

Right before Christmas they had a special. https://youtu.be/LWtjWa8fz60
 
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