Door installation
 

Well, lets just say that when we tried to install the doors onto the 64, there was a little problem...

I dont know if it was Ford design brilliance or backroads engineering, but behind the sheetmetal on the doorjamb there were these metal blocks with threading for the bolts, and when my buddy tried to screw the bolt in while I held the 100 pound door in place, the metal block just pushed out of the way.


So...is that the way its suppose to be, and how the hell am I supposed to put the doors on?

Yes Budiak, these can be a pain but feel fortunate that these plates don't come loose and fall down like mine did. The way you can get around this is find at least two bolts the same size as the door hinge bolts and cut the head of the bolt off. Before installing the door thread one in the lower and upper plate a few turns. Then use this to keep the plates from pushing back and install the door hinges sliding over the cutoff bolt and hold on to this while you start the other bolts.

One thing of caution make sure that the bolts for the hinges are in good shape because I snaped one of mine :eek:

I guess I forgot to mention that one of the blocks DID fall down into the door and is now lying on the floor by the kickpanel. Its still lying there, well, because we were so pissed off and confusedas to WHY the car was designed that way that we immediately packed up and went home.

I wan thinkng about using a glue gun and gluing the damn plate in place, no, heat wrench never came to mind. Until now.

I'll figure something out.

Maybe I'm misunderstanding? Wouldn't the simple removal of the plastic kick panels expose the backside of the door jamb? That should make things easy shouldn't it? Maybe I'm out to lunch on this problem?

Rev

You are half right. Removing the plastic kick panel will reveal the backside of only the lower doorjamb, not the top one. The top one is the one I knocked out.

Any suggs? If I have to remove the dash I will...its not like I have a choice.

During the restoration of mine, I removed those plates, cleaned off some surface rust, and painted them. The plates are supposed to slide in position and are held in place by metal prongs that keep them from moving or falling down. Check to see if yours are not broken off or bent. I know on the inside of one of my doors (same design), one of my retainers has broken loose.

Interesting, however, how did you get to the top retainers from the inside? Did you remove the dashboard? I dont have a problem doing it, except of course that I dont want to do it if I dont have to.

All you have to remove is the kick panels and you can reach right in with your hand.

No, I cant.

Well I do have to admit my dash pad is removed right now. Wasn't aware it came down that low. Or, there may be some differences in design between the 64 and 68 I'm not aware of. If the dash pad is in the way, then I guess you will have to remove it.

O.K. you got my curiosity going as to why I can easily get my hand to the upper inside hinge area so I just checked it out in my garage. The reason I can easily reach it is my heater control assembly is removed. You should be able to remove the screws holding it in (if it's like the 68) and slide it out. You may have to unplug it if it won't come out far enough. The dash pad probably doesn't need to be removed.

Ahh, interesting. I'll see about that. The heater control shouldnt be any different in the two years, they're basically the same car anyways.

Here's how to remove the heater box from your '64.5. Look up under dash just in front of the air vent...see screw? Okay now wait! Disconnect cable from defroster just above transmission tunnel at top edge of carpet (if you don't and the duct is cardboard, the cable clip will tear loose from the cardboard). Plan to replace the cardboard with the aftermarket plastic duct anyway! Lift the hood and look at the heater fan motor. There are four Tinnerman nuts on four posts around the fan motor. Remove them. Now remove the screw thats up under the dash above the right air vent door. When you do, the heater will come loose and want to fall. Pull it towards you and let it drop a bit. Note that the heater hoses will hold the end of the heater but if you thread them back a small amount you should be able to turn the heater away from the kickpanel without having to remove the hoses. You can disconnect the other two control cables if you wish (I normally do since it makes the job easier).

If you wish to remove the hoses for reasons of necessity or convenience, remove the engine ends first, drain any fluids from the heater core and then remove the heater and hoses (I usually just cut the hoses at a convenient point and plan to replace them). Remove the heater box to your workbench.

Do what you have to do for the door plates.

Consider rebuilding the heater box while its out. The heater repair kit is about $20 and the heater/defroster works much better when the gaskets have been recently replaced. When replacing heater, attach hoses first, then thread through firewall and get heater almost into position. Attach control cables, push up into position, insert under dash screw and tighten it mostly to hold the heater box in position. If you can't do this for some reason (working by yourself, etc) then put the heater box in position, prop up with flashlight or similar sized object, replace Tinnerman nuts sufficiently to hold heater box in position then insert under dash screw and tighten.

Good luck!

Maybe I didn't use the right terminology. You don't have to remove the heater box to get to the inside upper hinge area. Only the controls for it. On my 68 the controls are on the driver's side lower part of the dash. Believe there are 2 or 4 screws holding it in place and then it will slide out. You may have to remove a screw or two to disconnect the cable wire assembly if there's not enough play for the controls to slide out to give you enough room (or you can remove the cables from the heater box - just take note where you removed them from). You'll also probably have to unplug the switch from the wiring harness. On the right-hand side you may have to remove the glove box to get to the inside upper hinge area.