57 Ranchero glass

[Dennis in MV]

Ok more questions about glass, run channel etc.  Where is the best place to find glass for a door to start with. I noticed the passenger side has a big radius at the top and I can see through it with the window rolled up. I can?t believe people can be so careless and sloppy about replacement and repair on some of these cars. This was done at the expense of the previous owner. A well known glass shop in her town only installs tempered glass so she went ahead and had it done and this was on the drivers side. Weren?t these cars built with the laminated glass?  I don?t have a problem with tempered glass, I?ve installed a lot of flat glass in construction equipment as well trucks.  Maybe I?m too picky but shouldn?t that top front corner be nearly square at the top?  I have a 29 Ford Tudor with the same type of window channel, the glass is square at the top with a 1/2? radius at the bottom. Does anybody have dimensions or patterns for these 57?s.

Also there is a rubber strip on the bottom opening of the door on the outer panel that is missing. It is held in place with clips. I need one of those to replace the missing piece.

I didn?t look in detail in the repair manual the replacement of the door glass to see what was involved involved I did notice the garnish is held with screws on the outer perimeter of the top of the door.

What tool is normally required to remove the window crank and inner door handle?

Thanks for all the help you guys have given so far. And I don?t have the repair manual with me, was left at her house with the Ranchero.

I attempted to attach a photo and hopefully it works.

[Ford Blue blood]

The door glass has a very small radius at the front.  There are little clips that hold the door handles on.  That tool is sold in every Ford supplier.  Almost a requirement for these cars.

Check the vendor list here.  An outfit located in MN sells complete or individual pieces, there name escapes me at the moment.  Getting the glass out and in is a chore.  The interior garnish molding comes off first.  The vent window assembly has to come out next.  There is a screw on the top of the door frame and two screws just under the catch.  One is right out front, the second is under the frame, it ties the door skin to the vent frame.  The with the window lowered the clips that hold the rollers to the channel need to be pulled.  This will allow the glass to come lose, then just lift it out.

Not sure what rubber you are talking about on the bottom of the door.  The door seal goes completely around the door, the bottom is held in with a long piece welded to the frame and has sculptured edges.  Don't know of any other rubber down there.

Good luck with it.  Nice looking Ranchero!

[RICH MUISE]

First....a newbie that isn't afraid to ask questions......love it!!
second.........I love that color combo. As Bill said, that's a great looking Ranchero.
Third. Also, as Bill siad, the front corner of the glass is almost square......little more than just a corner break......1/8 radius or so.
The best supplier for glass I've found, and many of us have used, is Auto City Classic in Mn. Their contact info is in our supplier listings, but it's www.autocityclassic.com. They carry green, clear or smoke
For your info, the Ranchero door is identical to the Custom 2dr sedan and 2dr wagons.
That little horseshoe wire clip that holds the door handles on I removed with some plastic trim tools @ Harbor Freight. It's basically a wide flat pry bar type with a slot that clears the splined shaft. Same type of clip, but larger, that holds the window roller on.
The doors have a one piece seal that go all the way around the door, as Bill said, not sure what you're talking about with an "extra piece on the lower door". There is also a rubber dogleg seal, about a foot long, on the door under the windshield area.
I don't think you have to remove the vent window frame to remove the door glass, but it definetly needs to have all the screws removed. With the window down and those screws removed, you should be able to carefully get the glass out of the channel, rotate it 90*, and lift it out.
The garnish rails also have screws on the sides as well as the top, and two long ones on the face of the garnish moulding.
Rich

[RICH MUISE]

been thinking some more........maybe the previous owner got the glass in backwards, but the only way that could happen is if he jury rigged the glass channel and the back corner, which I can't see in the pic you posted, does not have the larger radius in the back corner. That channel is a 90* piece that is top and back side, with a large radius to match the window opening profile. If you can, post some pics of the rubber seal you were talking about, and pics of the existing glass (fuzzy) channel.
Aftermarket glass is usually tempered (or at least should be) on side and back glass, and the windshields are laminated. I often wondered about the offshore flat glass..if they are actually tempered when not laminated. How would you know?

[gasman826]

I just had my door glass out of both doors on '57 Custom (same as Ranchero).  The side glass should be laminated...not necessary but should be.  I took an original FOMOCO marked side glass to an old time glass shop and they cut me four of them.  The first two went into the Raunch Wagon (same as Ranchero).  I had gutted the Raunch Wagon doors and media blasted them.  I put a little Rustoleum on them to perserve for some future paint job.  With new vent glass, rubber, division bars, channels, fuzzies, cleaned and lubed rollers, everything went back together and works fine.  The Custom on the other had was painted with many, many coats of paint.  The glass went in tight...everything was tight.  I took the door glass out of the Custom because it was so tight I was concerned the power window motors would burn up.  So here I am removing door glass from a finished car.  Since it was laminated glass, glass shop had no problem taking 3/32" off one side.  If it had been tempered glass, the four shops that I called would not touch it.  The channel, division bar and vent assembly does NOT have to be removed.  Remove the garnish, handles, arm rest, and door card.  Remove the lower division bar adjustment bolt.  Remove the window bottom stop.  Roll the window down.  With light and maybe a mirror, remove the e-clip on the backside of the crank lifting arm.  Remove the little clips on the rollers.  Now the linkage will be free from the window bottom channel.  Slide the window down (it will go to the bottom of the door).  Push the window forward springing the divison bar enough to get the window out of the rear channel (1/2").  Once out of both channels,  rotate the glass 80-90 degrees counter clockwise (from inside the car).  Lift up and out.  Easy peasy.  Reverse to install.  The rollers need to be serviced.  They are steel so clean the rust and old grease.  Assemble with new grease and new clips (the first time, you will mess up a couple of clips before you get the hang of it).  The serviced rollers go back it the channels.  When the glass goes back in, the arms easily snap back into the rollers.

[CobraJoe]

Beautiful Ranchero Dennis and welcome to the forum. There's a lot of knowledge here and unlike other forums, these guys will answer your questions and point you in the right direction without any grief.

I noticed "MV" in your name, are you from the Vineyard?

[Dennis in MV]

Ok sounds easy enough to do getting the glass out. We were having too much fun cruising around town and it was dark but I again forgot to take a picture. Should say a picture of the glass and the rubber strip that?s missing. Tell you guys what I?m going to post a picture of the area, not a Ranchero, but so you have an idea of the area on the door where this missing piece is.  There are slots in the skin for clips to hold this rubber piece. Maybe it?s called a wiper.

[RICH MUISE]

Ah, the bottom of the window, not "bottom of door", lol. That's called an anti-rattler strip and they are available at www.classicautoparts.com, in OKC. Classic Auto Parts makes their own window weatherstrip components (Dale Manufacturing......same owner). They were stapled in at the factory, but I'd strongly recommend epoxy gluing them in place and removing the staples that may come already attached. The only thing stopping those staples from scratching the glass is the fuzzies on the strip, and good chance they will scratch...........ask me how I know. There's one strip on the door and another on the garnish rail. Classic calls them door window felt weatherstrip kits
https://www.classicautopartsonlinecatalog.com/Fullsize-Ford-and-Mercury/280/#
Also, fyi, 57 ford parts prefix is B7A-
Joe......MV is Mission Viejo, not Martha's Vineyard..............good guess though, I drew a blank

[Tom S]

... What tool is normally required to remove the window crank and inner door handle? ...

This is the tool used to remove the clips for those handles. One end takes 'em off & the other puts 'em on. I had to pound the flange flat on the removal end because it wouldn't fit around the large round end of the '57 handles. I got the tool off a rack at NAPA.

[RICH MUISE]

Yes, I probably misspoke when I said I used the plastic ones from HF......I do have a similar thin metal one to the pic posted.

[terry_208]

This is the tool used to remove the clips for those handles. One end takes 'em off & the other puts 'em on. I had to pound the flange flat on the removal end because it wouldn't fit around the large round end of the '57 handles. I got the tool off a rack at NAPA.

I had to flatten the flange on the removal end.  I've never used a tool to install the u shaped clip.  Just put the clip on the handle and press in onto the splined shaft.  I've never had trouble installing the handles but have had to remove the handles to re position them.  I may have been extremely lucky not damaging something.

[Tom S]

.. I've never used a tool to install the u shaped clip.  Just put the clip on the handle and press in onto the splined shaft. ...

I did that too. Sometimes it worked & sometimes it didn't. 

[Ford Blue blood]

Thanks guys for clarifying the glass removal.  I had completely forgotten about dropping the glass to the bottom of the door and pushing the front glass run forward to clear the glass.

The fuzzy on the door snaps in, the one on the garnish is stapled in from the factory.  I have used 1/8" pop rivets with great success over the years and painted the heads flat black.

These are shots of the 58 Edsel fuzzies going in, same thing for 57 - 58 and many other year Fords.

[RICH MUISE]

Dennis.........I'm not sure why Classic calls them weatherstripping, as fuzzies don't keep all the water out like rubber on the new cars does. With that in mind, when you have the door panel off, check the bottom inside door for debris that may be clogging the drain holes on the bottom of the door. It's important those are kept open for water to drain out. Those doors are designed to pass water thru, not necessarily to keep water out.
That's why the rocker panels on these cars are sloped downwards, so the water runs out to the outside rather than inside.

Interesting side story: I guess they didn't get enough rocker slope on '57 T-Birds, because on one of our posted dealer technical bulletins, the fix for customers complaining about wet carpet was to drill holes thru the aluminum rocker dress sill plate down thru the top of the rocker to let water out!!

[djfordmanjack]

FWIW don't buy any of the cheap replacement 57 door glass that is offered on ebay. they are indeed green tint laminated glass, but the fit and cut finish are horrible. the straight top edge on my door glass is about 1/4" wavy or so and it's at least 1/4" short as well, so it rattles and wobbles around ... disgusting.