71 Mustang Mach 1 lower door glass felts attachment

[Spechti]

Hi guys,

today I installed the upper and lower door glass beltline felts on my driver's door. The Mustang funnily has a pair of them on each door. Maybe this was done to bring more guidance to the door glass and reduce water intrusion to the door.

The upper felt is attached with spring metal clips molded into the metal core of it and a little screw at the end.

The previous owner of my car attached the lower one with silicone which did not last long and the lower felt fell into the door...

The new repop has no holes or clip on it. But there are two screw holes in the door sheetmetal in places where the felt attaches to and there are access holes for the screwdriver in the door shell for access.

Was that all? Did anyone remove or install the lower felts on his car and can tell how it was attached?

Thanks.

Michael

 

[mustang7173]

Hello Spechti,

From my experience, there are two for each side. One attached to the door itself (clips) and the other attaches to the metal cap, if you have standard door panels, or attaches to the deluxe door panel itself. The door panel ones are stapled in. I have send some original felt pads that were really wide. A friend of mine has a NOS pair that he will not let of of. Darn it. I have looked for a while for the early type of window felts, but no luck. Also, I had another mustang friend, take his door felt strips to an auto upholstery shop and had the door panel felt strips stapled like the originals. That is what I am going to do once I get to the point in my restore project. I hope this helps.

mustang7173

 

[Spechti]

Thanks for your answer. But sorry for my insufficient description of the topic.

My question was about the outer felts, not the inner ones attached to the upper part of the door panel. The upper outside felt is visible when you look down the door glass from above. It is attached to the door with little spring clips like you said. The lower outside felt looks the same like the upper one, but unlike that they have no clips and they are not visible (except with windows rolled down all the way and looking into the slot).

I can only see two holes in the door sheetmetal for attaching it with screws. But the two mounting points are not sufficient to hold it tightly in place. It is still sloppy.

My question was about the correct and safe attachment of this lower, outer felt.

The repop felt sets include all visible felts for one car in their kit. The lower felt kit is not included. It is also made by repops, but is a separate kit. As far as I know, only NPD supplies it.

Michael

 

[mustang7173]

Hello Spechti,

I see what you are talking about. At the time of my restore, the 4 piece window felt kit was not available. What I had to use was the 8 piece kit that had one strip for the outside and one for the metal door panel cap. What I was referring to was that my original outside window felt was one wide strip. I would love to find a new NOS set. Also, I did not even know that this was available. Thank You pointing that out. I am still working on my 1973 coupe and I will take a look at the door. Have you had any more time to research this?

mustang7173

Thanks for your answer. But sorry for my insufficient description of the topic.

My question was about the outer felts, not the inner ones attached to the upper part of the door panel. The upper outside felt is visible when you look down the door glass from above. It is attached to the door with little spring clips like you said. The lower outside felt looks the same like the upper one, but unlike that they have no clips and they are not visible (except with windows rolled down all the way and looking into the slot).

I can only see two holes in the door sheetmetal for attaching it with screws. But the two mounting points are not sufficient to hold it tightly in place. It is still sloppy.

My question was about the correct and safe attachment of this lower, outer felt.

The repop felt sets include all visible felts for one car in their kit. The lower felt kit is not included. It is also made by repops, but is a separate kit. As far as I know, only NPD supplies it.

Michael

 

[Spechti]

I was a little surprised to find it in the catalog, too. I never before or after saw it anywhere else.

The lower felt kit looks exactly like the old parts I removed from the door, resp. fingered out of it. I think they are the originals. But like I said, there were no traces of glue (except from a bead of bathroom silicone) on the felts and only two little screw holes at the places shown.

The lower one is not shown in the shop manual or parts manual.

I still have not found out how this was attached. I have a problem to believe it was attached only with the two #8 screws.



In this pic you can see the door with the two outer felts. One screw is approximately located in the area of the mirror, the other three inches behind the door lock knob.



Here is the front screw hole (driver side mirror in background)



The rear screw hole



Maybe here can one place another screw to hold the end of the felt...

Maybe someone knows how this was attached at Ford.

Michael

 

[Qcode351mach]

I was a little surprised to find it in the catalog, too. I never before or after saw it anywhere else.

The lower felt kit looks exactly like the old parts I removed from the door, resp. fingered out of it. I think they are the originals. But like I said, there were no traces of glue (except from a bead of bathroom silicone) on the felts and only two little screw holes at the places shown.

The lower one is not shown in the shop manual or parts manual.

I still have not found out how this was attached. I have a problem to believe it was attached only with the two #8 screws.

In this pic you can see the door with the two outer felts. One screw is approximately located in the area of the mirror, the other three inches behind the door lock knob.

Here is the front screw hole (driver side mirror in background)

The rear screw hole

Maybe here can one place another screw to hold the end of the felt...

Maybe someone knows how this was attached at Ford.

Michael

Here's pictures of a original OUTER (door side) felt..you can see it's 1 piece not 2 ...When it comes time to do mine I'm going to join the 2 seperate felts as 1 on some sort of thin backer plate material..Then use telsa clear molding tape on the lower part..

 

[mustang7173]

Hello Qcode351mach,

Yes! There they are. I have several of the old ones my self. I have a friend of mine who has an NOS pair! Arrrgggh! I think the re-pops are just crap. They do not hold up to the elements or weather like the originals. Thank You for the pictures. Also, thanks for the continuous updates on your mustang.

mustang7173


Hello Qcode351mach,

Do they make a backer type material thin enough not too cause spacing problem? I wonder if there is a real thin aluminum that might work?

mustang7173

 

[Spechti]

Thank you for the pictures, Q!

I have never seen one of those before. This means the old felts in the car also were repops and not OEM parts. With this information it is no question that there were no more screw holes to attach the lower felt.

So i have to deal with it and find a solution for the problem. The car is not driven in bad weather and is kept clean and dry in a garage. So the repops will be of sufficient quality for this car.

Thanks again!

Michael

 

[imusa76]

back in the Spring when I re did my Car, I through out my OEM ones, thinking the Repops would be the same, but when I opened up the box of the aftermarket ones, I kicked my self for throwing them out!!!

 

[mustang7173]

Hello,

I pulled my 1971-72 Mustang Body Assembly Manual, by Jim Osborn Reproductions *, to address the window felt parts and assembly. According to the engineering drawing, it is one large felt piece. The pictures that Qcode351mach posted do represent what is shown in the 1971-1972 Mustang Body Manual. Now, Ford might have updated the assembly for the 1973 model year to a smaller one piece or two pieces. Maybe this is the reason we see the narrow one piece of window felt strip. I would like to see the larger one piece window felt strip be reproduced. I do not have the 73 Body assembly manual.

My experience with the reproduction window felt kits are not that good. The first sets installed were dry rotted after a two years outside in normal weather conditions. I suspect that they did not have the UV protection designed into them.

Does anybody else have better experience with the reproduction window felt kits? Who makes a real good product that will last at least 10 to 15 years?

* Source:

1971-72 Body Engineering Manual, pp 91, Official Licensed Product, Ford Motor Company, 5002

Copyright: 1995 Jim Osborn Reproductions Inc.

mustang7173

 

[tricksixtyfive]

How do i install the felt on the 73 deluxe door panels, there are no holes in the repop ones and it looked like the old ones are pop riveted on. any help thanks in advance

Hello,

I pulled my 1971-72 Mustang Body Assembly Manual, by Jim Osborn Reproductions *, to address the window felt parts and assembly. According to the engineering drawing, it is one large felt piece. The pictures that Qcode351mach posted do represent what is shown in the 1971-1972 Mustang Body Manual. Now, Ford might have updated the assembly for the 1973 model year to a smaller one piece or two pieces. Maybe this is the reason we see the narrow one piece of window felt strip. I would like to see the larger one piece window felt strip be reproduced. I do not have the 73 Body assembly manual.

My experience with the reproduction window felt kits are not that good. The first sets installed were dry rotted after a two years outside in normal weather conditions. I suspect that they did not have the UV protection designed into them.

Does anybody else have better experience with the reproduction window felt kits? Who makes a real good product that will last at least 10 to 15 years?

* Source:

1971-72 Body Engineering Manual, pp 91, Official Licensed Product, Ford Motor Company, 5002

Copyright: 1995 Jim Osborn Reproductions Inc.

mustang7173

 

[judge]

I make staples out if stainless steel welding wire, drill two small holes every five inches or so. Push the staples through the twin holes. Fold them over tight on the inside. Paint the exposed flat side with black paint. I've seen many cars at shows with the rivits. If you use any screws make sure they are flat and can't hit glass when slamming the door.