No More Vent Windows
Mike's truck build is reminiscent of the '69 Penske TransAm Camaro, which if you know anything about the F-body cars, lost their vent windows in '68. Unfortunately, GM decided to leave the vent windows in the trucks until '87, so we had a small design conflict. Luckily for us, our sixth stop on the tour was to One Piece Products in Whittier, California, to have Ben Tapia, designer of the kit, fill our new doors with solid side glass.
OPP isn't a new face in the one-piece conversion industry, as a matter of fact, they also make a kit for the flat glass '67-'72 C10s and really broke new ground a few years ago with the curved glass kit for the '73-'87 trucks. The conversion is designed for use with "stock" doors and window regulators (power or manual), but can also be made to work with aftermarket doors like the ones we just installed. Follow along as Ben converts our brand-new vent window-style doors to slick and smooth one-piece units.
The OPP kit for the '73-'87...
The OPP kit for the '73-'87 trucks comes with everything needed for the conversion, minus the tools. The main component is the new tempered and curved glass that replaces the vent window and factory side glass. The instructions that come with OPP's kit are thorough, so we'll just hit the highlights.
The first step was to strip...
The first step was to strip the doors of the vent window assembly and factory rubbers. In our case, the doors were new, so we just installed the regulators, handles, and locks. Ben started the install by opening up the channel area of the door where the vent window normally resides. This area is a little too narrow for the new felt to reside, but after opening it to about 1-inch wide the felt fit properly.
The new outside scraper was...
The new outside scraper was adhered to the door with weatherstrip adhesive. Ben said he is working on a new design that will have the factory-style clips so you can just snap it into place. Until he comes out with that, the weatherstrip adhesive will do just fine (he's just trying to simplify his kit). Not photographed but important, was the cutting of the support strap that tied the inner and outer skin of the door. This is right below where the vent window would be and was cut with a hacksaw, again the instructions will show exactly what we are talking about.
Obviously the one-piece glass...
Obviously the one-piece glass will be much larger than the factory glass, so the channels needed to be either replaced or moved. The factory rear channel was moved back with this 4-inch extension piece and was bolted in place in the factory holes.
A new roller channel was provided...
A new roller channel was provided in the kit, which was used to connect the glass to the regulator. The factory channel was permanently fixed to the glass, where this one is redesigned to be bolted to the new glass, which makes it easier to install.
Now the new one-piece tempered...
Now the new one-piece tempered glass was fed into the opening. Ben has been doing this for years and made it look easy. We later found out, when we removed them for paint, that the glass is pretty simple to install thanks to the redesigned roller channel.
Here is where the glass and...
Here is where the glass and the roller channel were bolted together with the provided hardware.
A new front main guide was...
A new front main guide was provided in the kit...
...and used one lower factory...
...and used one lower factory hole along with a new hole that Ben drillled to mount to the door.