I'm getting the passenger door ready for the PDR guy to fix a couple minor door dings in the '73 tomorrow (wish me luck letting someone else mess with my car)

Followed the guide below from an old post:

Roll window down.

Take off pockets on doors, philips head screws + allen wrench.

Pop the center plastic off of the window crank, remove screw + crank.

Pop off the black plastic cover on the door latch, remove metal surround held on with 1 screw.

Carefully pop off plastic clips around the bottom and side edges of the panel. Maybe a putty knife will help.

Panel should lift off upwards.


Everything went fine except I can't see how to remove the black plastic window crank. My '73 has the solid black plastic cranks. Thought there would be a plastic cap over a screw that holds the crank handle to the mechanism but there doesn't appear to be a cap. How do I remove the handle to get to the screw underneath? Does the whole black plastic arm somehow snap off to reveal a metal handle underneath with access to the screw?

Thanks for the help!

I had the same question, but carefully pulled up on the very edge of the handle, nearest the bolt, and voila, the "leather-look" plastic (on a '74) is just a thin plastic cover that will easily flex up and too the side to leave access for the bolt. It's soft enough that it won't break.

Yep. The "cover" is the entire black part. Gently prying around the pivot will free it from the metal underneath and reveal the retaining screw.

there is always a screw under the plastic.

Try and use some sort of plastic tool to pry with. That way you won't knick the edge of the cover., cuts pretty easy.

Click to view attachment

Thanks everyone! Just needed a bit of guidance and assurance that I wasn't going to break something.

Click to view attachment

Remember not to switch the mounting screw for the crank for that of the inner handle backing plate. They are different lengths, and if you use the window crank screw in the handle you will not be able to open the door!

--DD

Been there, done that!

Thanks. I used separate baggies to keep the various parts in so hopefully I'll avoid that but as always this place is a wealth of information.