73 and 77B doors interchangeable?

I am looking at Russ' 73 parts car on trader and was wondering if the doors are the same as my 77B doors and are interchangeable?

I'm pretty sure the only difference is the later door has holes for the anti-burst locking pin - I don't think the 1973's had the locking pin.

My 1971 has a 1975+ door and it worked fine.

Oh - one possible gotcha - the holes for the mirror changed location slightly over the years. Check this carefully and either get a matching mirror or fill the holes and redrill for your mirror if necessary.

Thanks Terry,
I am trying to get rid of the crack of doom in my doors. Mirror location wont bother me one bit.
Thanks

crack of doom will be right back....here is why....the car depending on age may be sagging and that is the weak point on center of the car. If the car is strong at the rocker sections (6 pieces to one side) then the crack of doom was never attended to when the rockers were replaced. Have a body shop install a 2 inch wide by 4 inch long strip of steel under the crack in the area of the side view mirrors and either weld or rivet and cover it in place then refinish the doors....crack of doom is gone forever. It is a support issue vs age sagging and the door keeps it all together hence the crack appears at the thin point.

Thats interesting about the crack of doom, thanks. I am looking at the vent windows also, my vent window frame is cracked on drivers side and I cant believe the price of them in the catalogs!

I thought that crack came from pulling the door closed by the sidevent fixture! Jerry's right though, just have someone weld it, cheaper than a new door. Mine are being done as we speak. I just got a pair of doors from a 77 B and those doors are easily twice as heavy as the ones from my 72 B, what gives on that. structural upgrades?

since the beginning of time we've known about the crack of doom. here's what i know. about 10 years ago i had the door skins replaced. the driver's side has never had the door closed by pulling on the vent window and the passenger's side doesn't have a side view mirror. both now have the crack. jerry's explanation seems about as good as as anything i've heard lately.

Somwhere around '74 they added a side impact beam to the door. That adds a good solid 10+ pounds to the door! Just don't try to trade doors from a roadster to a GT and they all should fit fine.

Heres a question...anybody ever notice cracks of doom appearing in GT's?

I've heard somewhere that the alignment of the convertible's vent window frame to the windshield angle is critical too. If the windshield's not aligned correctly to the vent window then the door has excess pressure put on it's door skin everytime the door is slammed shut. It'd be interesting to see how many GT's develop the COD as opposed to the convertibles since the GT's vent window alignment obviously stays more constant and the body's less likely to sag than on the open car. Any GT owners out there have/had COD problems?

Shawn Escue

According to Clausager the anti-burst pins and side impact beams were added in August 72 for 73 model year North American cars. See page 148.

Clifton

Wouldn't you know it? My '72 was made in July!

Shawn Escue

Whats the diff between a roadster door and a GT door?

Not much, but they're different. I understand that you can use one or the other of them on the other one with some minor tweaking. Different part numbers if you check...

Shawn

Just curious. I may have two different doors on my GT. The passenger door seems to sit higher then the drivers. The window doesn't seem to roll down as far.

Robert, I think you'd notice the differences in the corners. I don't think you can just bolt on a GT door to a convertible or vis a versa without some tweaking to the door. I think the convertible doors are more rounded in the corners. I'm sure someone who knows more about this subject will chime in.

Shawn Escue

flash75 Wrote:

I have to wonder if the new replacement Heritage doors come with the safety beams installed in them. I bet they do since I'm assuming that they'd build the lastest and greatest into their replacement doors. Anybody know for sure?

Shawn Escue