I need to replace the window rails on my car. Do you need to pull the door panel and remove the glass? Here's a pic of what i'm talking about. I highlighted the part .

 

i'm curious too, mine are cracked...you are talking about the rubberish pieces right?

 

You'll need to remove the door panel, but not the glass. They're held on by a bunch of screws. Make sure you have a magnetic screwdriver or drive socket for putting them back on, othersie it gets a little frustrating dropping screws.

 

Yeah I tried to do this the other day. The outer piece is screwed to the door with about 8 to 10 screws, the inner piece is stapled to the black molding that runs the length of the door. Now the black molding piece is held on the door panel via little thin type of nut, I dont know how to take these off without breaking the plastic or ripping the cardboard like door panel, which is what I did, damnit. Taking the whole door panel off with the black molding left on is probably the safest way to do it, then you could replace the rubber strips and assemble it back together.

Since my car is a 86, everything whether its rubber, plastic, or whatever is extremely brittle and worn out, so I'm learning the hard way to do things.

Oh one other thing, my window was in the way of the two middle screws that hold the outter strip to the door. I do not know how to get around this yet, I saving that problem till I actualy get some new rubber strips to put on, then I will figure that one out.

Hope this helps to let you know whats involved in doing this.
Any thing else, feel free to ask.

 

Check out the Tech Article on the home page.....All about windows and door panals......

 

Thanks for the help guys