I have a 1973 cadillac sedan de ville that has apparently had the driver door replaced and repainted some years ago. My problem is the gap between the front and rear driver side windows is about 1/2 inch too big and it appears that the window doesnt go all the way up. The passenger side seals quite nicely. Ive opened up the door panel and all the adjustments are moved all the way back. Ive heard the fleetwood and sedan de ville doors are the same but is the glass different or is there an adjustment Im missing.
If the door was replaced then one must conclude that the vehicle had damage to that door.
I would first make sure the door aligns correctly to the body, and then make sure the widows roll up and seal.
Tester
The door is aligned properly the window does not seem to be up high enough but the window regulator is all the way up that is the real problem. I cant adjust it to go up any higher.
It sounds as though your hardtop sedan has had a non hardtop sedan door installed.
The didn’t offer a soft top sedan in 73 but it may be the fleet wood glass. I need to get in there and check it some more.
I had a 1974 Cadillac and the driver’s window gear (which was metal, BTW) had wear on the last few teeth. The window didn’t end up going all the way up and would kind of bounce up and down at the top of its travel while the window motor freewheeled. Not sure if this is happening to you. I replaced the mechanism and all was well. At the time I got one from a junkyard, but good luck finding a 70s Caddy there now. As I recall I had to drill out the rivets that held it in place too. Not very user-friendly.
Its not stripped as you describe but I think it might be stopping prematurely for some reason. I’ll probably have to rebuild my old one because like you said it’ll be hard to find a good one at a junkyard.