Restoring A 1989 Chevy S10 - Restore That Bucket

Part Two: Latches, Handles & Glass--Oh My!
1. I installed the old latch assembly and plastic vent back into the door with the factory hardware after everything received a meticulous cleaning. One thing to note is the latch screws: They have a Torx head on them, so make sure you have a set of those in your toolbox before you start.

2. Because I don't own one of those huge rivet guns, I opted to use four nuts, lock washers, and bolts to hold the regulator in place. For more information on this, see the Tech Tip below.

3. When it comes to exterior handles and locks for first-generation S-10s, LMC has two options: chrome or black. I like the contrast black has against a bright yellow, and it will also match all of the other black elements on the truck like the rubbers, mirrors, and so on.

4. The little Z-shaped tab on the back of the lock was transferred to the new assembly. I recommend hooking up the lock rod before slipping the assembly in the door. Once it's in there, there won't be a lot of room to maneuver.

5. Here is a tip I'll pass on to save your sanity: Mark everything you take off. It makes installation a lot faster and a lot less frustrating.

6. The handle assembly is held on with two speed nuts that cut threads as they go on. The rod on this one has to be installed after the handle is in, but luckily there is just enough room to do it.

7. Here are the new channel rubbers and felt I got from LMC. They're exact reproductions of the factory components. The channel rubbers even feature the steel channel inside, so take care not to kink that part of the rubber.

8. Because the steel inserts run in the vertical areas of the rubber, I slid those down first and then pushed the upper area in. The new rubber fits pretty tight in the door, so make sure you get it all the way in or it will make it hard to roll up the window. I know this from personal experience.

9. Once I had the channel fully installed, the screws were twisted in. These screws keep the channel from moving while the window is being rolled up or down.

10. The outer felt just snaps on the door-but not without a little persuasion. Don't just hit the felt with a hammer: You could possibly bend it. I used a flat scraper to distribute the hammer blow. If you look closely, the little clip on the felt (arrow) needs to go down far enough to lock on the door, so make sure you have it down enough.

11. The inner felts attach to the door panel, but I still had to do some work on the interior so I didn't put them on yet. To install it, you need to cut the factory staples holding the stock piece, then you can use a few pop rivets to hold the new piece on.

12. My interior handles didn't return on their own when the door was opened, telling me the little return spring was broken. So I ordered new ones. I hooked the rods to the door-handle assembly to start the installation.

13. These handles feature three tabs that index into the door. The assembly is slid back, holding it in place. Then, a single screw will lock it down (inset).

14. Remember the clips I mentioned earlier in the story? Well here they are. Because the S-10 has a single-arm window regulator, these keep the window from rotating during operation. They kind of snap in the metal channel that is inside the channel felts. Each clip folds over the glass and snaps to itself. They are pretty stout, so I had to use a pair of pliers to get each one to latch together. If you have Vise-Grip hands you may not need the pliers.

15. With the clip in place, I fed the glass into the door opening and then rotated it into position. You can hear and feel the clips index into the channel. When you do, the glass will glide up and down without falling out of the channel.

16. All I had to do after that was install the two 10mm bolts, and the window was done.

17. To button up the door, I reinstalled the factory foam. This seals the door and prevents air from blowing out of the door handles while you drive. The piece I'm screwing on in the photo is the armrest tower. None of it shows once the door panel is on, but I'm kicking myself for not painting it black.

18. After I installed the door panel, I rolled up the window in preparation for the crank handle. I like the handles to be positioned at about nine o'clock when the windows are up. The best way to install the crank handle is to pop in the retaining clip (inset) and then push the crank onto the regulator.

19. LMC has a few options when it comes to exterior mirrors. The company offers the large ones in either chrome or black, but I wanted something a little cooler so I ordered these factory sport-style mirrors. They only come in black, but you could sand and paint them if you wanted to.

20. Before installing the mirror with the provided screws, I put a small piece of duct tape over the hole to keep air from getting in there.

21. Here is the tailgate bumper kit. It comes complete with all the stuff needed to keep the tailgate from rattling like an SOB.

22. The two wedge-shaped pieces install with screws, while the round one needs to be pushed into a hole. I used a Phillips screwdriver for that.

23. There are more little bumpers around the truck like these for the hood area. The old one is on the right, and as you can see it's pretty collapsed compared to the new one.

24. They slid into a channel on the fender, and once installed keep the hood centered and help prevent paint chips.

25a. The last of the little bumper is this one for the door. It also pushes into a hole in the body, but this one is a little harder to get in. I used some spray lube and a blunt-end punch to push it in (25b)