yakisoba

I'm considering taking out the window glass and the motors that raise and lower the side windows. How do you keep the interior of the car reasonably dry without a fully enclosed structure? I tow on an open trailer, and the car is under a carport (and a car cover) when it's idle. Is there an insert made that can plug the window holes?

gkmccready

My plan is to cut a piece of lexan to fit and secure it with velcro or tabs or something for transport or storage.

wallyman424

thats actually really hard to do for the C5, since the side window isnt really a 2d shape.

The best solution I've seen is what Falcon uses. He put some velcro and button snaps around the frame of the window and got a boat canvas shop to make some covers.

My solution is to let the rain get everything wet.

urtoslo

That's what I did last year.

This winter I cut out the exact shape of the side windows in thin plastic and wire tied them to the top of the rollcage for transport on my open trailer. The plastic sits in the same weatherstrip grove as the glass and seals up the interior from splashing, rain, etc. It costs me a little in wire ties, but there's nothing extra to hook/snag on to if I'm trying to get out of the car in an emergency. And if there's no chance of rain, I won't even use them.

davidfarmer

the glass and motor don't weigh that much however, so I'd only do this if it is 100% race car.

MySR71

My understanding is that the window is slid into the door panel and fits into the window regulator where the green arrows point in the picture below:



The access ports in the door are used to secure the window to the regulator (there may be similar ports on the front of the door):



So, can the window be put in the up position and then everything below the red lines in the first picture above be cut off (the bottom part of the window track and the motor)? It seems this might give a lot of extra room for door bars yet allow the window to be removed while on track and installed while off-track. The window could never be put down, it could only be all the way up or removed.

Would this work? I don't understand the workings of the door enough to know.

fatbillybob

I got a glimpse of a nascar being preped out of its semi trailer. the window had fist sized 1/4 turn latches connected to the lexan. The finger on the latch hooked on to something in the car maybe friction fit on the b piller bar and a piller bar and head bar. Can anyone do a search and maybe post up some pictures? I really lame a computer.

AU N EGL

Did not Falcon have some Velcro and snaps on his car, plus then had some canvis or heavy material made to fit over the window and snap / velcro into place on each window?

MySR71

Yes, he did. See his post in this thread:

http://forums.corvetteforum.com/auto...ows-issue.html

C66 Racing

I decided covering the windows was too hard (or you can read this as either I'm too busy or too lazy), so I deferred removing the windows until I broke down and bought a used enclosed trailer.

I've seen Phoenix Performance tow cars without windows on an open trailer. They had some plates (aluminum maybe) that they had cut to fit and then duct taped them to the car. Not sure if they sell these, but you might ask them.

Wasserott

I have done this method for 4 years and I tow with an open trailer. It has survived HEAVY rain in high winds both parked and under transport with minimal water seep. The trick i used was to create resting tabs at the bottom of each panel for the lexan to rest on top of the door (anchored toward the inside of the car) and eyelets at the rear/top that i use bungee cords wrapped around the cage or seat to pull the top corner in.

The final and most important trick is to get the lexan to the exact shape of the original window...when you close the door, the top of the lexan will lock up under that "High-Speed" tab that we have along the top edge of the roof line.

After all of that it simply seals against the original weather stripping (if you left that in) and works like a charm.

All the parts at Home Depot or Lowes.

Word of caution...if you remove the door/window box, the ECM thinks the door is open and drains the battery so you must figure out how to turn down or install a battery kill switch to disable.

Jaymz

All you have to do is turn the headlights on then off and it will disable the ECM door open circuit.

Wasserott

So the procedure is done once or after each ignition cycle?

What if all the headlights and motors have also been removed?

Jaymz

It still works... My car has no headlights or motors.

When you do this you will see that the dash lights will turn off.

fatbillybob

We need to get GEEROOKIE on this electronic project. Hr really understands these cars.

geerookie

I have removed the door modules and don't have this problem. My car has been sitting for months and I just started it yesterday with no problem. There was something simple that had to be done to trick the computer but I don't remember what I did. I will go back and figure it out and post it later.

geerookie

OK, so here's what's happening. The BCM has two states, a wake up state and a sleep state. It monitors a bunch of stuff, the door position being one of these things, and sleeps or wakes up based on the input from these switches/sensors.
When a door is thought to be open the BCM stays awake and puts a larger draw on the battery. When the BCM goes to sleep, about 15 minutes after the key is removed and the doors are closed, it only draws 2.5 milliamps just to power its logic circuits so it can know if it needs to wake up. If it doesn't go to sleep this is what's draining the battery.
The Left and/or Right DCM also sense the position of the door but they use it for different functions. The problem comes when the DCM's are removed but the door position sensor is still connected to the BCM.
When the door is open the sensor closes and provides a ground to the circuit. This ground signals both the DCM and the BCM and then through serial communications they agree on the state and execute their appropriate requested functions. When you remove the DCM there is no serial communication between them and the BCM assumes the door is open. Remember, it's only a stupid computer, it uses logic but has no ability to think.

The fix is pretty simple but depending on what state your car is in or what you are removing will determine the best way to fix it.

In my case I removed all wiring and DCM's etc. from my doors so I didn't need to do anything special other than cut the wire at the connector to the BCM and pull it out....to save weight.

If you are just removing the DCM's and leaving the wiring then you will need to either disconnect the sensor in the door or cut the wire which feeds the BCM.
Both are pretty easy.
The wire colors all the way through are Gray/Blk and Black in the LH Door (C2) and Black/Wht and Black in the RH Door (D1).

If you are going to cut the wire you have to do it in one of two places, either right at the BCM or in the A Post pillar on the drivers side and passenger side. If you do it before the A post (i.e. in the door) then you won't get both connections and it won't solve the problem.
Unless your car is gutted, it will be much easier to do it at the BCM. If you are looking at it in the car the connections will be on the middle connector, C2 is the LH door and D1 is the RH door. Match the pin position to the color of wire and double check before cutting.

Disconnecting at the switch is also easy but you will have to have access to the inside of the back half of your door. The sensor is actually in the door latch but if you follow the wires going to the door latch and make sure you have the right colors you will find the connector. Just unplug it and tie it out of the way.

I will post some pictures later.....I have to go unclog a sink! I HATE plumbing.

Wasserott

Chloe....just tell me is it the red wire or the blue wire, we are running out of time!

"hold on Jack i'm sending it to your pda..."

geerookie

This is the spot under the A post pillar on the passenger side where the wires come in from the door. There is normally a black plastic cover over this. You can just pry it out.


This is the drivers side A post.


Panel on passenger side floor. BCM is behind here.


This is the BCM. The wires you want are in the middle connector. The pink one above the green one on the bottom.


This is the latch inside the door. The blue connector with the Tan and Gray wires is for the power door lock. If you look above the white cover, that 4-pin hole is where the connector for the Door Ajar sensor was. If you unplug that it will let the BCM go to sleep after 15 minutes and then no dead battery. Sorry it's kind of blurry but I couldn't afford to stay at a Holiday Inn Express last night.

fatbillybob

Thanks GEEROOKIE! When it comes to electronics on these cars you are "the man".