So... I had a stripped window crank... easy fix right... not so fast... turns out it was not the handle that was stripped but the gear on the regulator... you simply cannot replace the gear on the window regulator so I had to replace the entire regulator... hands down the hardest thing I have done yet on my 62... and that is after a complete interior restoration... I thought the grab bar was a PITA... it paled in comparison to changing the regulator!

I might have just lived with the window down and carrying a pair of vise grips had I known...

Scott

 

The regulator is pretty easy to change once you figure it out. I never removed the window glass, i just undid it and taped it at the top.

The secret is figuring what exact position the elevator arm has to be in to get it out and in that access hole.

If you have it at the right spot, it just slips right in and out.

You have it easy, you don't have all those little cove trim studs sticking thru the door and hampering you

That said, I did thrash with one for awhile before I figured out the secret.

Doug

 

You nailed it... now that I have done one... I could do the other side in a jiffy...

 

Door guts will separate the real mechanics from the wanna be's.

 

Maybe not! I had to work on my passenger regulator this spring. Even though I had removed both of them years before I had forgotten the sweet spot they needed to be in. After quite a bit of cursing it finally came out.

 

LOL... "jiffy" is open for interpretation... relative to what I did today I hope it would take less time but one never knows...

 

The C2 door latch mechanism is no picnic either, altho, the fix is a dab of JB weld about that is about .010 thick. Way over engineered for what it needed to be. You had better have small hands.

 

Both window regulators are worn out on my '61 but still work enough to get by. When the time comes, I'll be taking them out and adding
a power window setup. So two questions come to mind. One, what is the so-called sweet spot or secret that you guys talk about for taking out the manual regulators (gear up, down, middle, what)? Two, since the folks at Auto City Glass who make the PW setup I'll go with don't respond to email inquiries, what's the trick to 'installing' a PW regulatorin a solid axle Vette? I've read about the regulator having to be installed first and then try to add the motor.
Somebody please tell me that's not right.
Thanks,
Mike T.

 

Ya, this looks like lots of fun. I found a good drivers door latch, now I have to get the old on out and the good one in. manual has you removing door glass. but a mechanic freind says you can do it by just removing rear glass channel. Looks like a pain in the butt. I'm going to have him handy when I tackle that

 

The "sweet spot" is getting the gear in the right up/down position to get it to slide out of the access panel.... having thought about it again I think you can probably slide it to the access panel and work the lower half out then roll the window to push the gear down in order to slide the top half out... just pay attention to the order in which to slide the rollers out of the rails... I unscrewed the vertical rail to take it completely out of the way and it was a cinch to put back on after the other two rollers were in the rail. Hard to visualize without looking at the inside of the door but once you look at it you will see immediately what I am talking about. Hope that helps...

Oriondriver

 

mike, the sweet spot is with the linkage all the way down and the window disconected and up (thanks mike for helping me with with my door glass install) all cars seem to have the same gear teeth, a popular mod is to install ford aerostar window motors in our panteras. it is very light and powerful. the french DUCELEUR window motors are crap. the same piece of crap french motor controled my headlights on the pantera. it was a pain in the a$$ to replace with an aerostar motor, but my windows could could win a drag race, and the headlights pop up in an insant...

you can install the motors in your doors and get the gearing to work-that is simple-the wiring and switches are a little more complicated, UP/DOWN, i had to learn the the connections between the motors and the switches and wire them right...

 

Hi Ron, thanks for the heads up. Back when I was messing with the '61 window regulators I found the linkage 'arms' on the drivers side to be slightly twisted. How the hell that happened with no apparent damage to the door I have no clue. Who knows, maybe a number of years ago the actual 'original' regulator gave up the ghost and what's in there now is just some used (spelled o-l-d) replacement regulator. Anyway, I must have tried for about an hour to get the reg out (window was already out) with no success. Eh, it was probably 20 minutes but felt like an hour. Anyway, I said 'screw it' and left it in place and just cleaned and greased it all up which makes it work (barely) well enough to get by until I get around to installing Power Windows.

I know I'm drifting away slightly from the OP's original question to ask about PW regulators but since the door has been slightly opened (by me) I need to clarify a couple things. One, you're saying that when I do put in the PW regulators that I can leave the motor attached and the sweet spot for installing a PW regulator also has the linkage in the 'down' position? And secondly, the last time I bought an aftermarket PW kit (from Auto City) for the Nomad, I specified I wanted the old style GM motors instead of the new motors (never did find out what vehicle they came from). Any idea what brand (or country of origin) the new model PW motors are that I see on aftermarket PW kits?
Thanks,
Mike T.

 

I have both my doors removed and all the guts (windows, channels, open/lock mechanisms) removed except for the window regulators. I can't seen to find that 'mystic' sweet spot that allows the assembly to slide out through the access hole. Both of my regs are very sloppy. (Was thinking maybe drilling the 3 rivets out to remove the handle and slide it out and then replacing them with bolts, I'd rather not )

I'll give it a bit more of a try tomorrow. On a separate note, anyone know where to get replacements for these? I only see the gear at Zip.

-Tagged