I'm replacing the window regulators in my 79 with brand new ones, and the rollers on one of the regulators turn nice and easy (using only the tips of my fingers), but on the other one, they barely turn - I need to grab it tight and use my whole hand to spin them (all three rollers are like that). I'm guessing that once it's installed, the tight rollers won't spin at all when in the track, and will just run up and down on the grease, causing the wheels to eventually get flat spots on them?

I tried squirting WD40 into the rollers, and then tried some white lithium grease, but they just won't spin. Anybody else get any replacement regulators like this?

Thanks in advance!

 

Just another story about inferior aftermarket parts. You are right , they will wear flat spots and the windows will work hard up and down. You can only hope that you can get them freed up or return them and hope that the next one will be better. All aftermarket parts are a gamble.

 

Maybe return the defective regulator and hope the replacement will be OK.
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Having my 68 repainted by J&D Corvettte (Bellflower,CA..forum sponsor) they wanted to cycle my headlights up and down to make sure that after they painted the car, they headlight aluminum plate covers wouldn't impact the body in the up position and bugger the paint job. One of the headlights would not move from the down position to the up position because of a leaky seal in the vacuum actuator. Just a worn out 46 year old part...right?...wrong. It was a new virtually unused repro vacuum actuator. j&D replaced it with a used unit from their collection of salvaged parts. Works fine.

Bottom line...given a choice between a repro part and a good condition salvage part, serious consideration should be given to the salvage part....this advice applies even if you're not concerned with price...but just want a reliable working part regardless of price difference.

Back to the regulator topic. I had J&D replace the window glass in my 68 also. It doesn't have power windows. Along with the windows, they replaced all the rollers, nylon slider spacers, removed the old grease, and regreased. The driver's side hand crank for the windows had a worn out bushing. They replaced this also. The windows are now so easy to roll up and down. The windows came from Pilkerington. They now own the Libby Owen Ford trademarks. The windows came with all the correct logos and date codes for my May 1968 Corvette. I think they date coded the windows for March 1968. The windows cost a little over $600. The windows were for a 69. For a 68, you have to buy 2 brackets for ~$30 each to fit the 69 window into a 68. The visible parts of the windows are identical.

 

Well, I tried to loosen up the rollers by spinning them (at low speed) with a drill - ran each one about 30-45 seconds, and did that three times over the course of a couple of hours. They seemed to loosen up, but after they sat for a while, they would stiffen up again (guessing that I was heating them up when I was spinning them).

I'll probably call the vendor Monday morning to see what they say, but I'm thinking that it might be easier to just get a replacement set of rollers. Anybody know of a good source for better rollers? I'm thinking maybe Willcox, but would need to talk to them first. Any leads would be appreciated!

 

A message to the aftermarket companies , Shame on ya ! People shouldn't have to go through all of this when they are paying a premium price for your products !

 

Curious, how does the replacement glass compare to originals? Thickness the same? I know there have been issues with replacement windshield glass being thinner than the originals.

 

I experienced the same thing when rebuilding the windows on my '72. I requested some guidance from others on the forum and one respondent wrote that even the original GM replacement rollers were tight.

 

So did you just installed them that way? If so, how long ago, and did you experience any trouble with them down the road?

 

I used as many of the old rollers as possible. For the new rollers, I loaded the channels up with white lithium grease. I also lubricated the center of the rollers where the rivet passes through. The windows don't go up and down as fast as with modern cars but I don't know how much, if any, is due to the tight rollers. It's been 4 or 5 years since and no problems yet. The car isn't driven much, only during summer months, so developing flat spots could take a few years. I can't believe that the new rollers will ever loosen up enough to turn freely.