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Is the "front roller" as depicted in this drawing actually supposed to roll? I can't attach it so that it rolls, so now I suspect it's not supposed to roll.
seriously?
I thought I answered your question.
just today I removed a part from my car just to provide a forum member with clear photo's of an assb. He was having trouble with. Countless times I dig back through old photo's to help members or post up photo's of wiring schematics, etc.
I have put up a few very good how to threads. I actually am here to help.
Your question was basic. You wondered if this roller actually needed to roll.
My answer was very straight forward.
Perhaps you found it offensive for some reason.
Sometimes the typed word is interpreted differently than the spoken word. Without tone of voice it's easy to take something the wrong way.
Sorry if you found me blunt.
It is called a roller for a reason. It is not called a slide. Yes it needs to roll.
I've had door glass out on many cars over the years. Rollers need to roll.
seriously?
I thought I answered your question.
just today I removed a part from my car just to provide a forum member with clear photo's of an assb. He was having trouble with. Countless times I dig back through old photo's to help members or post up photo's of wiring schematics, etc.
I have put up a few very good how to threads. I actually am here to help.
Your question was basic. You wondered if this roller actually needed to roll.
My answer was very straight forward.
Perhaps you found it offensive for some reason.
Sometimes the typed word is interpreted differently than the spoken word. Without tone of voice it's easy to take something the wrong way.
Sorry if you found me blunt.
Last edited by 4-vettes; Jan 26, 2024 at 03:51 AM.
Dave, the window mechanisms and rollers can get a little convoluted if you're putting them back together from bare glass. The hole nearest the front holds a bumper (circled below in red) which does not roll, second hole is for the first actual "roller" (circled below in green), third hole is the track mount. All as shown in the schematic above.
Is there a chance that you may have the "bumper" installed in the "roller" hole? If so, it will not r
"roll". If you do have the correct roller in place and it will not roll, this is usually due to the old factory grease having hardened inside the roller. I have come across this on almost every window I've done. Give it a good soak in degreaser over night and it should loosen up.
Cheers, Greg
It appears I was sent the wrong part, which still doesn't explain the non-rolling issue. I've ordered a set from Corvette Central now, and they label it as "68-77 Door Glass Lift Track Rebuild" which includes the roller. Hopefully this new roller will roll.
My car is a '73, and maybe the first part I got was for a later year C3. Again, that still doesn't explain the non-rolling bit. It could be a manfacturing defect I suppose.
This is the roller. The white roller should spin on the metal shaft. Might be tight, but that's the spot that needs to spin. If its real tight, try spraying it with some PB Blaster.
An update: I have four rollers, two for the front (L and R) and two for the back (L and R), and of the four I found one that after some penetrating oil and exercising could be said to "roll" if I use that term loosely. The other three will rotate on their shafts given enough force, but I certainly wouldn't call them rollers. Am I experiencing the joys of aftermarket parts?
Part two:
When re-installing the window I find that the roller doesn't fit through the gap at the top of the door. I've watched a few YouTube videos of people wrestling with the windows for a while, and while these videos are ghoulishly entertaining they aren't informative. Before I bring out the Big Tools and hack saws I thought I'd ask here if anyone knows of "that one weird trick" that works.
I ended up using another way. I removed the 3 bolts from each vertical track and lowered the tracks about 4 inches. I inserted the window where the rear vertical track was - this is the widest access point. After the three forward most glass hardware items (bushing, roller, stud) were lowered enough I walked the glass forward. At this point I needed another pair of hands. One person holds the glass in place while the other brings the track up over the roller and then all the way up so that the track may be re-attached. The rest was easy.
Excellent!
It's just a "feel" thing. I used to hate doing window glass, but then after doing about a zillion of them it's just second nature.
If you were closer, I'd have been happy to stop by and do them for you.
Glad you nailed it.
I'll be putting all the glass back in my '73 in about a week.
FWIW I just put new parts on my 78 windows and my front rollers didn’t roll either. I lubed them up and moved them around a lot before they rolled but they certainly won’t spin! Timely thread and full of useful info. Thanks to you all
When I first bought my 1968 C3 the windows were hit or miss, sometimes they would work and other times the would not. I finally approached the door and found loose hardware and other components of my power window assembly. At the moment my drivers window will go up and you help it get settled in the right place. It requires human intervention to get the window in the right position when parking it window up. Being a convertible one the first things I do is put down the top and then the windows.
The first thing I noticed on my window tracks was the old grease that turns into a hard form. To make it easier clean to the old wax I used a good Hot Air Gun and then you can literally wipe it off and clean it easier.
My power window (1975 Coupe) became noisy yesterday and stopped going all the way up. Door panel off, the front roller had popped out of the front of the window mounting hole. Is there an easy (haha) way to raise the track and get the roller back into the window mount at the bottom? I don't want to remove the entire assembly as the window lift worked pretty well before. I have the AIM book but hate to go through the entire set-up routine.
Any thoughts about getting the front roller back in place? Since it popped out, and all the mounting hardware fell to the bottom of the door, there should be some way to get it back in and secure the mounting hardware.
Thanks in advance.
Got the front roller back in place by running the window up half way and maneuvering the roller shaft back through the glass mounting hole. Whew. Rollers don't roll very well so next step is to soak them in KRoil spray and see if that helps any.
