I can not for the life of me get my driver's side window to push up against the A-Pillar weatherstrip. The window contacts the strip at the bottom but tips outwards any farther up, and leaks so much water that the car has become unusable as my daily driver for the last month.

For three straight days I have painstakingly adjusted the window in every way I know of, to no effect. The FSM procedure works well for adjusting in all the other directions, but does nothing for the tip in. I did get the window to tip in quite a bit by simply unscrewing the nuts and leaving the window to hang on its studs, but then of course there's nothing keeping it aligned in all the other directions. Ultimately I know of no way of making the window tip in as much as I need without totally compromising everything else.

Has anyone else had this problem with the window not making contact along the windshield strip, and if so how did you solve it?

 

I don't know the exact name but there is a catch guide at the top rear inside the door which catches the window glass in its final travel and causes the window glass at the top to cant inward. Have you been adjusting it or is the glass pin missing it and as a result not making that last cant?

 

Well, I've made some progress since I posted. I managed to align the window, and water poured along the seal did not get through. But then I decided to put the roof on. Suddenly it became clear to me what the source of my leak has been all along; my crappy aftermarket roof weatherstrip compresses the windshield weatherstrip downward at the top corner, until the window no longer seats in it all the way because it simply can't push in to that corner hard enough. So my car only keeps water out without the roof on, which pretty much defeats the purpose.

My aftermarket brand was supersoft. It does not seem to have a gap cut into it to accommodate the windshield strip at the top corner of the car where they touch, so both get compressed forcibly. I seem to remember other members complaining about this defective weatherstrip piece they bought as well. I will try cutting up my roof weatherstrips a bit to see if this solves the problem. Perhaps someone should also notify Supersoft of this defect, since all their other weatherstrips fit great when installed correctly other than this one issue.

Edit: Here's how I finally aligned the window: I was able to get a huge amount of tip-in by stuffing cardboard between the bottom of the window and the regulator, only tightening the top window bolt (just enough to compress the cardboard and hold the window's alignment), and adjusting out the brass piece that the above poster mentioned until the bottom hook just barely didn't catch on the wrong pin on the regulator. I could see how lots of people would not know that piece can adjust in and out; it took me a while to figure it out. The FSM says practically nothing about it. After this, I had so much tip-in the window was missing the weatherstrip retainer entirely, so to compensate I adjusted the window pads to press a little harder. Now it was simply a matter of playing with all the other adjustments until the weatherstrip pressed under the top of the weatherstrip evenly.

 

I cut a large corner off of each of the roof pieces. The channels for the window on each strip line up now, but the amount of force it takes to get the window up into that corner still throws off the whole alignment. After a lot more tinkering, I was able to mostly get everything sealed. Reinstalling the door panels seemed to give that last bit of compression I needed.

Here's a tip for anyone that needs to move their passenger window when their passenger switch can't be installed: Unplug the "RH Illum" fuse and then take both connectors that are supposed to plug in to that switch and plug them into one another. The switch will be bypassed and the driver's side switches will now be able to move the passenger window.

Naturally, now that my door panel is installed my driver's side window won't go down anymore. I'm guessing one of the bezel screws is catching on the regulator. I'll find out in a minute.

 

The screw behind the courtesy light was blocking the regulator's movement. Now everything works and seals fine, except now that it's sealing well the power window motors can't raise the windows into place anymore. To raise the windows now I have to open the doors, raise them, and then shut the doors. Occasionally I'll have to also tip the window in by hand to keep it from catching the wrong way on the guide/stop inside the door. If it was the choice between a wet, windy interior and this, I can live with this.

 

If you are satisfied that is all that counts. I am sure you are totally tired of messing with sealing problem and now your window travel! I am not encouraging you to take everything apart again. Sounds to me like the regulator needs to be pulled in towards the interior side and this may or may not cause the upper regulator mounts to be moved out too. Then if you are lucky and the window travels all the way up but doesn't tightly seal--adjust that tipping bracket so that the very final travel cants it and seals. Just one more thought, if the window is continually missing the top's weatherstrip, maybe you have run out of adjustment on the up stops (the tipping bracket and the forward small bracket). If so, then I would loosen the glass nuts and relocate it higher on the regulator arm. This would allow the glass to travel higher but will surely take some more adjusting.

Not being critical because I am glad I don't have to struggle with the problem. This is just some 2-cent input in case you someday in the future try at it again.

 

Aligning these windows is a black and mysterious art. After three days of fully understanding the purpose of each adjustment and toying with different combinations, I never ceased to be surprised by unintended side effects of each combination. I strongly recommend against anyone trying to improve their window alignment unless it just looks ridiculous and has a completely obvious change that needs to be made. Otherwise, the huge amount of time spent on trial and error simply does not justify the benefits of having a slightly better seal, especially considering that in all likelihood you might not even be able to get a better seal after all that work, due to quirks in your car such as weatherstrip deformities.

I'm driving the vette again, that's all that matters. Screw it if I have to open my doors after I roll up the window to get it to seal right. Come to think of it, that will happen anyway as soon as whoever rolls it up leaves the car. Just one more quirk, whatever. It's worth it.

 

when you pull off the panel(interior door) at the top you will see several felt covered rubber bumpers( 3 or 4 )that sit in elongated holes.These adjust the lateral throw on the window.Too loose and the thing goes up and wont seal.Too tight and it wont go up all the way.Actually that's *** backwards but you get the point.Cheap crappy aftermarket weatherstrip can pose a problem that no-one can give advise about except to throw it away and spend some greens on the good stuff.Good luck.

 

I assume you tried adjusting the tip in on the window right?
there is a bolt towards the back of the door that is sort of hidden

you need to loosen that and adjust it to tip the window in.

I had to do the opposite on my 90 for the passenger door.

 

I've had the same problem ever since I installed a new outerseal. I've tried adjusting everything in and out, up and down. At this point, close enough is going to have to do. I'm tired of messing with it. What a pain in the A$$!