This video shows you how to take the rear power window assembly apart and remove the spring, and then reassemble it. I did not show how to remove the gear, so sorry.
Hey Nick, thanks for another fabulous video! Really appreciate that you take the time to video and post these different repairs. To have an expert show how it's done saves a lot of time. George B. in Michigan
I'm glad I came across this video, I just acquired a 65 T-bird landau and 1 out of 3 windows work! So I will be having so "fun" for sure! Thanks, and God bless!
Very cool Nick. At the end that little clicking looks like it may be the track. I noticed the entire door panel was rocking a little...like something was bound up a bit but it works 1000000000% than it did before you changed the spring... Very nice work
Thanks Ron. No, nothing is bound up. If there were, that would mean that there was still something wrong and I thought it was going up and down pretty nicely. The little noise that was left is anyones guess since its so hard to see in there to determine that. However, it is acceptable now and the customer will be very happy, thats what counts.
Hey man, thanks so much for posting this! Super helpful. The old timer from Arkansas was right. Incidentally, your voice sounds a lot like one of my favorite Calvary Chapel pastors, Jack Hibbs, from Chino Hills, CA. You’re doing a fantastic job!
I'm from Los Angeles but I'm afraid I'm not a Pastor. Unfortunately I have the mouth of a drunken sailor on furlough in Bangkok so I would not make a very good Pastor. lol Thanks Lou.
Another epic video from the maestro de T-Bird! Your video showed me the steps/order I should have done when I did my two last summer...doh! Keep ‘em coming bro’!
@@kbrownbob1 I did a test once where I had all 3 gears so I installed each one and the spring gear always ended up locking up but the other two were fine. I couldn't figure out why this very good window motor would keep locking up so that's what prompted me to do that test. This was 20 years ago and I have never used a spring gear since.
Thank you for this very helpful information. I happened to notice on the bottom of the window there is a threaded rod with a rubber pad, mine is missing. I’m hoping to simply put a bolt in place of it and maybe a rubber pad where it would hit.Any thoughts or opinions on that? Thanks again
Hey Clint, that is a bumper to stop the window from going too far down and coming out of the box. I think your idea is fine, should work. You will probably have to adjust it to get it to the right length. Sounds good.
You did a great job on 1/4 window did you also do a video on door regulator ? I have one and I think motor is bad and need to know how to disassemble with a bad motor without getting snapped by regulator ?
Thank you. Yes, I did a video on 1964-66 Thunderbird window motor and regulator repair. Go to 6:58 in the video and thats where I show how to load the regulator.
@@rodneyrobbins9526 That's a very good question. I should have thought about that while filming the video to show you guys. There will always be 2 of the 3 bolts holding the motor to the regulator accessible. Unbolt the 2 bolts and pull the motor away from the regulator enough to disengage the regulator gear. Problem is, the regulator will then want to fling apart because it is under spring tension. Place it in the vice like I have in the video while doing this and you will be good.
So I have my 66 Convertible left rear qtr window out, again, trying to fix it. Locked in the upright position and I'm looking for maybe a video on how to disassemble it and fix it. And what do I find? THIS VIDEO! You even use my exact window! Now I'm going to watch it about ten more times before I pull it apart, just to make sure. But whatever the outcome, this was perfect. Many thanks! And if I don't get it fixed, can I ship it to you for repair? Seriously? Thanks!
@@vintagethunderbirdrepair9426 Hi Nick, watched the video the ten times that I promised and learned how to pull it apart, multiple times. Mine was stuck in the upright position and you know what? I had that spring gear in my motor that you said to get rid of, so I did. Bought two new ones like your recommended with the dowels from TBird HQ which is only about 10 miles from me thinking that I'd do the other side too. Installed it, reinstalled the window, bench tested and it worked, but very slow on the retracted side. Sticking somewhere, somehow. Got it into the car again thinking thats ok, its working. Installed it, tested it to the UP side and BANG, loud something and the window is locked again. Cursing, I removed the cassette again, and pulled it apart. The brand new gear had split in half. Humm, I say. Luckily I had purchased two so I had a spare. Put it in, reinstalled the motor and bench tested again. Now it got stuck in the down position. Pulled every thing back out and decided to remove the channels to clean them. You were right, they were filled with grease filled with sand and grit. So I cleaned them out and reinstalled. I didn't know how to "adjust" the channels, (You mentioned you had done it previously but didn't say how), so I played with it. Got it very loose and working well. Bench tested to the closed position again and got it stuck AGAIN. As soon as I pulled the motor it released itself. Best I can tell is that its going too far up the track and banging on the stops. Lost the little clip that there's only 2 in the whole car. Found a 7/16 circlip will work just fine at the hardware store. I've got the window in the vice where I'm adding some "plasti-dip" to the window stops that will stop it about a 1/8 inch sooner, hopefully that will keep it from going too far. Talk about long winded, the reason I 'm trying to get this done is that I leave on May 7 for Route 66, the whole thing. Starting in Santa Monica, (My home town long ago), all the way to Chicago And this is the last repair I need before I go, but who would have thought something a simple as a window motor would be so damn complicated? Anyway, many thanks for your videos. And where are you now?
@@haysenglehart4915 Holy cow, you did a lot of work. You don't have to install the window back into the car to test it. I stand the whole box upright on the bench and work it before I install it into the car. Saves me some time. Something is definitely wrong if it keeps locking up like that. My guess is maybe the motor is not quite right??? You can remove the head and check to see that it is not corroded internally. I wish I was there to look at it for you. Then we could stop over at Malibu Seafood for a bite. My favorite place besides Carneys. I'm in Colorado Springs now. I'm so glad I moved but I do miss the LA food, especially the sushi. Good luck and have a great time on Route 66, wish I were going too.
@@vintagethunderbirdrepair9426 Thanks Nick, Malibu Seafood was one of my haunts, I lived just off Mulholland and rode my ST 1300 there many many times. Finally fixed it, super glued a couple of 1/8 inch rubber pieces to the window stops to cushion the blow. Worked. BTW, each time I tested it I did as you do, bench tested in a vise. Sorry, didn't mean to make you think I reinstalled each time. Damn, that would have been dumb, even for me! Just got back from a quick test drive and all is well, except that the window is not perfectly lined up for the top. So I'll just leave it cracked a bit, but it still works. Send me your email or whatever and I'll add you to the daily Instagram posts from the trip. I'm at 3speeds3@gmail.com... Thanks again for the help, I know I'll be back in touch on the next problem! Hays
Do you mean the white plastic rollers? Usually they do not spin very well, sometimes not at all. This is okay and will not affect how the window works.
Hey Nick...I've been playing around with the passenger side front window motor, and would appreciate some advice. The three dowels in the drive gear, how hard are they...I made some from a piece of Teflon, they work really well...but I'm not sure if they will be too hard for the job, and the old ones are too far gone to get a feel for the hardness of them. Do you think they need to be made of a softer material than Teflon?
Hey Alvin, I don't know how hard your teflon is but the purpose of the 3 dowel gear is to flex, compress down some so the motor does not get stuck up or down. In other words, the dowels are relatively soft and compress a bit under pressure. I guess if you made them out of steel then the gear would not work since the steel would not give. The plastic that the originals were made out of was soft enough to compress, this is why they disintegrate so easily. These are available at the auto parts store and on ebay and they are called window lift motor gear plugs or pins. I bought some from O'reilleys on the rack in a red cardboard package called HELP. Maybe you can buy a few and compare them? Good luck.
@@vintagethunderbirdrepair9426 thanks Nick, based on what you just said, I think the Teflon isn't the correct material, it has great wear properties, but is a little hard, and won't breakdown under pressure. I may try just go buy them...I didn't realize that they are readily available, even here in Canada, so I'll just source them locally.
Thanks for this video Nick. Sometimes if I don't run the windows up and down for a while in my 65, the run super slow, but then get back to normal after a couple of cycles. Any idea why that would be?
Hey John, old grease or no grease. The motor probably needs to be disassembled like I show in the video, cleaned and lubed. Check the felt tracks too. However, I think your specific problem is the motor first and foremost with the other things adding to the problem.
Great vid, new to Thunderbirds bought a 63 for my 2 boys. You have any advice on the rear windows not working on the 63? I can see they try but won't roll down.
Hey Miguel, thank you. It is typical for all Thunderbird motors to seize when not being used. They need to come out, cleaned, run, lubed and reinstalled. All the other window parts also need to be addressed as well while everything is apart. Good luck.
@@vintagethunderbirdrepair9426 Thanks for reply do you have any 63 Bird videos? This Bird we got for our boys is a one owner car bought at Chafee Motors November 1962. Please more 1963 Thunderbird videos. Keep up the great educational videos thank you.
@@miguelortega7799 Hey Miguel, I don't have many 1963 videos. I only make them as I am working on customers cars and I have not had a 63 in for a while. If I get one, I can only make a video of those systems that I will be working on. But I'm always on the lookout. I currently have a 62 that I'm working on and I will be posting a video of redoing the brakes. I'm still working on it so stay tuned. Thanks.
Nick, is there a source for the rear window rollers? My rear windows are reliable but slow after pulling them apart the only thing I can find is the rollers are binding.
@@vintagethunderbirdrepair9426 Nick, I have a 66 convertible. Im talking about the rear rollers. Not the kind on the front windows that use the clips. Theyre white and dont seem easily removable. Mine are all bound up. Assuming theyre supposed to spin.
@@novanogo07 Yes okay, thank you for the clarification. Ive had many where the rollers dont spin but Ive never had an issue with the window working slowly because of that. My experience is that alignment, lubrication and cleanliness of the tracks are the most important factors. I also work them before I reinstall them into the car. I sit them up vertically on a bench like if they were in the car and then work them. Now, in most cases, the windows will not work quite as well in the car plugged into the cars wiring loom, as opposed to jumping them directly with a battery, this is normal. Thats not the windows fault, its the electrical systems fault. If they work okay on the bench then they should work okay in the car. If they dont work okay in the car after working fine on the bench then you probably have an electrical issue or some binding going on between the window box and body of the car. I hope that helped. Good luck.
Hi Jim, that is a good question but far too complicated to explain. I will say that it is not a box like the 64-66 and all the parts come out separately. It is a complicated mechanism and difficult to remove. My suggestion is to take detailed photos of everything, every nut, every screw and then start the disassembly piece by piece noting which came out first, second, and so on. Then do the reverse when reinstalling. Clean and lube all parts. Thats the best I can tell you without showing a video.
Hey Nick, thanks for the great video, I happen to be working on both of my back quarter pnl windows on my '65 one at a time though. Both are locked up. You answered the use no grease question for me, the grease that was in my tracks was like spray adhesive just totally sticky and nasty. I had to use break cleaner to get the stuff out!! Now for a really weird question: On my right side quarter pnl motor some one has cut the red and yellow wires, and switched them. So now red goes to yellow connector and Yellow goes to Red. maybe they had a switch wired backwards?? where up direction the window went down and the switch in "down position" the window went up. Have you ever seen that before? I am seriously considering rewiring that. I also did loose my bow tie clip. Bummer. maybe safety wire will work.
You lost the bow tie clip??? Man that sucks!!! Alvin has a parts car, get one from him before someone else does (Jamiesons repair shop). I don't have any spares, sorry. I've had situations like yours before. Yes, start from the window switches and work your way back. I think your explanation is probably correct since I've seen that before too. Good luck.
@@vintagethunderbirdrepair9426 Thanks Nick, I think it's kind of funny in a sad way, I put a blanket under the window assembly and had some folds read just in case the clip went... well it went a whole lot farther than I expected! Ha!
I like the Birds Nest. They do new and used parts and know both. Some of the other dealers are okay too but Ive had the best luck with Birds Nest. Good luck.
Do you have a video of the removal of the quarter window? I need to drop them just a little to replace the seals that the tops of the windows seal against. The windows don’t work and since we never use those I am in no hurry to relate the motors. The seal however is a must.
Hey Justin, I do not have a video of that. Once you pull off the quarter interior trim panel, try tapping on the motor with a hammer and working it at the same time with the switch. Also, try applying battery power directly to the motor bypassing the cars electrical system. Put a battery in the back, hook wires from the battery directly to the motor like I show in my video. The motor may work and then you can roll them down. If the motor is seized, then best thing is to remove the 4 bolts that hold the regulator to the window box and push the window down. Or just remove the box completely, window and all. Good luck.
@@vintagethunderbirdrepair9426 If the back ones are as nasty as the front ones were, there isn't a hammer gig enough,lol. I will just take out the 4 bolts and drop it down enough to get the seal on and then bolt it back up. Thanks again.
Hey Christopher, nobody makes a new spring, they are not available. You have to find a good used spring. Try the Birds Nest, they sell used parts. Good luck.
