C2 Window Regulator Rebuild

[Peter L.]

Re: C2 Window Regulator Rebuild

To all in this thread, I am starting the restoration of my 63 cnvertible and the windows need to come out for complete rework of arms, etc. Your tread above will be very helpgul, once I get them out. However, I am a little unsure of what to remove first. I have the window handles, door panels and access covers removed. When I look inside the door assembly, the arms, etc are attached at several points. Can anyone give me some pointers on the order of removal of the glass, arms, regulators, etc, prior to restoration?
Thanks,
Pete Loscalzo

[John H.]

Re: C2 Window Regulator Rebuild

To all in this thread, I am starting the restoration of my 63 cnvertible and the windows need to come out for complete rework of arms, etc. Your tread above will be very helpgul, once I get them out. However, I am a little unsure of what to remove first. I have the window handles, door panels and access covers removed. When I look inside the door assembly, the arms, etc are attached at several points. Can anyone give me some pointers on the order of removal of the glass, arms, regulators, etc, prior to restoration?
Thanks,
Pete Loscalzo

Peter -

Do you have the 1963 Corvette Shop Manual? The info you're after is covered in some detail, with many photos and illustrations, in the "Body" section, on pages 1-13 through 1-24.

[Peter L.]

Re: C2 Window Regulator Rebuild

John,
Thanks for the direction. I had leafed quickly thru the manual, but didn't look deep enough I guess. It seems to have a fairly detailed set of directions. I will have to study it a little before I actually start removing bolts. Are there any tricks you may have heard about that aren't in the manual?
Thanks again.
Pete

[Gene M.]

Re: C2 Window Regulator Rebuild

Randy;

As Rich said, great question! I took my 1965 to the NE Regional and put it through the PV process... bottom line, it failed for a number of things... Talking to the judge, the basic guideline is whether or not the component operates as it did when it left the factory. The doors are an area of particular concern; the vent window regulators, the main window regulators and the door hinges proper...

On the vent window regulators there should be basically no play (like 1/4") on the handle before the vent window begins to move... further, with the vent window open half way there should be no more than 1/2" play/slack if you try and wiggle the vent window front to back.

On the main regulators, I think it is what Rich mentioned, no handle wiggle and like 1/4" rotation before the window starts to move, and oh yes,moves smoothly.

On the door hinges, open the door half way and then grab the lower rear edge...lift up and down... there should be zero slack in the door hinge, either felt or seen...

Having said all this, if you have the doors a part, I would certainly consider rebuilding everything! It is a PITA and potentially dangerous to your paint job (should you slip) to do it after the fact...

Have fun!

Joel

Joel.
Getting your wing windows mechanism to pass a PV requires a bit of work. First please note the requirements are a bit stringent compared to actual NEW as delivered operation. A 1/4" of handle slop translates to thousands of an inch gear clearance. Add a few years use and you fail a PV. Also understand the gear and housings are die-cast aluminum with a stamped sheet metal retainer plate. The worm gear is steel. Steel running against aluminum is not a good situation as the aluminum gets chewed up. The assembly piece parts are very accurate dimensionally but the peen assembly is "less than desirable" in holding gear centers spacing. Worm and gear backlash has to be modified to take up any slop (backlash)in the system. As you disassemble the assembly by machining away the peen you will see what I mean by "less than desirable". You will find the aluminum gear is all eaten up by the steel worm. You can restore the aluminum gear with a product called Devcon (a metal and epoxy blend). It will require a lot of hand work. There are also replacement gears offered for sale but I'm not sure of the quality.

Reassembly will require you to drill and tap two holes to do the job of the peening. But this is where you want to modify the gear center position so as to eliminate the backlash to get the less than 1/4" travel to pass a PV. You want to make the gears run tight. This eliminated the handle slop. The wing window slop is also part of this plus the shaft and pocket fit on the other end of the gear contributes. Shim this area up to eliminate all clearance. I use a thru hole and a stainless screw and nut to really tighten down this interface. Make sure everything is aligned as not to bind up and cause undue force to operate.

But be advised if you use the vent window with any regularity the whole slop issue repeats its self.

[Jeff B.]

Re: C2 Window Regulator Rebuild

Gene,
The PV guide for my 64 says 1/4 TURN, not 1/4" on the vent glass regulator. It further says that 1/2 turn before the regulator operates the glass would be out of spec. This seem to indicate that 1/4 turn but less than 1/2 turn would be a pass. This seems a bit more reasonable. I'm just heading to my first PV attempt in October so if I have this wrong I have some more work to do.

[Gene M.]

Re: C2 Window Regulator Rebuild

Jeff, right you are, but you still need to limit the backlash slop in the gears because backlash clearance in the gears magnifies at the crank. Rotational clearance thru the cut of the gear curvature (which is more of a single point with aluminum gear) increases with worn out aluminum. Thats the main reason I suggest making the gears centers tight to eliminate backlash. In the realm of normal usage it with loosen up again. This design is just a loosing battle. But for the purpose of a PV this rework will yield success. The window slop is both the gear backlash slop and the fit of the interface with the shaft.

If a steel gear was available to mesh with the steel worm greater longevity could be achieved with proper lubrication.