57 manual passenger window will not roll up completely

[Navydad181]

My 57 T Bird passenger has manual windows...it will not roll up completely by the Handel operation? Rolls up to about one inch from the top and stops...you can manually grab the window from the top and lift it up the last inch but with vibration it will fall back down the inch? The drivers window operates completely. Does anyone have any ideas?

 

[gbhrps]

navydad181,

Its been a long time since I was inside the TBird's doors, but that is where you need to start. Pull the door handle and window crank and the inner door panel.

Underneath will be a rectangular panel that you can unscrew and remove to see the inner workings.

Place the window crank back on the shaft and crank the window up and down while watching the crank mechanism. I suspect that you'll find that the window lift assembly may have come loose from the door, and needs to be repositioned and then tightened up.

There is the possibility that the gears on the lift mechanism may be worn and the mechanism needs replacement.

You won't know what needs adjustment/fixing until you get inside the door and see what is going on. Good Luck!

Gene

 

[arussharris]

Navydad,

I also noticed a difference in my window height when I was adjusting my outside door handles. Taking off the inside handles can be a burdensome task without the right tools, be careful not to scratch your aluminum trim. When I finally got inside the door I tried to tighten up the screws for the mechanism slight so that it would sit higher but as I experimented by rolling up and down the window as Gene described, I found that the scissor had lost some of its taught-ness for a lack of better term over the years and when raised to its full height, it would sag an inch or so due to the loads of the window. This will require replacing that part which I have put further down on my list of things to do but the install due to the space constraints also seemed like a tough job with the door installed. Best of luck, hope this helps a bit.

Russ

 

[gbhrps]

navydad181,

You will not have to remove the door from the car to replace the widow winding mechanism, if that's necessary.

I suspect that your mechanism may need tightening up. There is a central rivet or two (as I recall, I'm away from home at present and can't check) that may be able to be tightened, to prevent the window fall away.

If that's not possible, you may have to replace the winding mechanism. Hill's Thunderbird Center has them online.

 

[Navydad181]

Thank you all for your quick feedback I have the door handle removal tool and I put a piece of cardboard between the aluminum panel and tool so I did not leave marks I have the door panel off and the rectangular cover plate...It is about 100* here in CA so I'm going to go back into it in the morning, when it is cooler, tinker and look at the scissor mechanism and mounting as suggested. Again, thank you for the guidance/support and I will report what I determine tomorrow...

 

[Navydad181]

Thank you all for your quick feedback I have the door handle removal tool and I put a piece of cardboard between the aluminum panel and tool so I did not leave marks I have the door panel off and the rectangular cover plate...It is about 100* here in CA so I'm going to go back into it in the morning, when it is cooler, tinker and look at the scissor mechanism and mounting as suggested. Again, thank you for the guidance/support and I will report what I determine tomorrow...

Follow up:
I checked all mounting bolts and everything was tight so it was not a shifting issue. I even shifted the bolts to see if there was a difference and there was not? If while rolling up the window I push up from inside underneath the window/scissor assembly the window will go up all the way but will not without helping it from within...does this sound like it needs a new scissor assembly?

Steve

 

[gbhrps]

navydad181,

There are round plastic rollers that are held on with a circular spring on the ends of the scissor mechanism. They ride in the channel bracket that raises the glass. Is it possible that one or both are missing/disintegrated?

If they are there will be a lot of slop in the mechanism which would allow for the one inch lower gap you're experiencing.

Hill's Thunderbird center has an online catalogue in pdf form you can download free. Takes 5 minutes at most. Check out page 118 to see what I'm referring to. There is an exploded diagram of the door interior on page 108 of that same catalogue. Good Luck!

Gene

 

[Navydad181]

Gene,

Thank you for the suggestion...
I took some pictures but do not know how to post them on this thread? The rollers in the front and back tracks at the bottom of the window appear to be metal and fill up the entire track, does not seem to be enough room for plastic part you speak of? Am I looking in the correct place?

Steve

 

[Navydad181]

Gene,

Thank you for the suggestion...
I took some pictures but do not know how to post them on this thread? The rollers in the front and back tracks at the bottom of the window appear to be metal and fill up the entire track, does not seem to be enough room for plastic part you speak of? Am I looking in the correct place?

Steve

Here is a Pic...

 

[gbhrps]

navydad181,

Those rollers are the ones I was referring to. I see in the catalogue they can be had in plastic or metal, but same design.

When I suggested that you tighten any screws/bolts that mount the crank mechanism, is it possible that the bolts are in slots that would allow the crank mechanism to be moved/adjusted in direction?

If so, try loosening the bolts and sliding the whole mechanism up, and then retightening.

Baring that, you may have no choice but to get a new mechanism. Hill's has new and used ones, as I recall from their catalogue.

Gene

 

[Navydad181]

navydad181,

Those rollers are the ones I was referring to. I see in the catalogue they can be had in plastic or metal, but same design.

When I suggested that you tighten any screws/bolts that mount the crank mechanism, is it possible that the bolts are in slots that would allow the crank mechanism to be moved/adjusted in direction?

If so, try loosening the bolts and sliding the whole mechanism up, and then retightening.

Baring that, you may have no choice but to get a new mechanism. Hill's has new and used ones, as I recall from their catalogue.

Gene

Gene,

I did loosen and tightened the as far up as possible and it seemed to buy me a 1/4" but did not solve it...Tomorrow I will remove the mechanism and do a close inspection to see it it can be saved before ordering another system. Thanks for your help and suggestions, nice to have someone to bounce it off of :yesnod

Steve

 

[gbhrps]

navydad181,

I keep coming back to Hill's ThunderBird Center as a parts source .... but they have technical support as well. Maybe they have a solution for your issue that they've handled a hundred times. It may be worth a call to 740-949-2217 to find out. This is their technical support helpline.

New window regulators are $100 USD each, but they sell used parts as well and may well have what you need in used. Can't hurt to ask.

Short of tearing into one of my doors to give you a better answer (which I'm not prepared to do unless at gunpoint ...too many other things to do at present) that's the best I have.

To give you an idea about Hill's ... I sent my carb to them to refinish and rebuild. They even put it on the same engine, a 292, and fine tuned it before they shipped it back to me. A simple bolt on had the car purring like a kitten at idle. I was very pleased. They are good people and eager to help.

Gene

 

[Navydad181]

navydad181,

I keep coming back to Hill's ThunderBird Center as a parts source .... but they have technical support as well. Maybe they have a solution for your issue that they've handled a hundred times. It may be worth a call to 740-949-2217 to find out. This is their technical support helpline.

New window regulators are $100 USD each, but they sell used parts as well and may well have what you need in used. Can't hurt to ask.

Short of tearing into one of my doors to give you a better answer (which I'm not prepared to do unless at gunpoint ...too many other things to do at present) that's the best I have.

To give you an idea about Hill's ... I sent my carb to them to refinish and rebuild. They even put it on the same engine, a 292, and fine tuned it before they shipped it back to me. A simple bolt on had the car purring like a kitten at idle. I was very pleased. They are good people and eager to help.

Gene

Gene,

Definitely don't take your door apart...you've been more than helpful as it is. I did not know Hills provides technical support, I will call them on Monday, as you say "Can't hurt to ask", it's great advice :agree

Have a great weekend,

Steve

 

[gbhrps]

Steve,

You're more than welcome!

Keep us posted on how you make out.

Gene

 

[Navydad181]

Steve,

You're more than welcome!

Keep us posted on how you make out.

Gene

Gene,

Called Hill's this morning and spoke with technical support...They were very helpful:yesnod Felt that it was the scissor mechanism is bent and suggested I will remove it and inspect...stated that with metal rollers it was unlikely the rollers.

Great suggestion to contact Hill's technical support!

Steve

 

[gbhrps]

Steve,

That's why we're here!

Hope they have steered you in the correct direction to get to the bottom of your issue!

As I stated before, Hill's ThunderBird Center has really impressed me with their care and business sense. I recently had then send me a fuel gauge sending unit for my 55, and USPS lost it somewhere after Chicago. After a reasonable length of time for it to show up, Hill's bit the bullet and shipped me another one at their cost.

You can't ask for more than that. If the original sending unit ever shows up at my door, I"LL pay to ship it back to Hill's, and I'll include a money order for half the cost of the unit as well! There are many businesses that would have said that I was on my own.

Gene

 

[Navydad181]

Gene,

Called Hill's this morning and spoke with technical support...They were very helpful:yesnod Felt that it was the scissor mechanism is bent and suggested I will remove it and inspect...stated that with metal rollers it was unlikely the rollers.

Great suggestion to contact Hill's technical support!

Steve

Well, today I removed the scissor assembly from the passenger door and found it unbent and solid. So I proceeded to take out the window w/track and cleaned the 53 year old grease which had congealed into a rock hard substance all about the track and rollers. The metal rollers were good traveling freely in their tracks once cleaned and so was the scissor mechanism. I reinstalled all the vintage parts, making sure to tighten them in the full allowable up position, and gave it a try. To my amazement, the window rolled all the way up with no squeaking and with ease feeling like a new car...:cheers It has been quite a learning experience...:yesnod

Now continuing on with replacing the degraded dash wiring harness as the insulation has become brittle and bare in some spots. Using my DVM it was clearly bad/shorting and in need of replacement. Wish me luck...

Steve

 

[Navydad181]

Typo...58 year old grease...

 

[gbhrps]

Steve,

Glad the window problem is fixed, .... and it didn't cost any money!

While it is possible to get under the dash to get at the wiring, particularly if you remove the seats from the car, it is far better to entirely remove the dash from the car to replace that harness.

I saw a complete write up on the dash removal here in the forum back within the last year I'm sure.

Gene

 

[Navydad181]

Steve,

Glad the window problem is fixed, .... and it didn't cost any money!

While it is possible to get under the dash to get at the wiring, particularly if you remove the seats from the car, it is far better to entirely remove the dash from the car to replace that harness.

I saw a complete write up on the dash removal here in the forum back within the last year I'm sure.

Gene

Yeah the window repair is quite a relief and the price was right just some sweat :yesnod

I had already removed the dash prior to the window issue, yes the best way is to remove the seat, and took on the window because I was waiting for some dash parts. I had taken the dash and hardware to the painter and got it back the other day. I'm just waiting on some gauges I sent for repair and the aluminum instrument dash trim to reconstruct it. I'm replacing all trim and the dash pad also. It will look like a brand new dash when finished:coolg. I have all new upholstery too.

The teenager that owned her way back replaced the engine with a 302 and just did a terrible job with it...transmission is incorrect and linkage is backwards just a endless degree of mousing, teenagers :cry. I've acquired another 312 and Ford "O" Matic and will be reinstalling it next. You have to love these Birds to put yourself through this :banghead, and I do...



Getting there little by little.

Steve