Clamshell Rear Window Help: window adjustment

Discussion in 'General Station Wagon Discussions' started by Vetteman61, May 30, 2013.

  1. Bretho

    Bretho Paul

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    Clamshell window adjustment

    I would also like to thank you guys for such detailed info. I am trying to restore my car down here in Australia, and believe me if you think it is hard to find info in the US, its almost impossible here, so your info is priceless to me.

    Now after finally getting my car back on the road, it is time to get the things that I only just got working for registration to work properly. One is my rear window. My car had all the motors and the cable device for the window (and tailgate) removed. After sourcing them and getting both to work, I want to get them working 100%.

    With my window, I cleaned all the tracks, but noticed the window was still running slow, more so going up than down. I decided to get the motor reconditioned (cost me $350) but at least now I know it is at full strength. Before I reinstalled it, I disconnected the cable out of the drive box and disconnected the return spring, expecting the window to just slide up and down freely. To my horror it was still very sticky, with a horrible grating noise, which is why it was slow, not the motor. When I felt around the tracks, one of these wheels fell out (see first photo). I presume this is what the windows runs on, and why mine is not running, but scraping instead.
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    My questions are therfore;
    a. Can you get these wheels?
    b. How do I get the window out to do these repairs? Do I undo the round flat nuts with the 2 holes out out of them?
    c. On photo 2 and 3, what does that hook and mechanism do? Does it catch somewhere to lock it into open?
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    Like everone, I have looked, but Chev seemed to have done a great job of hiding everything from view and making it a mystery. Thank goodness this forum has already cleared a lot up for me.
     
  2. Vetteman61

    Vetteman61 Well-Known Member

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    Along with the original shop manual I picked up a body manual. Though I don't know how to remove the rear window, it did cover the operations of this area (the shop manual didn't). I'm not trying to post of those "just buy the manual" answers, but I'm not sure how to remove it and I've found it to be pretty helpful at different times.

    I got mine on ebay and there are usually several for sale at any given time:
    [​IMG]
     
  3. Bretho

    Bretho Paul

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    Thanks Brandon,
    I have a Haynes manual which covers all Full size from 1969 thru to 1990 which has been good for some general repairs I have done, but I obviously need a more detailed one for this job. Have you seen the inner workings yet, like how many of those little wheels there are? Looks like I may have to take a few photos myself as I explore how to pull it apart
     
  4. wixom61

    wixom61 Well-Known Member

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    Bretho, on your question b. Yes, the round flat nuts with the two holes in them secure the glass to the tracks, I believe there are eight of them. I have never removed my rear window, but these are the same for the side glass also.

    Hopefully WagonKiller will chime in, because I believe he has parted out more than a few, and will have much greater knowledge of how these windows come apart that probably anyone else here.

    I'm not sure about the little wheel you found, because I have never had mine apart, but it looks okay, so maybe it just came unbolted, and once you have the glass out, you can better see where it goes.

    Question c. I haven't a clue! LOL!

    David :)
     
  5. OrthmannJ

    OrthmannJ Always looking for old ford crew cabs

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    Another plus in restoring a rig built by the General, you have info and repo parts available. Wish I could say the say for Ma MoPar. Keep up the good work fellas and thanks for sharing.
     
  6. WagonKiller

    WagonKiller Well-Known Member

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    the tracks unbolt at the bottom, mid pilliar(if I remember correctly) and at the top roof area. after the bottom weatherstripping is removed(that massive hunk that Brandon is trying to reproduce) the tracks slide down and out. If I remember correctly the window drive assembly will have to be removed from its mounting point and unhooked from the body and drive motor to allow movement to remove. Please bear with me and gimme some remember time so I can study Brandon's and others pics to refresh my memory on this has been a while LOL! That and the brain fog that comes with my condition I will defineatly have to pics search . somewhere in there the spring needs to be unhooked unless the wheels are just missing on the bottom,then you can pull it down( or run it down) without removing all of the above just removing the stop catch at the bottom of the channel the spring would leave enough to pull it that far past without hurting anything I belive and I am thinking the worm drive would be long enough to allow this too
     
  7. Bretho

    Bretho Paul

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    Clamshell Window Removal/Installation

    After using David’s (Wixom 61) excellent thread to fix the tailgate on my 74 Chev Caprice Wagon, I thought I would try and return the favour. My car was very sad when I purchased it, and the previous owner had the philosophy that when something stopped working, he would simply disconnect it and throw it away. I have since sourced all the parts necessary for the clamshell to work (he just used o operate it by hand), however I was not happy with how fast the window went up and done. Couple this with the grinding noise, I decided to bite the bullet and pull the entire mechanism out last weekend. Sorry some of the photos are not that good, but hopefully the following should demystify the window operation.

    I will try and list the removal in the correct sequence of events, not how I did it, as I did undo many bolts that I didn’t need to in my ignorance of how it all works. I also decided to take the whole mechanism out, rather than just the glass, because again I did not know how to do either so I just started unbolting.
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    Step 3.
    As I have left the window all attached, this means that the whole mechanism can be pulled out in one piece. One thing I did notice, is that on my model, a 74, the bumper got in the way, and in hindsight I should have removed the bumper first. If you have the previous model with the closer fitting bar this should not be a problem. Because the tracks did foul the bumper, I did take the window out separately. To do this you need to disconnect the spring in the middle of the top of the glass, and also remove the stops at the bottom of each channel.
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    With the glass out it allowed me to manoeuvre the channels out. As I said if the bumper had of been off this would have been a lot simpler.

    Replacement is simply a reversal of the above. It is very easy to take out.
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    I hope this help[s a little in understanding how it all works.
    Now if I only had some rubbers to keep the rain out I would be a happy man.
    Paul

     
  8. Caprice Estate

    Caprice Estate Dads 74 Caprice

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    Wow, what a ton of work that must be. I hope i never have to go there with my 74. Cheers.
     
  9. GlenCam

    GlenCam Member

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    This is fabulous! Thanks for the detailed information everyone!
     

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