Good Grief - Window Conversion & More Sweet Updates

"Powershiftmedia-ResidentDSMGuru" (matt-powershiftmedia)
12/28/2019 at 14:37 • Filed to: DSM, Projects, Rally, Racing

I’ve never messed with window regulators before today, and I’ve gotta say that I don’t want to again any time soon.

There’s no room to work, and getting the window mounting bolts out was a pain. Since the car has no power to it, I had to jump the window motors with a drill battery to get them in the position I needed to work with. That wasn’t easy either.

Eventually I had the first one out and it took some time. Nathan had arrived back and pulled the glass out of the door for me. This allowed me to confidently go to the passenger side which was far easier since I learned the tricks fast.

All in all it was more tedious and patience testing than anything else. I’ve still gotta finish mounting the rails themselves and stick the glass back in the doors, but the battle is basically over. It’s so cool to look into the Rally Laser and see crank windows, these are so old school cool in the DSM community.

Finally I decided to grab the nice subframe I had reconditioned last week and prepared it for the polyurethane subframe bushings. This meant grabbing my Prothane grease and going to work. So I did and here’s the result:

Now we get to prepare for an engine overhaul for the Laser, and I was able to finally (after insane amounts of hunting) find some Evo beehives and retainers. Stay tuned for that one. Here’s a nice teaser:

Have a great weekend everybody!

DISCUSSION (12)

RallyDarkstrike - Fan of 2-cyl FIATs, Eastern Bloc & Kei cars > Powershiftmedia-ResidentDSMGuru
12/28/2019 at 15:31

Looking good! I had power windows in my old Subie and I have crank windows in the Accent....I prefer the crank ones by far! They never get stuck in the winter...the motors don’t burn out (unless I wrench my elbow the wrong way...)

...and most importantly.....are they REALLY that much effort? I guess my grumpy old man is showing, but there are times people rely too much on technology, lol. Power windows are convenient, but how lazy are we as a race of human beings...is it really that hard to a handle a few times when we want some fresh air? :P LOL! (...and don’t even get me started on power seats...)

MM54 > RallyDarkstrike - Fan of 2-cyl FIATs, Eastern Bloc & Kei cars
12/28/2019 at 16:15

The only issue I’ve ever had with manual windows is when you’re driving and it starts to rain... and the passenger’s side (especially rear) is open...

MM54 > Powershiftmedia-ResidentDSMGuru
12/28/2019 at 16:16

I’ve done a lot of jobs on a lot of cars. Things which involve working inside the door are just about the worst.

facw > RallyDarkstrike - Fan of 2-cyl FIATs, Eastern Bloc & Kei cars
12/28/2019 at 16:41

The driver’s side isn’t a ton of effort. But I like being able to easily roll down the other windows without needing other people in the car.

RallyDarkstrike - Fan of 2-cyl FIATs, Eastern Bloc & Kei cars > facw
12/28/2019 at 17:04

Yeah, that is one big bonus with electric windows.

RallyDarkstrike - Fan of 2-cyl FIATs, Eastern Bloc & Kei cars > MM54
12/28/2019 at 17:04

2-door hatchback for me at present, so can’t say I’ve had that problem! :P

I rarely open my passenger side window in nice weather...usually just the driver’s side and the put the fan/vents on/open. :)

MM54 > RallyDarkstrike - Fan of 2-cyl FIATs, Eastern Bloc & Kei cars
12/28/2019 at 17:45

The RX7 isn’t bad since I can reach the passenger’s crank fairly easily from the driver’s seat (I always have them both all the way down when possible). The chevelle isn’t so easy, pretty much have to lay across the bench seat to get the other side, and forget about reaching the rear cranks.

RallyDarkstrike - Fan of 2-cyl FIATs, Eastern Bloc & Kei cars > MM54
12/28/2019 at 18:08

I can reach the passenger one in my Accent with a lot of leaning!

Powershiftmedia-ResidentDSMGuru > RallyDarkstrike - Fan of 2-cyl FIATs, Eastern Bloc & Kei cars
12/28/2019 at 18:16

We speak the same language literally lol. I prefer manual seats, manual steering, crank windows all of it. Less stuff to fail and less weight. ;)

Powershiftmedia-ResidentDSMGuru > MM54
12/28/2019 at 18:16

That part does suck. But we will rarely use the windows :)

Powershiftmedia-ResidentDSMGuru > MM54
12/28/2019 at 18:18

Yeah not going to lie, it sucked. Not having power to the windows didn’t help. I ended up using the open end of a wrench long ways to unscrew it. It took literally forever. That was to take the bolts retaining the glass out. Fml

Who is the Leader - 404 / Blog No Longer Available > RallyDarkstrike - Fan of 2-cyl FIATs, Eastern Bloc & Kei cars
12/28/2019 at 19:49

Power windows are nice to roll down the rears to prevent buffeting but power seats are inconvenient because of how slow they are.