Need help with assembly of door frames / windows

[endo911rs]

I am in the process of restoring my '67 and aiming to have it ready before Treffen '09. It is always the details that take the longest and are the most discouraging.

Here is my latest...

The roll up window worked very well prior to dissassembly. I removed everything to paint and chrome. I also installed all new weather stripping. Now, for the SWB cars and possibly others, there is a hard channel and soft channel window guide. I ordered the correct ones from Stoddard and everything seems to fit well in the freshly rechromed frames. Everything also fits well in the door/chassis resulting in a nice tight seal to the body with good gaps. The problem is that my window BARELY roll up and down. I feel like I am going to break the window cranks and result in "helping" the window with my hands. Now I can understand some tightness from the new seals, especially the hard channel seals. I have lubed things up with some baby powder and the more I work them, the better it seems to get although it is still VERY tight.

Now for the big problem. When the window gets to the top of the door frame there is an obvious misalignment of the window to the door frame. The front of the window is a good 1/4" lower than the rear. The passenger side is similar but slightly less and consequently the window rolls easier. That would sure account for the tightness if it is going up at an angle but how do I straighten it? I want to be able to rotate the whole regulator counter clockwise but there is not enough alignment room in the four bolt holes.

Any ideas? Is there an adjustment I am missing somewhere?

TIA,

[John912]

From the photo it looks like the frame is racked and needs to come up at the back (there appears to be a larger gap between rear of window frame and car roof). See if window rolls up/down easier with frame mounting bolts loose -- then use frame tightening sequence shown in repair manual gradually tightening each one in proper sequence till you find the one(s) causing the problem -- that will lead you to problem area. Hope it helps -- I had the same problem and worked it out, although new seals have greater resistance. Good luck.

[304065]

The FWM says you want a 9mm gap between the frame and the body when you use the "modern" door seals. It says you want the gap tighter on the forward part to "keep the window from fluttering."

I have my window frames out right now, they aren't completely rigid, they do have some flexibility. I would loosen up the frame mounting bolts and see if the window can move smoothly.

[endo911rs]

Thanks guys,

Yes, I have tried loosening all the bolts. Actually only the front two and rear three are in and very loose at that, although not enough that the frame is flopping around when trying to move the window.

The rear of the frame is as high as it seems to want to go. I will check it for further adjustment.

Any other thoughts? Anything special that Porsche may have used to lube the window channels? Obviously the windows were not tight like this when the cars were new. This goes down on the list of "how the hell did they do that at the factory in a reasonable timeframe so they could still be profitable?"

[kenikh]

You obviously greased the crap out of the regulators and they move OK?

[Rich Lambert]

Chris, I had this same problem and the window glass was mislocated in the bottom bracket. It could be off side to side or not sitting in there level. Just being slightly off or loose in the bracket (42yo adhesive) will mess it up. You can maybe tell by the old outline of the bracket on the window if it's moved...unless, like me, you thouroghly cleaned it and erased that evidence.

If it is mislocated, fixing that should take care of both problems.

I also smeared some Syl-Glyde on the side guides and that helped smooth it out to nearly effortless.

[edmayo]

I just recently finished the exact same process with the Stoddard seals, rigid front, soft rear, on a 66, and the windows roll easily. Besides all the other good advice you've already gotten, are you aware there is a tilt adjustment stud on the bottom of the pivot where all the arms come together, roughly under the center of the glass. To access it you use a 13 mm wrench from the back side of the mechanism, loosen the nut and you can rock the window slightly to change its angle. Usually that will help cure a binding.

[endo911rs]

OK, thanks guys...I fixed it! I will try and post a pic tomorrow.

Anyway, the trouble was several things but all caused by one thing. The window frame had a slight dent in it just below the top of the door. That caused the seal to pinch the window thight and therefore nothing would move. Not knowing that, I had continued to try and work the window up and down to see if it would start to free up. The tightness was overpowering the adhesive holding the window to the window regulator so that was starting to separate making the window sit at an angle.

Obviously I had to remove everything...much faster the second time around! I massaged out the dent in the frame the best I could without damaging my fresh chrome. Things were still a bit tights so I cut the hard channel just above the dent and then used soft channel from that point downward. Reassembled everything and lubed the regulator liberally with white grease and it works great! Still a bit tight but I think that is expected from new seals.

Thanks again for the help!