I just pulled the Window Regulators & Door locking mechanisms out of my '53 Chevy Two door hardtop. I was going to have them chem-dipped. Then drill the rivets repack the grease and replace the old rivets with pop rivets. Then rattle can paint them. Over kill? Too much? Do I need to do this? What do you do to clean yours up before you reinstall them? Any tips or tricks would be great! Thanks!!! Lucky
I'd be surprised if you could pop rivet the regulators back together. Last time I tried I ended up welding the little housing back on. But that was on a later 50s truck. I would just clean with solvent and replace bad parts and lube with synthetic grease. I guess some guys making the hidden parts inside look real nice....that's up to you.
I'm sort of up against the same thing on an OT car. The regulators and channels I've got are rusted to death, but seems like every replacement set I've seen have the same curse, always around where the galvanized/dipped parts touch the body. The only thing I can figure is there's some chemical reaction going on (in my case anyway). So, I'm trying to decide the price point where it's worth it to pay for better or to restore a set, and then put it in a place where no one will ever see it again. I have the sneaking suspicion that no matter which route I decide on, it'll seem like the wrong choice in 6 months.
Overkill to me unless you can see some broken parts that you must disassemble it to replace them. A half an hour in a parts washer and then add the grease as you crank it through it's motion.
They don't look that bad. Mine were not any better and I took a 90 degree die grinder with the porous sanding disk and cleaned them up. Then I put spray rust remover on the long arm hinge pins and worked them back and forth to free them up. I put a little grease on the gear teeth and ran them back and forth. I replaced all the rivets and plastic rollers with new ones. I had to file the small teeth on the regulator gear[the gear the handle goes on] so the handles would fit better. Use a real small triangular file. I have the windows in now and the regulators work great. The vent window gear housing can be taken apart and cleaned. My vent windows work better now than when new. Good luck
I have blasted and painted window mechanisms back when I was selling on ebay. always got good money for my blasted parts. I'll be doing the same with my current project. I would not mess with the rivets unless you have the machine and rivets so you can do it just like factory did. things inside the doors that are cad plated get just enough blast to get the crud off and leave the plating. overkill?? they are already out and need overhauled, what's another 20 minutes to blast and spray bomb them?
I used the vinegar dip on mine ... and the door latches. Took about a week ( it was summer and warm here in the South ) Vinegar does work better at 70 plus degrees IMHO. Fortunately, mine were in good shape. The coupe had sat inside a shed since 1958. I did buy new door latch springs from Dick Spadaro. .
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