Tradition for a budget build is to roam the junkyards and pull parts from various cars to make things fit rather than buying a kit for everything. On my 47 Plymouth I wanted electric windows but was not up to the $3-400 price tag. First step was taking all the old window parts out, cleaning them up, and adding a little paint. Pretty easy to restore once you took the rust off. As expected the only failed part was the window crank pinion, wont need it anyhow. Started doing a little research: One of the most popular electric window motors is Dorman 742-150 which was used from 1979 to 2005 and various GM models which is a 9 tooth drive gear, the other is 742-101 used from 1985 to 2002 on Astro Vans and Camaros which is a 12 tooth drive gear. Quick trip the junk yard or your local NAPA dealer for a repop @ $21. If you pick the motor up at the junk yard pull the wiring harness otherwise the wiring plug is Dorman #5642C, GM 12101914, Delco PT120. I bought both the electric motors, the -150 has a fairly small tooth, the 101 with a much larger gear tooth that by chance matched the window regulator gear. Interesting that the same gear pattern used after 55 years! Bolts are in the bag and along with a loose adapter plate, ***embled them together.
Now, for modifications to the window regulator bracket. First step is to mark the inside to the car and inside to the door side of the bracket. Ask me how I know; first one I built had the motor on the wrong side, easy to get confused. Had to cut it apart and start over. There is a stamped boss where the window crank pinion sits, also contains the regulator gear, Mark it and cut it off, leaving about a 1-1/2 diameter hole, clean it up with a die grinder. Lay the plate on top the window motor that you ***embled and grind the slot until you have enough room for everything to fit with a little gap between the gears. I drilled a few pilot holes and used a couple of clecko's to hold it all in place. I cut a small steel tab to support the 3rd tab of the motor.
A few small welds and you are ready to go. Put two bolts in where I had the Cleckos and drilled a hole in the welded on tab. Here are a couple shots off the completed ***embly. A little touch-up paint and looks pretty good. I wiggled it back in the door, perfect fit, no interference, just need to wire it up with a few switches. Jumped the motor and it moves up and down pretty smooth. No door modifications, about 2 hours and 50 bucks, far less time than trying to fit in an aftermarket kit.
savin' this one !!...thanks for posting What or how does the mechanism stop; do these power regulators use a resistance method? or does a person have to come up with limit switches?
Make sure you have some sort of stop. A amusing story about my pal Kenneth that modified some power windows to fit his fresh but not completely finished 3" chopped top 30 Model A sedan and he and his wife drove it to a friends wedding. Now this was more than 20 years ago so it was a really nice car and you could still smell the red paint. Kenneth left the windows down because it was warm that day but a afternoon storm rolled in and his brother ran out to roll the windows up,,by now it was a frog strangler and Brian didn't know or wasn't paying attention and slammed the p***enger door and the gl*** exploded! It seems Kenneth had not replaced the cap on the door after painting it and he never chopped the window gl***,,I can just see 3" of cl*** above the roof line,,it's funny now but Kenneth was POed! HRP
What are you doing for switches? I'm considering the same conversion and using those conversions with limit switches that take OEM winders, as long as the they fit and shaft comes out in OEM winder hole in trim?
I don't know about the OP but I have used the original equipment switches from the donner car. There is also a switch (I think Autoloc ) that has a square shaft that you can uses the original window cranks to retain the original look of your car. When the handle is press up or down the magic happens. HRP
I was thinking of donor switch's or a couple of small push ****ons in the dash. Can't put an aftermarket switch where the old crank handle was because the motor gear is in that space. Does anyone know if there is a stop or limiter. Just hot wiring the motor, it just keeps going until it runs past the window gear track. Does it stop/stall the motor when the gl*** hits the top of the frame?
Used the same idea but with Ford parts on my 41. Ford thru the late 80's early 90's used the same number of teeth in the mechanism. I don't have any pictures as that was done about 20 years ago. I used the controls from the rear doors of a 4dr
The common/easy one to use on 60s ford trucks is 90s Saturn motors. junkyard donors are $5-10 and remans I think are $25-30. Looks pretty similar to...ken....
The Jalopy Journal
