Fitting electric windows into early bodies can be problematic. The curve of the doors can work against the dimensions of some aftermarket electric window kits, requiring mods to get them to fit or some will just not go in at all. Having a nice channel for the window to slide freely up and down is a good start, however most of the original bailey channel has usually rusted away on the older cars now, so it has to be replaced with reproduction units when available, or it has to be made by hand from scratch which is very time consuming.
Mistakes, I have seen the channels be slotted to fit door mechs and locks in and that causes the window to bump past the slot, or to bind up .... which just leads to unreliable and annouying window operation. I have seen too much of the door frames cut away and no strength put back in, this leads to the door popping open. I have seen people still leave reminants of the original wood frame in the door and still expect it all to work with a door that flexes like a dogs rubber toy.
It is one of those jobs where you just have to put in the time and test, and test, and test some more. Pull it apart put it back together and test again. Each time tweaking the brackets, alterning the window template piece, or the channel, or in somecases rework the design again when it is not quite there.
A window is heavy and rigid, so the frame can't be flimsay, it has to hold and reliably guide the window for many years of operation. If you rely solely on the aftermarket electric window kit to hold and guide the window you are asking for trouble. The electric window kit is good at lifting and lowering, it will fail prematurely if you rely too heavily on it to do anything other than that.
The pictures show a set up I did on a 38 Plymouth sedan, in this instance there was no bailey channel at all and we were removing the front door draft window and setting up the back door window so that it would go all the way down. I made the bailey channels from scratch, hand forming them over hand formed dies so they would cup around original replacement window channel felt and hold the felt without a lot of glue, just like the orginal cars had of that era. I made them in one piece so the frame is held so the window moves in that rigid plane. It can be removed as a rigid assembly, this made for a much reliable set up and makes assembly after the car is painted much easier.
This was part of the larger job of fitting door mechs, locks and poppers. Quite tedious work.
This is not a product - It is an example of our fabrication and engineering skills.
Price is indicative per door on a complex job like this. All work is done at an hourly rate, plus parts, plus materials. |