I have a couple of posts on this project. As with many maintenance and repairs on this car it was an adventure. I thought I would share my experience here.
I had to replace my passenger window which shattered last summer. I also pulled the drivers frame/window out to get a reference to mount the channel to the window, also all the rubber and felt needed replacing anyway. It turns out to be centered on the window. Anyway I had ordered a channel and window from a usual and the glass setting tape from Bob Drake. I have never done this so will share what I did which worked pretty well. I had to modify the channel so the width was slightly less than the window and combined thickness of the glass setting tape. This took a few careful iterations in a vice trying to keep the thickness true along the length of the channel. The initial width started at ~0.6in and I pressed it to ~0.47in. Once I thought it was good enough I cut the tape slightly shorter than the channel. I folded it in half and formed it. Then I folded it over the window and wet it with some soapy water. I lined it up with reference marks I made on the window then pressed it on to the window using the vice shown in the pic. The tape turned out to be the exact same width as the channel so one it was folded there was no cutting needed. I greased up the channel and installed back into the frame and door. So far it is working fine except for the annoying new rubber seal that is catching on the window when I roll it down.
The trick I found to installing the frame back into the door with the window is to drop the window mechanism out of the way then drop in the frame while also holding the window all the way in. Then raise the window mechanism and also lift up the frame and window until you can pop it into the rails. This worked well on both doors.
Skene,
That is a job well done! Congratulations. When I did one for a client I found the channel on the bottom of the glass needed to move one way or the other to allow the roller mechanism to clear. It was a drag to take it off and reinstall it, so anyone doing this job pay close attention to the alignment of the old glass and channel to reinstall properly.
Thanks for scouting the way. I’m about to do the same. Just got the old (bad) bottom frame off of the glass ready for the “New” one. I also noticed Bob Drake does not carry exactly the right glass setting tape. I was thinking of using 2 thinner pieces and some glue. I can’t believe these were just pressed in when I think about the trouble I had getting them apart.
Thanks. I had the remains of a broken passenger window in the channel and had no idea of the positioning of the channel, hence pulling the drivers side. I think there is some slop in the placement now that I have done it. I centered it front to back. The setting tape I used is 5/64" thick and 1.5in wide from Bob Drake. It is actually a perfect fit in the channel. It looked like the same thickness used on the drivers window. The trickiest part was clamping the channel to get the correct width (good enough for government work). I had watched a couple of youtube videos and they just used the pressed fit so I thought I would give it a shot. I video, they used a rubber mallet, and the other they used the clamp. I thought the clamp was safer on the glass. I was worried about having to redo it several times to get it right, but it worked on the first try. I did not tape the setting tape to the window, just formed it and held it in place until I started pressing the channel in. One person job. I put valvoline synthetic bearing grease in the channel, just a light application in the grooves.
Frame installation is tricky. It can only go in front first at an angle, then it just drops in. As I stated before the regulator has to be lowered out of the way. Believe me I tried it with it up to no joy. When you raise the regulator you have to pull it towards the inside of the door in order for it to clear the channel initially. You also have to lift the frame with the window about 1in in order to line up the round slides. The window should be all the way up in the frame. Then you just line up the openings in the channel with the slides (circled) on the regulator. The channel goes behind it. Once they are lined up, you lower the regulator slowly using the handle and the regulator should slide into the channel grooves. This may take a few attempts. Once it is in, you can lower the window a bit, then the frame, then bolt everything up. I bolted the frame to the brackets on the bottom of the door then the screws on the top of the door.
I get so much help and valuable information from this forum so I hope this post is useful. Thanks, Skene
This series of posts was very helpful for me to install my right-hand Series 1 OTS window. Some observations I had for my situation:
I had to use a replacement regulator channel (channel that holds the glass.) The part I got had a narrower gap in the channel than the original. (it also has an angled brass channel piece at the back that supports the vertically-oriented part of the glass at the bottom, which isn’t on the part pictured above.) This piece was much too thick to fit in the vertical slider track at the back edge of the door, so I had to sand it down a lot to get it to the right thickness. Luckily it’s pretty easy to sand down brass - had it been steel, I would have had to use a belt sander.
Measure the the thickness of your glass and measure the width of the regulator channel. This will tell you the thickness of the tape you need. “Subtract the width of glass from the width of channel and divide this figure by two. For best results, tape should be slightly larger than the gap.” (per Bob Drake.)
How much larger was the tricky question, if you’re going for a friction-only fit (no glue) the increase in thickness creates the pressure that will hold the glass in the channel. I initially tried the 5/64 tape, but it was much too thick. Trying to clamp it down, it wouldn’t move. I paused to think about it, and saw that my regulator channel had a slight bend in it! Luckily I was able to bend it back. Good thing I didn’t try the hammer technique to try and pound it in.
So I went to the 3/64 tape, only a bit larger than the calculated figure, and it fit with not too much effort. Too little effort probably. For, while it seemed very secure - once I reinstalled the horizontal outer sealing rubber pieces and the felt inner seal - lowering the window separated the glass from the channel. The notorious stiffness of the rubber created too much friction and pulled the glass off the channel.
Well, not wanting to order yet another roll of tape, I decided to just go get some 3M urethane auto glass adhesive and glue it in. I applied the stuff to the channel and the glass side of the tape (both sides of the tape glued.) I let it set for a couple days, being paranoid about pulling the glass off again, and then tried lowered and raising the window. It holds tight! (the stuff should reach maximum strength in 72 hours unless temperatures are below 40°F.)
As for getting the glass in the door, I found that with the regulator lowered a bit, I angled the glass assembly tilted forward so the top forward edge of the glass fits in the forward felt lined channel.Then I raise the regulator until I can start fitting the forward regulator roller into the forward roller track of the glass assembly. Once that happens, tilt back to get the rear angled vertical channel piece into the vertical slider channel at the back of the door, then operate the regulator/winder to move the rollers back so the 2nd roller engages and fits into the rear roller track of the glass assembly.
Adjust the height stop. Funny thing is that the parts book says this is to limit the downward motion of the glass - in fact, it limits the upwards motion! If you tried to move the stop to a location where it would limit the downwards motion of the glass to any significant degree, I think it would prevent the glass from rising more than halfway. Stopping the upwards motion is far more important because you don’t want the glass popping out of the door…
I have had mine in for 2 months. So far so good. I must say the rain-x has worked great from preventing my window dragging on the new outer seal. The channel I purchased was almost a perfect match to the original which is still on the other window. The 5/64 tape I used appeared to be the same thickness as the original. Glad to hear it worked out.
