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August 20, 2016

Window Regulators

[Click the pics for a better view]

Unlike some of its ancestors, the TR6 had civilized roll-up windows.  Each window is moved by parallelogram mechanism where a fixed horizontal member has pivoting links at each end.   The links connect to a movable horizontal member that engages the channel at the bottom of the window glass.  A geared crank swings one of the end links, which causes the movable member to raise and lower while staying horizontal.  The movable member is offset so it can bypass the fixed member.  A heavy clock spring is wound up when the window is lowered so that it can assist in raising the window.  There is also a simple clutch mechanism attached to the crank gear so that the window won't lower under its own weight.




The regulators on my car were overall in good shape.  The joints between the members were still tight but flexible.  The whole mechanism cleaned up well.  I was tempted to leave it at that, but I really wanted to get a peek inside the clutch contraption, and I wasn't going to let three little rivets stop me.  Besides, the crank stub one one of the units seemed a little floppy, and I wanted to investigate that.  First, the window link is raised until the gears disengage.  This de-tensions the big spring so that it can be pulled right out.




Then I drilled out the rivets to remove the clutch housing.  I was glad I took this extra step.  Inside the housing I found a lot of dried up gritty grease.  It looks wet in the picture from the cleaning solvent that got into it.




The clutch parts looked pretty good when cleaned up.  The internal spring is installed such that turning the window crank either direction winds it up slightly so that it contracts away from the wall of the housing.  On the other hand, the weight of the window tries to unwind the spring so that it expands against the housing wall and binds.  Note that for the clutch to operate correctly, the tang on the small gear piece has to be installed on the same side as the end hooks on the spring--opposite to what's shown in the last pic below.




On the side that had the floppy crank handle (the drivers side), I found that the stub shaft that the handle goes on had gotten loose in its little arm thingy.  It was originally just staked in place, and once it got a little play, it wallowed out the hole until it was ready to fall out.  In fact, a couple of taps with a small hammer, and it did fall out.  




I ended up just using a couple of tack welds to put the assembly back together.  There is some noticable rust pitting damage on this part, but it didn't seem to affect the function at all.




I greased up the clutch gizmo and put it back in place with blind rivets.




The regulators seem to move smoothly now.  They'll go on the shelf with the dozens of other parts waiting for reunion.

Comments to Ed at elhollin1@yahoo.com

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