1980 Power Window Regulator Removal

My '80 Corvette needs a passenger window regulator gear replacement. The
motor works fine but
the teeth on the high side of the regulator gear are worn down.

I have the 1980 Corvette shop manual but it's not really very instructive on
precisely how the regulator is removed.

After telling me to remove the door panel and the inner door panel access
cover, it then tells me to do the following:

1) Disengage wire harness at motor.
2) Remove inner panel cam.
3) Punch out window regulator rivet center pins, then drill out rivets with
6mm (1/4") drill bit.
4) Disengage regulator rollers from sash channel cam and remove regulator
from door.

I've got no problem getting to Step 2 above but I don't know what or where
the inner panel cam is. There are no pictures in the manual.

Since this isn't the first window job the door has had, the rivet removal in
Step 3 has already been done. There are two nuts left there to remove. No
problem here.

In Step 4, I can grope around inside the door and find the 3 regulator
rollers in the sash
channels, but I don't have a clue as to how they're removed without removing
the sash channels.

And lastly, while it doesn't actually say so, I assume the motor and
regulator come out as an assembly.

I'd really appreciate any help anyone could give me on this. As I recall, I
spend close to $500 for a power window repair in the shop.

Thanks!

Mike

80 Corvette 4-speed

"Mike" > wrote in message
...
> My '80 Corvette needs a passenger window regulator gear replacement. The
> motor works fine but
> the teeth on the high side of the regulator gear are worn down.
>
> I have the 1980 Corvette shop manual but it's not really very instructive
> on
> precisely how the regulator is removed.
>
> After telling me to remove the door panel and the inner door panel access
> cover, it then tells me to do the following:
>
> 1) Disengage wire harness at motor.
> 2) Remove inner panel cam.
> 3) Punch out window regulator rivet center pins, then drill out rivets
> with
> 6mm (1/4") drill bit.
> 4) Disengage regulator rollers from sash channel cam and remove regulator
> from door.
>
> I've got no problem getting to Step 2 above but I don't know what or where
> the inner panel cam is. There are no pictures in the manual.
>
> Since this isn't the first window job the door has had, the rivet removal
> in
> Step 3 has already been done. There are two nuts left there to remove. No
> problem here.
>
> In Step 4, I can grope around inside the door and find the 3 regulator
> rollers in the sash
> channels, but I don't have a clue as to how they're removed without
> removing the sash channels.
>
> And lastly, while it doesn't actually say so, I assume the motor and
> regulator come out as an assembly.
>
> I'd really appreciate any help anyone could give me on this. As I recall,
> I
> spend close to $500 for a power window repair in the shop.
>
> Thanks!
>
> Mike
>
> 80 Corvette 4-speed
First off take some 100 mile per hour tape and run a strip the length of the
inside of the window taping it to the inter door skin. When you do get it
loose you don't need the window to drop. Now take off the bolts and move the
assembly out towards the outside. Some of the regulators/motor assemblies
are like scissors so watch you fingers. When it comes loose the rollers
should come loose from the tracks at a notch or the end of the rail. When
you get your repairs made take the time to clean out the rails/guides and
re-lubricate them. Re-stake the rollers a bit to cut down the binding the
loose fit causes. I did both of '72 doors last fall because they were slow,
the rails were full of crap and hardened lube. A31 P/W and U69, radio, were
the only options on mine and I've had to fix them both last year. Can't
remember the details well enough to tell you what the inter panel cam is and
there is no description like that in my GM manual. If you need it I can scan
the page and send it to you.

Good luck and let us know how it works out.

--
Dad
05 C6 Silver/Red 6spd Z51
72 Shark Black/Black/4spd

Thanks for the advice! That doesn't sound too complicated. I'm planning on
tackling the project this weekend. Will let you know how it goes.

Mike

Somewhat delayed, but I finally did get my regulator/motor assembly out of
the door. Because of the jockying required to get the upper rollers out of
the horizontal channel I've concluded this is really a job that requires an
assistant.

Anyway, the diagnosis is dilapidated teeth on the regulator gear and a deep
groove worn into the helical gear on the motor. The later is a simple
replacement repair which only costs about $30. The easy repair on the
regulator gear would be to buy a new regulator assembly but everything but
the gear on mine looks fine. I don't really want to get involved in popping
rivets and manhandling the coil spring to replace the gear only so I've
become intrigued with the gear teeth replacement option whereby you drill
three holes into your existing regulator gear and bolt in a arc segment
which has nice new teeth on it.

I would appreciate anyone's advice or experience here.

Mike

80 4-speed -- original owner