Window regulator repair kit - capstan mystery

Les Paul · 21st June 2023, 14:14

First of all, a tip o' the hat to forum admin for resolving my lost password, Pete, yer a gent

Well it had to happen I 'spose, another thing to add to the rolling repair list. Passenger side front window refused to open to the accompaniment of much graunching, whipped the door card off to be greeted with...

Yikes...Talk about shuffling off its mortal coil!

The cable crimp terminations had rusted through...

google..google..google... aha, repair kits available, nice one, but what about fitting instructions, vids, how to's?

google..google..google... aha, a few people have bought the kit but there don't seem to be any that have completed the task and the posts end up with "...so I bought a breaker unit for 15quid..."

Well I'm not a stupid man, how hard can it be? Kit arrived from Germany within days. In that time I'd run a Scothbrite over the runners and given them a light silicone spray greasing and also de-rusted and smartened up the window clamps with a dash o' black trade paint to delay any further rust.

So it's laid out on the table, I'd figured out the cable runs and brought the two free ends back to the motor and g'box housing ready to wind onto the capstan ...

...erm... OK ... if I just... ?? no that ain't working... motor's gotta come out obviously ... hmmm ... what if I ... oh nadgers ... try again... SPROING!! .. and again... SPROING ... what the???

Am I missing something here or do I actually need four arms and a prehensile tail to get this cabled up and correctly tensioned? Do you start from the drum and work 'upstream' to the sliders? Do you have to pre-wind some turns onto the capstan and somehow retain it with tape while finaigling the cables round the pulleys and tensioner? Just can't see how this is possible within the parameters of human endurance. Any help deeply appreciated.

Les Paul · 23rd June 2023, 15:25

OK, some progress...

In winding these cables onto the capstan I've been instinctively trying to avoid twists by turning the drum rather than just wrapping it hand over hand which would induce a twist into the wire. Roped the lad in as a spare pair o' hands... nope... not happening.
In desperation I thought s0d the twists just get this thing in situ and worry about the nicities later, they'll probably work themselves out with use... maybe... possibly... whatever. But it worked!

Finally got the fully wound drum into position...

...offered up the motor and g/box and whether by luck or design the three dogs slotted into the cush drive and screw holes aligned. Right let's get this bolted up before it all goes sproing again.

You'll note that the tensioner arm is floating, ie the spring hasn't been snicked into its seating yet so there was no tension in the system but the only way I got get enough slack to route it round that tensioner was to unhook that sheathed cable from the motor plate from its abutment at the top of the other slider.

This is proving impossible to re-seat and I need to find an inch of freeplay from somewhere. I know there are 3 slots moulded into the white plastic cable end that slots into the motor plate, I've got it in the middle one but can't see that the +/-3mm it offers is going to make a spit of difference.

Any ideas folks?

21st June 2023, 14:14	#1
Les Paul Newbie Rover 75 Tourer Join Date: Nov 2019 Location: Coventry Posts: 13 Thanks: 0 Thanked 1 Time in 1 Post	Window regulator repair kit - capstan mystery First of all, a tip o' the hat to forum admin for resolving my lost password, Pete, yer a gent Well it had to happen I 'spose, another thing to add to the rolling repair list. Passenger side front window refused to open to the accompaniment of much graunching, whipped the door card off to be greeted with... Yikes...Talk about shuffling off its mortal coil! The cable crimp terminations had rusted through... google..google..google... aha, repair kits available, nice one, but what about fitting instructions, vids, how to's? google..google..google... aha, a few people have bought the kit but there don't seem to be any that have completed the task and the posts end up with "...so I bought a breaker unit for 15quid..." Well I'm not a stupid man, how hard can it be? Kit arrived from Germany within days. In that time I'd run a Scothbrite over the runners and given them a light silicone spray greasing and also de-rusted and smartened up the window clamps with a dash o' black trade paint to delay any further rust. So it's laid out on the table, I'd figured out the cable runs and brought the two free ends back to the motor and g'box housing ready to wind onto the capstan ... ...erm... OK ... if I just... ?? no that ain't working... motor's gotta come out obviously ... hmmm ... what if I ... oh nadgers ... try again... SPROING!! .. and again... SPROING ... what the??? Am I missing something here or do I actually need four arms and a prehensile tail to get this cabled up and correctly tensioned? Do you start from the drum and work 'upstream' to the sliders? Do you have to pre-wind some turns onto the capstan and somehow retain it with tape while finaigling the cables round the pulleys and tensioner? Just can't see how this is possible within the parameters of human endurance. Any help deeply appreciated.

23rd June 2023, 15:25	#2
Les Paul Newbie Rover 75 Tourer Join Date: Nov 2019 Location: Coventry Posts: 13 Thanks: 0 Thanked 1 Time in 1 Post	Final tensioning?? OK, some progress... In winding these cables onto the capstan I've been instinctively trying to avoid twists by turning the drum rather than just wrapping it hand over hand which would induce a twist into the wire. Roped the lad in as a spare pair o' hands... nope... not happening. In desperation I thought s0d the twists just get this thing in situ and worry about the nicities later, they'll probably work themselves out with use... maybe... possibly... whatever. But it worked! Finally got the fully wound drum into position... ...offered up the motor and g/box and whether by luck or design the three dogs slotted into the cush drive and screw holes aligned. Right let's get this bolted up before it all goes sproing again. You'll note that the tensioner arm is floating, ie the spring hasn't been snicked into its seating yet so there was no tension in the system but the only way I got get enough slack to route it round that tensioner was to unhook that sheathed cable from the motor plate from its abutment at the top of the other slider. This is proving impossible to re-seat and I need to find an inch of freeplay from somewhere. I know there are 3 slots moulded into the white plastic cable end that slots into the motor plate, I've got it in the middle one but can't see that the +/-3mm it offers is going to make a spit of difference. Any ideas folks?