1937 pickup window regulator

[JD]

A friend is struggling to set the spring tension on his window regulator (1937 pickup). Any advice for him? I can ask him for more specific questions if required.

John

 

[Lawson Cox]

I don't know that there is anything he can do except maybe replace the spring, but then it is questionable whether or not that would do any good. Exactly what is his problem?

 

[JD]

He says he drilled off the three rivets that hold the small housing for the handle crank, this allowed the spring tension to unwind, now he wants to reassemble , but doesn’t know how to reset the tension.

 

[Lawson Cox]

I've not been down that road but I'm certain someone on the Barn has and that they will chime in with the solution. Never fails to happen here.

 

[JD]

More detail:
So ,this is the regulator , and the small crank box on the left is the device that locks the spring tension. At the moment , the two arms at the top are in a relaxed mode , so , there is no tension, if you then pull the arms outward and around in a circle , that’s when the tension comes on , when the optimum tension is decided , then you refit the crank at that point , and the tension is locked, so , my question is , at what point do I lock the tension , is it at the halfway point , or do I pull the arms right round to the bottom point of this photo and then refit the crank.

 

[JD]

Photo attached

 

[Tinker]

I'd suggest that at all points the spring should not unravel or lock. If it wraps or locks out the spring is too tight. If the window won't roll up all the way I'd think it was wound too tight.

 

[JD]

From Pat, to try and clarify this issue: " let’s imagine we are fitting a new handle crank , which entails drilling off the heads of the 3 rivets. When I took the housing off holding the crank the two springs unwound and the arms ended up where you see them now (photos show before and after drilling the rivets), no tension !!! So !! Now I want to fit the new housing and crank , which means I have to pull the arms back around to preload the mechanism. How far round do I pull them before I fit the new crank and housing which will lock the tension? (which stops the window sliding down when travelling)."

 

[TerryOH]

There is no need to match gear teeth in any position. inside the cover cup is a spring, shown below with two tabs one on each end of the spring, it adds some resistance to the winder so the weight of the window or lack of weight does not make the winder handle move. By removing the winder and its gearing you removed the resistance and the arms moved. Reinserting the winder and ALL of it's parts and you can wind the arms back to where they should be.

 

[JD]

Thank-you, I have passed the answers on to Pat.