Window mechanism broke.

[steveo539]

Thanks for the nice comments on my alignment fixture. It's actually more complicated than it needs to be. I made it two piece so it fits into a medium flat rate box.

I have a few comments for this thread. First off someone asked why this happens. I think sliders and window stop adjustment are key but also one of the reasons this part fails is the poor attachment of the stud to the bracket from the factory. I was surprised to note that the stud is brazed to the bracket and the bracket is brazed to the intrusion bar. Not welded but brazed. Anyone trying to re-weld could have major issues with the brass flowing into your new weld and fouling it. The one I removed from the donor door was not done well either (stud to bracket). I suggested that Rob have his welder tack weld the inboard side of the stud to the bracket to reinforce. I may do this next time I have the door panel off for preventative reasons. Maybe Rob can show a pic of the back side/braze joint on the stud.

I've also discovered that my coupe window motor is different than the roadster window motor I bought. The electrical connectors were different on the motor. I think due to the slight bump up/down that happens on a coupe window when you open and close the door. Don't know if roadys do that or not. There were also minor differences in the output shaft and bushing for the motor gearbox where it mates to the regulator. Easy to swap the bushings from one to the other as the hole in the regulator is the same.

As for spare fixtures, I made a set, Driver's and Passenger's side. Rob it's OK with me if you want to ship the alignment bracket to Vikrampatel86 after you are done. As for another bracket, I'm out. Should have drawn it up before I sent it off and maybe I could have come up with a better mousetrap.

As for color, you should leave the donor color of Boston Green.......but I guess I'm partial to that color.

[robrez]

Door is off for repair.

If someone who has a broken bracket and has already procured a replacement needs the jig, I can send it to you. Otherwise, I'll return it to Steve.

[steveo539]

He's getting serious now. I forgot you have those cool side gills. What do you call that style?

[robrez]

^^ they are OEM "aero" side grills.

Steve made the jig from a passenger side door. We were pretty sure it would be a mirror image, fortunately we were right. So this jig will work in either door, woot.

[vikrampatel86]

I'm digging into my door this weekend. The drivers side window goes up, but the last few inches towards the back of the window need to be pulled up by hand. If i bring the window down then back up quick it jerks a bit (i'll stop doing that). Not sure what the issue is but hopefully it's not that bad.

[danomite]

^^ they are OEM "aero" side grills.

Steve made the jig from a passenger side door. We were pretty sure it would be a mirror image, fortunately we were right. So this jig will work in either door, woot.

Rob,

Who is doing the repairs for you? Mine is broken/snapped/toast too...need to get it done asap.

[crashgordan]

great. now i'm worried about mine! any signs or symptoms I should be looking for?

[laptop4079]

I got tired of my windows being slow even after I replaced the sliders and was worried about this happening. I ended up replacing all the door and window gaskets that the window slid on and in that process noticed that post had started to bend, I crossed my fingers and bent it back. It's been great since. I can't get over the quality of that jig, looks cnc cut and bent it looks amazing!

[cuddlewuddle]

Mine literally just snapped today, so need to weld the piece back on as well. Does anyone know if the 96-02 Z3's share the same window regulator?