Back at it

 

Recovery from our 100-year storm in February has been an expensive and time-consuming exercise, but despite all the cleanup still waiting for me, I actually found a few hours to work on the Plymouth this week.

Since my idea to try different bear claw door latches proved to be a dismal failure, I’ve had to concentrate on improving my original actuator with a simpler, sturdier and hopefully a more reliable design. That step had to be completed before the aftermarket power windows could be installed.

With fingers crossed, I’ll say that the simplified latch actuator operates much crisper and is easier to build and adjust, but as usual, there were a few bugs to work out when it came time to install the glass. I discovered some clearance issues between the latch brackets and the channel when raising and lowering, so everything was pulled out one more time and brackets were re-worked to provide more clearance.

The power window manufacturer clearly designed their kit for the hot rod crowd, and I'm sure they never tried to fit one in a Forward Look car.  I did manage to get the driver’s side window in place and operating, but it required another exercise in creative modifications and tons of patience. I still have some adjustments to make so that the new window fits properly against the rear quarter window seal when the door is closed. I'll do that when the passenger glass is installed so I can adjust both sides at the same time.

If I can talk myself into it, I want to write up a supplement for the manufacturer’s installation manual that might help clear up some vague and fuzzy instructions when working on ’55 and ’56 Mopars. Pictures would have helped me a lot when interpreting their text.