1955 Window Won't Roll Up All the Way to the Top

[calbears]

I have to replace the driver's window due to a chip in the glass (manual not power) . I have done this, however, before putting the window back into the car, I need to also fix the problem that the window will not roll all the way to the top. It stops about 1" short. I can pull it up manually but it will not stay up and falls back to about 1" down. I assume it is the scissors or regulator. Any thoughts? Thanks in advance.

 

[Ward 57]

I have to replace the driver's window due to a chip in the glass (manual not power) . I have done this, however, before putting the window back into the car, I need to also fix the problem that the window will not roll all the way to the top. It stops about 1" short. I can pull it up manually but it will not stay up and falls back to about 1" down. I assume it is the scissors or regulator. Any thoughts? Thanks in advance.

This is the perfect opportunity check that mechanism. Roll it up and down with the window out and see what's happening. It's a pretty simple mechanism. Odds are the helper springs may be broken also and a piece of the spring may be lodged in the gears. If you already pulled the window you should have a pretty good idea of the condition of the rollers. I'd replace them at any rate with the ones that a machined and not just pressed steel.

 

[calbears]

This is the perfect opportunity check that mechanism. Roll it up and down with the window out and see what's happening. It's a pretty simple mechanism. Odds are the helper springs may be broken also and a piece of the spring may be lodged in the gears. If you already pulled the window you should have a pretty good idea of the condition of the rollers. I'd replace them at any rate with the ones that a machined and not just pressed steel.

I took both the scissors and regulator out. I replaced the spring on the regulator. Otherwise, the regulator and the scissors unit looked fine. I cannot find any other "helper" springs as you indicated. My local Thunderbird parts store did not know what you meant by "helper" springs either. Looking at the exploded diagram of the door window I do not see any other springs shown the are related to the window mechanisms. They told me the only spring is the regulator spring, again, which I replaced. I was going to replace the rollers also as you suggested. However, the only rollers available were made of plastic and the parts guy recommended I continue to use my metal ones, which I took out and wire-wheeled them clean. I also adjusted the upward travel of the window as described in my 55 Ford shop manual. All of the above did not improve the upward travel. Upon rolling up the window, it still stops about an inch short of being fully closed. I can still pull it up by hand and it sinks back about half an inch. I roll it up again and it stops about an inch short.

Any other ideas?

 

[Ward 57]

I took both the scissors and regulator out. I replaced the spring on the regulator. Otherwise, the regulator and the scissors unit looked fine. I cannot find any other "helper" springs as you indicated. My local Thunderbird parts store did not know what you meant by "helper" springs either. Looking at the exploded diagram of the door window I do not see any other springs shown the are related to the window mechanisms. They told me the only spring is the regulator spring, again, which I replaced. I was going to replace the rollers also as you suggested. However, the only rollers available were made of plastic and the parts guy recommended I continue to use my metal ones, which I took out and wire-wheeled them clean. I also adjusted the upward travel of the window as described in my 55 Ford shop manual. All of the above did not improve the upward travel. Upon rolling up the window, it still stops about an inch short of being fully closed. I can still pull it up by hand and it sinks back about half an inch. I roll it up again and it stops about an inch short.

Any other ideas?

I guess my term of helper spring is what I meant by the regulator spring. It helps the raising of the window. If the rollers are not pressed steel, you should be good to go. I had a mix of both so I replaced them all as someone had been in there before.

While adjusting the side door glass you may have experience difficulty in getting full travel to the up position. If the glass and frame does not travel to the top of the track, falling short a half inch or so the following modification will usually correct the problem.

Remove the scissors from the regulator and relocate the attaching pin for the regulator arm. This can be accomplished by grinding material from the back side of the pin and drive it out with a punch. Relocate the pin by drilling a 5/16 inch hole, 1/2 inch from the original location, reinstall the pin and weld it in place on the back side. Reassemble the mechanism in the door, check all the adjustments and you will usually find the door glass has full travel.
My question is why you have so much play where you can pull the window up by hand and it falls back down. There should not be that much play. There should really be no play at all if everything is in place. The only issue I had when reinstalling the window was getting the permanent roller on the window frame into the track at the back of the door. I was trying to install it from the top but found if I dropped the window all the way down I could install the roller at the bottom of the track then installed the pre-positioned rollers in the frame to the scissors. Let me know how it goes.

 

[calbears]

I guess my term of helper spring is what I meant by the regulator spring. It helps the raising of the window. If the rollers are not pressed steel, you should be good to go. I had a mix of both so I replaced them all as someone had been in there before.

While adjusting the side door glass you may have experience difficulty in getting full travel to the up position. If the glass and frame does not travel to the top of the track, falling short a half inch or so the following modification will usually correct the problem.

Remove the scissors from the regulator and relocate the attaching pin for the regulator arm. This can be accomplished by grinding material from the back side of the pin and drive it out with a punch. Relocate the pin by drilling a 5/16 inch hole, 1/2 inch from the original location, reinstall the pin and weld it in place on the back side. Reassemble the mechanism in the door, check all the adjustments and you will usually find the door glass has full travel.
My question is why you have so much play where you can pull the window up by hand and it falls back down. There should not be that much play. There should really be no play at all if everything is in place. The only issue I had when reinstalling the window was getting the permanent roller on the window frame into the track at the back of the door. I was trying to install it from the top but found if I dropped the window all the way down I could install the roller at the bottom of the track then installed the pre-positioned rollers in the frame to the scissors. Let me know how it goes.
View attachment 29731

Thanks for the information but the problem did not have anything to do with the suggested fixes. I took the scissors and regulator to my local Thunderbird parts store and compared them to new parts. I found that the arm on my regulator was bent. I took it home, put it in a vice and bent the arm back to what appears to be closer to the original bend. I reinstalled the scissors and regulator and the window actually rolled up about an inch higher than it should. I reinstalled the two stops that limit the amount of travel and it now stops right where it should.

Yes, one more problem solved.