Better Beaters - Building Cars and Daily Drivers

 I started to work on the Riviera's driver's window.

The door pull is the sturdiest mounting part of the door panel.

Ventilation is pretty good with both windows down. Just like in the Old Days. Two at 65!

I was surprised when the window quit working during my Mendocino trip. It was cold that day near the coast, and the heater isn't working correctly at the moment. 

The passenger window wasn't working when I bought the car, but at least it was in the raised position, and again with no a/c, it got really hot in there during the heat wave. I was familiar with how the window mechanism worked and how to remove the door panel to gain access. 

First is to remove the pull handle bolts. These attach to the inner door sheet metal. Then there is a screw in the front and back of the upper door panel. Then I removed the panel that sits behind the door release handle, where a screw is hidden. Next, the bottom of the panel is pulled away and simultaneously lifted up, releasing the three plastic hooks that hold the bottom of the panel in place. 

Care is the name of the game!

I got to use my Harbor Freight plastic pry tools.

None the less, a collection of broken plastic bits fell out when I pulled the panel off!

I removed the black plastic moisture barrier, carefully prying off the push in retainers. These are much sturdier than the old fashioned waxed paper types used in the 1960's.

The door panels are nothing but plastic, which has become brittle over the last quarter century, so there's no telling what broken parts you'll find!

All these bits fell out of the door panel as I removed it.

I first checked to see if anything on the window mechanism looked obviously broken or stuck. 

I had the panel propped up on a box, and the bungie cord allowed me to hold the panel up while the connections were in place. Try not to cause anymore breakage!

Then I removed the motor and tried to move the window manually. It went up and down just fine. That's a good sign.

The bungie cord was to suspend the panel and keep stress
 off of the electrical connectors.

Then I tried another motor that I knew was good, and that one didn't work either. I figured that it must be a bad switch or connection. I rechecked all the connectors and found that the main blue connectors was hanging free. These connectors all have locking plates, but this was reconnected without using it. It appears that the plug just became loose and fell off over time. 

This the main widow switch plug.

I plugged in the original window motor and it now worked fine! Easy Fix! Except that I hate disassembling these brittle plastic panels!

I used some Gorilla tape to give the connector a little more security. 

Since I had the motor off, I greased up the motor gears and tracks.

I used whatever grease that I had available.

That angled piece of plastic is a flimsy,
 brittle piece of trim.

I used some double sided tape to secure the broken trim piece in place before I re-assembled the door panel.

A good thing about the Riv is that it has the old fashioned, steel, scissor-like regulator. So many newer cars have those awful cable and pulley arrangements. 

All lit up and looking good.

Buoyed by my success, I decided to replace the burned out bulb in the tail light panel. I didn't take any photos, but like my Mustangs, the entire tail lamp assembly has to be separated from the body, to access the bulb retainers located in the back.

With all the bulbs lit, the panel looked much more impressive.

It's not an extraterrestrial phenom, it's an unusual
stain on the paint.

A strange thing happened last week. I uncovered the car to use it for some errands. I drove to Costco for a few items. That evening when I was covering the car, I noticed that something had fallen on the trunk like a bird dropping. It was a clear, flat, egg shaped blob. I used some waterless car wash to wipe it off. It came off but left an odd discoloration on the finish, kind of a light copper color. I switched to Meguiars Cleaning wax and found that the area was now dull. That was odd. I used some finish glaze sealer on the area and the surface gloss returned, but the discoloration is still visible. I wondered if something had dripped through the cover, but after inspecting it, I found no trace or stain. Weird.  

I'm sure that the answer is out there!

The Riviera has been running fine. There are a couple of components that I'll replace on the a/c system myself. If those don't fix it, I'll have to find a good a/c shop. 

I've been successful in paying down my credit balance, but one of my cars needs a set of new tires. It's always something. That's what happens when you have too many cars.