I am getting pretty close to replacing my door panels after having spent many, many hours on each door/window in an attempt to:
1) Eliminate wind noise at high speed
2) Eliminate "popping out" at high speed
3) Eliminate rain leaks.
I must acknowlege Gernold's generous telephone advice during this ordeal. He often asked if I had any hair left.
The process involved removing the windows, rails, and regulators and starting from scratch. The doors were very dirty and greasy internally, and needed a thorough cleaning before lining with Dynamat.
I used a small size MB hose cut into segments for the holes in the glass, and new rubber gasket strips from the hardware store for the lifter attachment sandwich bracket.
I replaced bolts and nuts with SS.
I bought 2 new tinted windows from MB to replace my old untinted and badly scratched windows. These windows come wth the original slotted blocks glued to the glass. I also surrounded the block/glass interface with silicon caulk in the hopes of keeping out any moisture that may eventually lead to the well-known loosening of these blocks.
Every step was done with extreme caution to avoid placing stress on the glass. While I couldn't avoid stressing the glass to some extent during the process, I did not end up breaking the glass. The door striker needs to be removed to be able to test gentle closing during adjustments.
I put in the window regulator and lifting mechanism before the glass, but I think they could go in after as well. I did not connect the regulator winding mechanism to the lifting mechaism at this point. None of the bolts were tightened yet. I put a piece of foam at the bottom of the door for "pyschological" security.
The rails go in first (along with the rainguards), but only after they had been thoroughly cleaned, including the use of emory paper to remove any irregularities along the sliding surfaces. But before putting in the rails, I found it very important (having learned from the side I did first), to make sure there were no burrs or thick paint that would interfere with the rails lying as far laterally as possible. On one door this required using a file. (There was a burr present created by the top front trim screw that holds the rubber door seal.) One can always shim the rails if needed, but if the rails are not far apart enough at their tops, the glass will be overly squeezed as it is rolled up. Neither the upper nor lower rail bolts/nuts are tightened yet.
I removed the "anti-rattle" screws from the guides before lowering the windows, and used a screwdriver to gently pry open the plastic guides to allow them to engage the rails more easily. (There are small orange o-rings in these guides that should be present.) The window was then carefully lowered into the rails. (Those short "anti-rattle" screws were not placed until near the very end of the whole process, and I needed a Dremel to slightly enlarge the holes in the rain guards to give me a shot at the threads. Ultimately, I have not had to tighten these screws since the new plastic inserts seem to provide enough inherent anti-rattle pressure.) The curve of the window should determine the in/out position of the lower fixation of the rails at this point, but if either guide is disengaging from the rails with the window down, the lower fixation points for the rails can be provisionally tightened. The top front chrome guide was not yet placed.
I then supported the window in a semi-raised position with blocks of wood inside the door to allow attachment of the rubber/metal sandwich strips that hold the bottom of the window. I changed the original hex head bolts for phillips heads to give me more feel with a screwdriver of how tight I was squeezing the glass when I eventually tightened these. The most aft hole takes a slightly longer screw because it serves to also hold a bracket that can serve to limit both upward and lower travel. However, I am convinced that it should only be the stop bolt on the regulator that serves the function of upward limitation. The bracket on the window should not be used to create the upward limit, and on both windows I needed to slide the brackets all the way down to prevent them from interfering with the upward limit of the windows, picture "stop bracket" (in a separate post further down this thread.) I then attached the lifting mechanism to the window, but again did not yet link it up to the winding mechanism.
At this point, the glass should be able to be easily lifted and lowered by hand, (as long as you keep the bottom edge perfectly horizontal) although it may get tight as it reaches the top.
It was only after I had assured myself that I could raise and lower the window relatively easily by hand that I connected it to the winder.
Once connected to the winder, I was able to make some preliminary adjustments to keep the window rolling up and down smoothly.
The most important thing to look for at this point is how tight the front edge of the window is against the front top chrome guide. This involved removing and inserting this piece and rolling the window and observing how tight a fit at various window heights. Factors affecting how tight this guide becomes are: 1) how much shimming is needed on the top of the back rail, and 2) the front/back tilting of the window, 3) the fore/aft position of the bolts holding the bottoms of the rails. However, at this point it is only necessary to make sure that the chrome guide is not too tight at all window heights, as well as having an understanding of which adjustments would affect this tightness. I would also mention that the bolts holding the tops of both fore and aft rails will come to sit at the outer edge of their oblong holes.
Next comes the adjustment process that took me many hours, and eventually even required a slight door hinge adjustments on the passenger side to get it right. Obviously, the goal is to get good seals at the front, back, and top of the window with the window rolled up all the way to the hard stop created by the bolt on the regulator. An absolute necessity is the very liberal application of silicon grease/paste (not spray) to all of the seals. The door is closed gently and the window position is observed. I made the following adjustments, over and over again:
1) If the back edge of the window does not clear the back seal:
a) the top of the aft rail bolt may need shimming. This may require use of a longer bolt as long as it does not protrude into the rail. (However, this shimiming may over-tighten the window in the front chrome guide at certain window heights. This over-tightening at the front guide may then require a fore-aft tilting adjustment of the window. The fore-aft tilting adjustment is accomplished primarily in the metal/rubber sandwich strips, but also by tilting the lifting mechanism itself in its slotted bolt holes.)
b) a fore/aft tilting adjustment can also be made as noted above to allow the back edge of the window to clear the seal..
2) The front top edge of the window needs to sit squarely in the middle of the groove of the front seal at all window heights. It should not push on the inner edge of the seal nor stand too far away from it. This adjustment is made at the bottom of the front rail.
3) If the window doesn't roll up all the way:
a) something blocking?: check the sliding bracket at the most aft hole on the rubber/metal strip, also check that the guide block is not hitting the bottom edge of the whisker. This bottom edge should be removed-Picture below "whisker trim"
b) rails too tight?- related to front chrome guide and/or top aft shims; also could be the bottom of the rails are too far in or out.
c) front chrome guide too tight?: again, related to fore/aft tilting of the window and/or rear rail shimming.
Once a) b) & c)are found to be ok, height should be able to be adjusted by the height limit bolt on the regulator. However, as the window is brought closer to the top seal, the lean of the window, as controlled by both fore and aft bottom rail bolts/nuts, needs to be adjusted so that window leans in just a bit. The amount of this leaning only needs to be just enough so that the top edge of the window contacts the seal and is pushed up into the seal at the very last few degrees of closing the door.
Additional height can be gained, if needed, by 1) moving the slots for the 2 bolts holding the lifting mechanism to the rubber/metal braket further aft (picture-"lifter"), and 2) by rotating the regulator a bit in its bolt slots.
According to Gernold, it is typical that the very lowest inch or two of the back seal is pulled slightly away from its mounting by a well sealed window,(picture "rear seal"). I found this to be the case on both my windows. He also said that it is typical that a well sealed window that gets rolled down and then up again with the door closed (say, when you pay a toll), will not seal as perfectly. In other words, a good seal is only possible if the window is rolled all the way up with the door open, and then the door is closed. I also found this to be the case. However, I have found this to be a function of how much friction exists between the front edge of the window and the front seal. With generous, repeated applications of silicon grease to the very absorbant front seal, I have been able to fix this problem. That is, as long as the front seal stays well-lubed.
No nuts or bolts got well-tightened until I was sure that I had finally acheived what I was after. That happened many times.
I did not have to glue the chrome guide. Instead I was able to secure it by using a longer allen head set screw that protruded a bit through the access slot and thus prevented it from migrating upwards, as well as wedging a thin rubber shim at one edge to prevent rattling. ( Picture-"chrome guide")
The strikers were replaced dead on using the tape/grease dab trick credited to Al Lieffering.
I used MB sunroof grease to very lightly grease only the inner rails of the channels, and lithium grease for the regulator. I did not grease anything else.
I utilized the tiny hole at the top of the rear channels (that had always been unused on my car) to tap and place a small trim screw to hold the seal, (picture-"trim", in a separate post further down this thread).
I have not replaced my door panels yet since I'm waiting for a good rain to test for leaks. But so far, I have no rattles and no air leaks at 80mph, and I'm hopeful. The solid sound made when the doors are closed with the windows rolled up is now unmistakable. I would wager that someone with a good ear would be able to say whether or not a window was sealing properly based entirely upon the sound made upon closing. Much, much better than the sound of breaking glass that I feared during the entire time I was doing this project.
For now, the car always sleeps with the windows rolled all the way up with a generous amount of silicon on the seals. I think it needs to become comfortable with this position.
