A couple of weeks ago

budgetzagato

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A couple of weeks ago I spent a couple of days reworking the very worn manual window lifts in my Scorpion. You know how it is, the window rolls up most of the way then stalls as the gear skips against the spiral cable.

Years ago when I had my Zagato, I re-worked them by performing a trick my friend Val explained to me. I did the same here. The idea is to swap the spiral cable from side to side so the worn side faces away from the gear.

Here's how you do it. First remove the cable drive from the door and clean it well with mineral spirits. Then drill out two of the spot welds on the cable's window bracket using a 1/8" drill and cutting oil.

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Then pry open the bracket, I use a chisel.

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Then remove the cable.

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Then install the cable from the other door so that the worn side will face away from the gear when reassembled. Carefully close the bracket onto the cable.

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Resecure bracket with rivets. In this pic the bracket is up-side down, so watch how you do things so you don't have to re-do it like I did! :mallet:

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Reassemble cable into track tube with plenty of grease. Hopefully things work better after this. In my case one side worked much better, the other not as hoped. This usually means the gear is very worn as well. :wall:
 
Good info Greg, thanks for posting.

I need to dive into the window mechanism on my Scorp. My problem is different from yours though. In my case, the mechanism rolls all the way up and down, it's just very hard to operate - especially the passenger side. The tracks seem clear and don't appear to be putting up the resistance. Not sure what's going on yet. Any thoughts?

Thanks,
Pete
 
How to diagnose Scorpion window lift...

Remove the armrest etc. so you can remove the door panel. Undo the two bolts that attach the window bracket to the window lift cable. Use a wooden wedge or rubber coated spring clamp at the top to hold the glass up. Don't use pliers or anything metal to clamp it, ask me how I know. :whistle:

Operate the crank handle, to determine if the effort has lessened and by how much. This difference is the amount of drag between the glass and the channel felt. If this completely removes the excess effort then the felt needs to be replaced. Silicone lube in the felt track is a temporary solution.

If there is no or little difference, the problem is the spiral cable. When mine was out, I unfolded the end of the track so I could completely remove the cable. I then cleaned, cleaned, cleaned the track and cable in my parts cleaning cabinet (I use mineral spirits). They were very dirty. Don't forget to clean the plastic tube that should be attached to the front end of the track.

Once clean, blow dry and re-lube with white lithium or silicone grease. This should help a great deal. In theory.

Like the felt of the window channel, the bristles that are wound into the spring of the cable are supposed to act as bearings in the track. This probably worked well for a few years when they were new but they wear off and then the friction increases. It doesn't help that the track is open along its length inside the door and catches water and dirt.
 
you would be surprised

Check your window switches. My windows were a PITA and then realized it was my switches, now they open and close hard.
 
Manual windows on the Scorp...

Check your window switches. My windows were a PITA and then realized it was my switches, now they open and close hard.

But good thought if they were power.

Thanks for the info, Greg. I guess I need to tear it apart and find out what's in there.

Pete
 
My driver window would slip and hang going up. Ultimately, found a NOS passenger window regulator. Then, sacrificed the old passenger regulator to fix the driver side. It turns out that the moving parts are inter-changeable.
 
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