god damn, I did my passanger side window motor, I read this before but forgot about it... I got a few cuts, and had my girlfriend help me hold the window and a few times I got mad at her and was a real jerk to her because removing the window motor was so hard to do which got me really aggitatted, poor girl... when I took the door panel off it appeared that the previous owner had already replaced it. There were 4 screws with 2 bolts on each screw, it was all loose too, so it took about 1hr/50min to remove all 4 screws and there was alot of grinding involved and about 2-3 hours to install the new motor due to the rails and window falling down, I had my poor girlfriend hold the heavy *** window for a long time, and got mad at her and even said a few things I should'nt of said...because of my anger from the door.. I then got the new window motor in and found some screws that were to small for the holes which are still on the car right now!!!!! I'll change em this friday or saturday... now I know exactly what to do!!! and DONT LET THE WINDOW FALL!!!! I wish everything would of gone more smoother....... but now I know what to do and what not to do

Used this technique on my 91 Camaro. I'm glad I read this thread.

Why not make a second tech article about this, so people can choose themselves which way to do it?

As for hack job, I have this experience myself:

Needed to change in tank fuel pump on a car, ( not thirdgen) and saw it was a big job, but thought, " Hey, I'll do it the right way, and dissasemble the rear axle and tank, and not cut a hole."

Yeah. Well I got so far as to the fourth stud and nut that hold the rear axle, which broke, and I though "I'll just grind of that nut, weld in a new one, and put a new stud in"

Yeah. Well, changing the pump went fine, the old one didn't work as I suspected, and started reassembling. Now, for that stud. wenr inside the car, took out rear set, carpet, insulation and...and...no nut! Hell, Am I on something...? Where is that dawn nut? Found out it was welded INSIDE the rocker/ sill... called the dealer and asked how they replaced them if they broke. Answer: cut off rear quarter, grind off nut, replace, weld on rocker, repaint. Yeah. OR, grind off from inside, and weld back/paint. THey could do it for $2500 if I remember right, minus paint.

The solution I used was to drill out old welded on nut, retapp oversized, and fit oversized bolt in it's place, torqued right and lots of thread lock.

Yeah, next time I need to replace in tank fuel pump, I'll gladly cut a hole in the floor and put in a premade door for it. Gladly.

Worst part was it turned out there was indeed a rubber door in the floor to be able to get to the pump from the inside not mentioned in the manual....

My point is, the less one disassembles and changes + "fixes", the less likely it is something will go wrong.

Ok, I know this is an old subject but I want you to concider something.

If you have ever rolled up the window with the door panel off you would see a lot of movement in the inner door panel. Any holes mean less strength and more flex, which could lead to cracks.

The fourth gens do have more support.

But on the good side you will have a lighter car.

I sent it to myself in email so I would not loose it EVER.
Here it is in attachment form.

I installed the window motor! but now the windows goes up way to high and it hits the metal trim when i close the door???!?!?! what gives?

Plan on doing my son's 89 IROC drivers side window motor this weekend, had trouble finding this article on search. This will make it much easier then the factory method.

I went to a dealer just to see what it would cost because I am short on time right now. My motor works, but it freewheels in three spots and also grinds real bad fully up.

The dealer said that is was more than likely the regulator, since the motor was still spinning. I asked them to quote for regulator, ext door handle that was rattling and the door weatherstripping since it needed to be replaced. Cost was over $1000!

So I googled and found the motor and regulator for about 30 a piece and every piece of weatherstripping for 130 or so.

My question: Are aftermarket motors and regulator OK? Anyone use one before and can recommend a supplier?

Thanks,
Mike

Make sure you drill small holes...the person who owned my car before me drilled those same 3 holes in the door only he made them 20times bigger...and also cut into where the cup holder screws into. I can't put my cup holder on anymore!

I don't know why everyone thinks that it is so hard to change out window motors. I did this a few weeks ago and it took me an hour and it was my first time. I just followed the instructions in the shop manual and the tech article on this site. I didn't drill holes in the door and use templates, I did it the way GM intended. my motor works fine, and I riveted the regulator back on to the door. The only thing the tech article didn't say was to remove the window channel/guide at the door latch side of the door. The shop manual said to remove it. Without removing it I don't know how you would get the regulator through the hole. The template way sounds like it's more work than it's worth...just my

I just wanted to say thanks CustomX, this really helped out a lot. My dad and i had worked on another car before, took the regulator out from the window using the "manuals" way. If you dont know what you are doing, its easy to get all cut up and get frustrated trying to put it back in just right. If you are worried about strength integrity, you can just get a piece of sheet steel and cover the area with it with a couple of screws. BTW my window rolls up and down a whole lot faster than before, i put some lithium grease on the tracks, but it really didnt need it. The other window motor is 20 years old, and is slooooow in comparison, time to drill some more holes!

If you view CUSTOM X "public profile" you'll see he hasn't been on this site since 4/22/2006, I put in the Thank You to bring this thread to the top so that people who were unaware of the easy fix could see it, it took me more than 20 minutes, but it sure was easy following his instructions and "where to drill" for the rivits. I used a piece of wood to hold the glass in the up position.

i have an 02 ws6 the driver side window is fried.. will this tutorial help me for my year? and how did u pop the door pannel off? thanks

4th gen?
windows

Main page, can click for more how to's etc.

No problem, glad to help!

I have an 86 camaro and the driver side door hinges are messed up. I got a parts car that has man. windows, will this work with converting to power windows too.

Yes, it should work, but if it's not rusted out or damaged, I would fix the hinge instead. There are hinge kits out there to correct sagging doors if that is the issue. It may be difficult to line up a different door than the original. I know of people that have had problems with the windows lining up/sealing, I don't know if the window (tracks) could have been adjusted though.

This thread needs to be revived

why?

i didn't realize that the template was for a driver sie door haha so i now have 6 holes no one will ever see o well but this way worked better than i ver thought.

This was sooo much easier. It took me longer to get the door panel off than to get the motor out.

hmmm amusing thread IEthe hack job callers haha

i will drill the holes to get at the motor rivets and leave the regulator and all in my driver door on the 82

i have an entire regulator and motor assembly from the pass side of an 83 K20 i junked, i will use that motor since they all interchange same part number i just found out haha

i am still wanting to see someone produce a pic or details on this supposed hole you can stick something in to keep the glass up or spring from doing whatever ?

where is it ?

next warm day we have i am changing mine its barely working and keeps tripping the thermal switch inside of it and quitting every couple inches, it sucks haha


anyways, i didnt know they had such tension on them in these cars.. hmmm,.. interesting..

i have replaced lots of window lift motors over the years- especially last fall- and none of them had any tension to worry about whatsoever, including full size trucks and grand ams and other vehicle platforms as well..

simple to replace in all these other vehicles,
compared to how it sounds in these F bodies, even the astro vans and s-10s dont have anything bad happen when you drill the motor rivets out and let the motor fall off the reg assembly.
the glass stays put no tension at all, ive done many motor replacements in these s-series trucks as well recently

i just cant recall ever pulling the regulator out to replace a motor, hmmmm, have never needed to, always is a HUGE cut out area at the motor

but i do know that in ones such as the 78-87 el caminos like the 85 we are fully restoring that you are not going to replace the motor very easily at all without removing the reg assembly, thats for sure,
i did replace the door glass in the pass side of this one since it got busted out one day(an s-10 truck bed standing up next to the car fell over and knocked the glass out haha)and OMG its a nightmare in those cars wow...
and probably the same in all the 2 door G bodies 78-up malibu clutlass regal and so on with the big frame-less doors, and these f bodies i have forgotten it has been a few years since i have pulled an F body door glass hmm but im pretty sure they are less complicated

billions of guides and blocks and small parts and insane adjustments,. have to tear it all out to take the glass out or put one in...

Hey Did You guys Rivit or bolt the window motor back to the door because i took the motor out with out the regulator and know i cant get my hands in there to nut and bolt motor back in.....can i use regular rivits to hold motor in door

Igot sick of power windows and converted mine to rollup manualy, anyhoo I was having such a hell of a time with reinstalling the regulater and crank assy, that I gave it up for about 3 weeks, then Iwent back to the task and it took me all of 15 min to do, it was that at first Ihad the window propped up halfway and had issuse with the tracks so this time i left the window in its down location then boom ,they all lined up perfectly riveted them back on in its place.
I now have both sides available if someone needs them

bump

Wasn't sure which way I was going to do it on the pass. door till I looked at the drivers side and saw the 3 holes already drilled.Reversed the template and did the pass side in less than 45 minutes.

Just followed your instructions and it worked great. Just like you said before it was just like doing it on one of my past 4th gens. Thanks fore the write up, if I would have followed the tech instructions I probably would have ended up having someone else doing it.

What size did you guys print the template out in????

full size 8X11

alright....i kind of wanted to clear things up on the EASY ONE TO DO IT...after reading this long article on people who say this as a hack job or not. This is the clear explanation to replace your power window in a camaro.

First, you must take off the door panel. The only hard part is the top of the door panel. (it helps to push down and then push out the clip that is holding it on from the inside of the door so that you can see the clips and it helps to have two people so that you dont break these clips). For this part, you just need a "star" hex wrench and a panel pop tool. (to make it easy without breaking anything)

Second, I put a bolt and nut between the two scissors that are holding the window up. Then you need to drill out the rivets on the lower two rivets shown in the first two pictures on thread page one. It will speed things up to have a uni-bit (buy at homedepot or lowes 10dollars, cleanest and easiest way to get a hole that goes in easy and looks clean). Then you can use the template that is on page 2 of this subject or just look at the motor itself to see the three rivets holding on the motor. I again used a uni-bit to drill through the metal that is blocking you from getting to the rivets and THEN drill through the rivets on the actual motor. FINALLY the motor will just fall out.

Third, now you can just put the NEW motor in it place with the bolts provided with the new motor. Put some lub on the gears. And lastly just put in short bolts so it doesnt hit the gears in the back. (i had to cut the bolts a little shorter due to this problem)

Lastly, put the door panel back on. DONNNNEEEEE.


I thought the way it was explained was a little confusing at the start of this thread and could be better explained. Hopefully i was able to do so and to help the people that need to replace their window motor in the future. Wish i would have took some pics to give a little better visual.

Just got done doing this on my '83 Trans Am last night. This is not a hack job, it's the only easy way to do this. It took me about 3 hours from start to finish, but it's the first time I've ever done this. Thank God I found this website! I was going to have to pay a mechanic to do the power window replacement for me, but thanks to this site I was able to do it myself and save about $50.00. Three 1/2" holes in the door panel that no one will ever see does not make a hack job in my opinion. If I ever need to replace the motor again, hopefully not anytime soon, it will take me all of about 5 minutes. The template in this thread helped a lot. I had a little trouble getting the motor off the regulator after I drilled the rivets, but I stuck the end of a hammer (the part used to remove nails) between the motor and regulator, gave it a quick tug, and the motor popped right off. I used a large C clamp to hold the window regulator arms up and keep the window from falling when I removed the motor. If you do it this way, the window will not move, and that gear that the motor attaches too will not move either. Hopes this helps somebody with this job.

Great topic! I tried it this way to replace my passenger side motor. It took me maybe 30 minutes to replace it. I printed the template and flipped it around. All of the holes were in the correct location except the bottom one but it was only off half an inch or so. There is no way I'd try pulling out the regulator as well.

Just thought I would at that this method is so easy to replace motors.I have my door of the car but once the motor is out you can the get your arm in with a rag to remove grease and grime from the tracks and relube them.The holes u need to drill are so small nothing will ever show.

Question for those that has done it the "easy" way..... When you take off the motor does the spring keep its tension on the regulator or motor? Will it fly off when the motor drops?

the sping will be fine just do it like it says and the motor falls out JUST MOTOR so easy like i said the hardest part is taking the door panel off lol

If u have the rivets and gun its easier than trying to get those nuts into position.Its a PITA!The new motor will come with nuts and bolts.

Ok, just wanted to make sure the spring would stay in place, just by taking the motor loose.

When I need to replace mine I'll def. do it this way. Who knows this method could have very well been in a GM service manual supplement. Later.

I think it was in a GM manual - the manual for the 4th gen cars!

Very easy, drilled 3 holes in front of the motor rivets, drilled the rivets out and the motor just dropped.

yea, not bad

your comments were helpful! I also suggest using longer bolts than the new window motor comes with. I used 1 1/2" bolts. I bought from Home Depot. These were much EZer to stick in instead of the tiny 1/2" screws. Also, home depot carries the white lithium grease spay. Just for kicks I sprayed my garage door chain and moving parts. also, dont be scared to drill holes. HACK at it! Dont be scared, it is all covered with door panels!

Hello Was wondering if this was the same template for passenger window and driver side thanks in advance

Just flip it over, and now you have the opposite side!

Hey I was wondering if any of you guys had any trouble changing the outer window felt / weatherstrip. I wanted to do all of this at once and when I went to get that felt off it had two screws in the middle part that I couldn't get to with the window in the door. Ie. it wouldn't roll down far enough for me to get a philips head screw driver on the middle two screws. I have already pulled the window out of the door but it was a bitch. I had read on another thread where guys replaced this weatherstrip but they never mentioned if they had to pull the window out to do it. If there is a better way please let me know. I would really like to avoid taking the px side out if I can.

I will be drilling these holes to save time on the px side motor. Thanks guys

There should be a rubber stopper at the bottom of the window track - remove it letting the window down farther and I hear that gives you just enough room to wiggle in to get those top two screws.

I Concur!

I thought I saw that bumper stop laying in the door where it fell off. It looked to me that the place where it goes was flat against the bottom of the door too. Maybe there is just enough of it left to hold it up a bit. I will double check it. thanks