Hey Everybody! Having a discussion with my Dad about the rear windows. Are they supposed to roll all the way down, or like 3/4 of the way? When we were kids he NEVER EVER let us roll em down, lol. So when I bought it from him it's the first thing I did. They only go like 3/4 of the way. He says that's how they are. I say BS!! Thanks
You win - seems most guys dont put them down - Out of the hundreds of pictures i have of mine they are always up, had to look half way thru the historical sales data base before finding a couple of pictures with them down - odd thing both are Australian cars. Yours must gummed up from never being down all the way - clean the tracks with wd40,and re grease
Re do them! Hah! Rookie!p What are you goind to "re-do" them with? If something is seriously wrong with the rollers, you're beat!
Youll find the body manual at http://boattail-riviera-by-buick.com/library/documents/documents.php most times just cleaning gets them working, if the rollers are bad The correct rollers can be a problem to find - check with your gm dealer, and or measure before ordering replacement from places like OPGI http://www.opgi.com/searchpart.asp?search=yes&catmainid=&keyWord=window+roller&submit.x=0&submit.y=0 lots of different ones were used. and the suppliers tend to be generic for theses sort of things, for example the window stivker blank on above link is for 73 even though I searched for 71 - also has HEI dist caps ??. Cars only shows one -http://www.oldbuickparts.com/catalog/advanced_search_result.php?keywords=roller+guide&x=41&y=13 I think there was thread stating this was wrong one - but ones from other GM worked.
Mine roll down all the way with just a bit of glass showing where the chrome suddenly turns upwards. My car has crank windows if that makes a difference...
Did you ever take a look at the rollers in a kitchen cabinet drawer runner????? I wondered if a guy could find something that would work there... and ... some one with a metal lathe or a drill press could make a roller out of alluminum or the right kind of plastic.... this problem can be whipped , if enough thinking about it is done... that is one of the secrets of rodding,,, enginuity....
All the rollers you need for the quarter windows are available new. I just can't remember where i found mine but it helps to know that they are the same on many full size Buicks of that era.
My '71 riv's electrics don't completely disappear either and I wondered if the stops were out of adjustment. Actually just put all side glass back in after body resto and paint. Then had a professional bodyman adjust the side glass for me. There is no separate, adjustable down stop, the window stops when it reaches the end of its travel. Bodyman was somewhat surprised with how sloppy the quarter glass is; it can easily be tilted back and forth by hand, but powers up/down straight and seals into roof rail w/strip just fine. The large, stamped sheet steel part of the qtr regulator rides in U-shaped, plastic retainers. My retainers are no doubt worn after 40 years of use, but the bodyman, who's a GM nut, says it was a poor design from the start.
I bought the back half of another 71 from So Cal, and when it was delivered it still had the glass in the quarters. Put on a crank and they work great, unlike mine. so therefore I will pull that whole system out and "Re-do" them. Rookie? Maybe. I will get it done though. Thanks.
