Window repairs for tightwads

[Hector2021]

At the point of buying my car last year i knew there was some serious slop in the drivers window, when i removed the triangular 'cheater' panel it was evident what had failed due to the top slider block being sat at the top of the rail even when the window was lowered. the only solution was to embark on entering the door internals and assess the required repairs.
The orange plastic clip on the door lock was already broken so i knew someone had been in there before me at some point in history. Cutting out the known issues with getting inside the door and removing the glass (its all there on the brilliant Elan restoration series - Youtube) I also predictably broke the 'C' shaped retainer when trying to remove the butterfly clip. I ended up buying a 3D printed replacement one from ebay for a decent price, but in retrospect realised i could have easily made a new 'C' clip out of some ABS i had of the same thickness. Its only effectively working as a circlip to stop the window coming off the butterfly spigot so would have been a really easy cheap fix. However i had ordered a new one before i got to thinking about the home made alternative.
The window wobble was due to the top slider boss shearing between the point that the two screws meet and leaving the boss attached to the window and the slider with its screw still in place, sat at the top of the slider rail. A new Boss was the obvious solution but cost more than i thought it was worth so i fixed it by fastening the two parts together using a 25mm 2.5mm stainless bolt and nylock nut. I made sure the slider could still rotate and checked all the other sliders for tightness after adding drop of threadlock to each of those. Now instead of the assembly relying on the flimsy strength of the nylon boss at its narrowest point between the two screws, its a much more resilient item that cost about £1.50 to bring back into service.
Once everything was put back where it belonged and tested for correct functioning the last task was to replace the orange door lock clip. Now these appeared at about a tenner each including Vat and shipping, which i figured again was a bit pricy.
My solution was to cut off the remaining flat part of the broken clip and glue a new piece of similar colour and thickness plastic in its place. Having searched for something suitable my goto choice was the cap from a bottle of Greggs fresh orange juice. Easy to cut out and fashion to the correct size, it seems to have worked just fine. I know it will break again if i have to remove it at any time, but so would a genuine replacement item.
Yes its a different shade of orange to the one now in the passenger door, but that one is also broken (by a P.O) so i'll simply do another fix to that side for a match.
The whole window fix job wasnt going to be expensive anyway and took way more time than the £30 or so of parts would have made it any worse. Its just that i do like to think up alternative fixes where i can.

[muley]

Good post.

I don't like wasting money either ..

[dapinky]

Good post.

I don't like wasting money either ..

Me too!

FYI, when my 'C' clip part of the butterfly broke, I did the simple fix of searching the garage for a suitable sized external circlip, which just slipped on and didn't fall off, so was considered to be good enough for a temporary repair......

..... it was so temporary that I got new butterflies many years ago and they're still on the shelf

[lotusflasherman]

There's a much cheaper option that I devised back in 1995 on my first M100 - just drill a 1/16th hole in the clip and screw in a suitable screw/hook to be able to pull it out square. By pulling it straight out the clips don't break and the edges don't get damaged by levering them out. I used to have some orange plasticine to fill the hole but stopped bothering about it a few decades ago ... probably something to do with failing eyesight and not being able to see a 1/16" hole

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[FunElan]

I think I'll drill a hole when I put the new ones in, that's very clever. OP, glad you had success with your window project.


My new 3d printed butterfly clip broke upon the first attempt at lowering the window. Window still works fine - I think the clip staying in one piece may not be necessary to the window staying on track, as long as the two side are both present?

[HJ2]

I drilled a hole similar, but cut an M4 thread in it.
Now i only have to screw in a long M4 bolt and the clip pops off by itself.
It must have been a tip from LEC though, so no credits for me.