MTFCA Forum

Hi All,
I just put back together the window regulator with a new repair kit on my 27 Tudor. The pinion gear does not fit very well and I had to file every tooth of the regulator bar. It now cranks much better, but the window does not stay closed. It keeps dropping. My question is: could the regulator spring be too weak to hold the glass up? Has anybody had this problem? Would a new spring solve the problem, as I suspect it would? Thanks.
John

That is a good question. I will tell you my unrestored 27 tudor did the same thing. After a drive, the back windows were down about .5 to one inch. I attributed it to worn window felts.

The earlier Closed cars have a rubber bumper at the bottom of the rear windows. My 24 Coupe has them. Do the 27 T’s have the lower bumpers? Maybe they are worn or missing.

I have installed new felt channels and bumpers. The Tudor rear side glass is very heavy. Question is if the spring can lose its strength to hold the glass up.

Springs do get weak, and the spring may require some pre-loading at installation.

Over time the spring may get weak. Ace hardware has a good selection of springs that are pretty close to what is used. You may can shorten the spring and rebending it to catch too if it’s similar to the rear window springs in the earlier cars.

Lang's has new regulators for 26/27 coupe and tudor If you are digging into the car to work on an old regulator, you might as well replace it.

Not sure if this will work on your car or not, but when I was working on 30's to 50's cars we always positioned the window crank so that it's weight would be in a position that it would exert a force in the downward direction trying to wind the window up, if possible.. This was usually enough to keep the window closed even on rough roads. If the crank was positioned in the opposite direction, the weight of it would sometimes actually wind the window down until the crank was in the 6:00 position. Just an idea.

They have the replacement risers, but I was hoping to use their repair kit which is a lot less.
John

The flat spring that is visible on the window regulator is only there to counter balance the weight of the window. What holds the window in place is a sprag clutch consisting of a coil spring with two tangs. It is under the riveted cover concentric with the winding shaft.

Snyder’s has a photo of this spring in the Model A section for the two arm regulator only.

What often happens is one tang breaks off when extra effort is exerted on the window crank. As others are recommending, replacement of the regulator is probably the easiest way to go.

As you’ve found out, the repair kit can be disappointing. If you had to file your gear and the spring isn’t doing its job, then it isn’t worth the low price.

I’ve installed several of these from Snyders and they are excellent quality. Replace your window glass with safety glass at the same time if you don’t already have it.


Also do as David Wilson suggested and with the window all the way up, install the riser handle with the knob at any position between about 2:00 & 4:00 so the off-center weight of the handle has a tendency to move in a closing direction over bumps.

Had a similar issue with my '32 Chevy. Filing the teeth did the trick for me too, but I also had to mess with the spring tension. A stronger spring did the job and kept the window up without dropping.

To all who commented, or just read my post: I think I've found the problem. I just found a shot of the window regulator when I took it out of the car to repair. I now looked at the current position of the spring. It appears that I have placed the spring 180 degrees away from the correct position on the slot. So I will take the spring off and reposition it half a turn more tensed. I think that will give it the strength it needs.
John