I finally took off the rear side panel to address my very slow windows. The pictures attached are what I found. I expected sardine can motors but these look like E28 motors. Was there a transition year in 73 to newer and better/faster motors? The car is remarkably original and untouched. I will remove the regulators and clean and grease them but had been hunting for E28 motors that perhaps I don't need? These are 2 wire motors.
1973 E9 window motors
- Thread starter Rudy3.0CS
- Start date
Feb/Mar of 73 the improved motors were introduced (along with circuit breakers under the dash) and they have a black plastic cover, same shape as e28 though and both have only two wires.
Thanks so much Chris. You watched me bid this car on BAT. What is remarkable is that while I had hoped the car had limited rust, it is as rust free as it is possible to be. It's really quite remarkable. I have borescoped the rockers from the inside, nothing. Tight metal with virtually no dirt in them. No rust, no dirt. Removed the rear seat panel and perfect metal down to the bottom. Same with the front kick panels. 100% perfect. Behind the glove box and left door, nothing. Floors as new. Front strut towers clean. Bitumen on top of those dead flat. Other than someone having jacked up the car (I think) from under the rocker so the flange is a bit wavy, I don't think the car needs any metalwork or rust repair. Everywhere I look inside it's the same flat grey looking color which I don't know is what they typically used or it's related to the Polaris paint? The car makes me smile every time I see it. Mario is currently assembling a very strong B25 engine with modern FI and updated everything.
Back to the window motors, are the E28 motors faster than my 1973 versions? They certainly aren't speedy. Will remove the regulators to clean and grease them of course,
Many thanks.
Back to the window motors, are the E28 motors faster than my 1973 versions? They certainly aren't speedy. Will remove the regulators to clean and grease them of course,
Many thanks.
Rudy - am in the middle of upgrading my motors to E28 (I have a 72). My car also is quite rust-free, but while I had the entire rear motor portion out I took the opportunity to paint/rustproof the entire inside of that panel including the base where I think some humidity can accumulate. Someone hadn’t reinstalled the interior film the last time they did anything so taking the opportunity to put that right as well. I used this paint (https://a.co/d/4UnGWf6)
one 16 oz container is more than enough to do all 4 door interiors with two coats. Also based on recommendations here I plan to fluid film the bottom of the area before I apply the interior panel film back. I figure while all of this is out I may as well protect whatever I can easily see.
You planning on doing the relay upgrade as well? A bit more complicated wiring but do-able.
one 16 oz container is more than enough to do all 4 door interiors with two coats. Also based on recommendations here I plan to fluid film the bottom of the area before I apply the interior panel film back. I figure while all of this is out I may as well protect whatever I can easily see.
You planning on doing the relay upgrade as well? A bit more complicated wiring but do-able.
While I have read about the relay upgrade, other than knowing it sends power directly to the motors rather than the switches I am ignorant of how to do that. Certainly sounds like a proper idea. I think anything that you can do to protect the car going forward will be helpful. I was planning cavity wax anyplace I can get it. My original plan was to remove the outer rocker assuming that it couldn't be really rust free. I am more than pleasantly surprised, shocked even.
I think 73 and e28 motors are pretty comparable. What makes a huge difference is removing the rear front window door rail, there are four steel wheels with ball bearings in them. Remove and soak in gasoline, makes a big difference. Everyone just greases the rails and adding more grease on top of petrified grease makes it worse.
@HB Chris when you say rear front door rail do you mean the forward rail of the rear window or the tail end of the front window? I cleaned my rear window rails very thoroughly and degreased then re-greased but didn’t take apart the wheels. Since my gaskets arrive tomorrow from W&N I’m planning to put all this back in this week, so if there’s something more I should do, now is the time!
Front door rail at rear end of door, vent window rail is felt channel.
Just finished mine this past weekend. My motors were the same as yours, and the upgraded ones are 2x faster. The tutorials on this site were excellent, and aligning the windows was less of a drama than others experienced. Only snag I ran into with the E28 motors was to shim the motor mounts to add clearance between the motor and the regulator arm. I also ground and polished the motor cases where the regulator arm was catching.
Two top tips from my experience:
1) Take the opportunity to get any dents pushed out by a pro while the doors are empty.
2) Take a close look at the bead of sealant under the windows (if still original) as it’s a rust trap that you may wish to take care of at the same time.