1959 Cadillac Series 62

[BillR. CLC # 29203]

Hope this is a great year for all.
Brought back some pieces to work on.
My gut tells me not to sandblast the inside door window mechanisms.
More like a delicate de-surface rusting followed by careful primer and paint.
Am I missing anything?
Thanks.
BillR.

[savemy67]

Hello Bill,

Are the units operational?  From the photo, they look encrusted enough that a thorough cleaning might be beneficial.  If the units are intended for a project car, and the level of repair on the project car is high, I would not hesitate to dis-assemble and sandblast the parts that should be blasted, along with cleaning and lubricating the motors.  If you are considering reselling the parts, you may not want to dis-assemble them - just a thorough wire brushing, cleaning, and paint.  The photo shows one square motor and one round motor.  Do you know if these came from the same car?

Christopher Winter

[BillR. CLC # 29203]

Christopher,
Thanks for your reply.
Excellent observation on the round versus square motors. I'm sure my son picked up on  that but I did not until you mentioned it.
My son says all four were working, all be it slowly, prior to removal and restoration of the car.
It's in paint as we speak. 
Following your suggestion I think I will clean them up, disassemble/lube what I can without getting in over my head and then take them back to Fla. so my son can disassemble further, sandblast and paint. 
Thanks again.
BillR.

[savemy67]

Bill,

Slow operation sounds like electrical resistance and or old, hard grease in the gear case (and general decrepitude).  Be aware that on some years, separating the motor from the regulator arms needs to be done with caution so the regulator spring doesn't cause serious injury.  My '67 shop manual instructs the mechanic to drill a 1/4 inch hole through the mounting plate and one of the arms and install a bolt and nut to keep the spring from launching the motor, arms, or both.  I recommend getting the '59 shop manual or confirmation that other years use a similar procedure.  My scanner died two weeks ago and I have not replaced it, otherwise I would send you the pages from my '67 manual.  If you do not want to do the repair yourself, I am aware that CLC member Tim Groves (Cadillac Tim) rebuilds the motors. He can probably tell you the reason for a round motor.  I am not affiliated with Tim in any way, but I wanted to give you a resource.  Be safe, and good luck.

Christopher Winter

[BillR. CLC # 29203]

Chris,
Again, thanks for your guidance.
I eMailed my son the messages about the motors.
I did notice the one with the round motor he labelled front/driver side. Maybe because that window gets more use it's "beefier"?
As for the Shop Manual, that is one of the first things he got when he started this journey.
BillR. 

[savemy67]

Bill,

I found this in a post from January, 2009:

I repairing my power window motors, there are two types.  The round motors from 54 thru 58 and the rectangular motors for 59 thru 76.  What purpose does the asphalt sprayed on the lower part of the round motors serve?  What type of rubber coating were the rectangular motors dipped (or sprayed with) and what would I use now-a-days to "refresh" the exteriors of both types of motors to get them thru another 60 years of service?


If the round motor is from an earlier year car, you may need to advise your son to do a preliminary fit and operational test of the motor/regulator with all the window mechanicals and door trim parts installed before he buttons everything down for the last time.  Before he tests anything in the car, he may want to measure the height of the window and the distance traveled up and down.  I do not know, but the 59 window dimensions may be different from the windows with which the round motor was meant to be used.  Also, count the teeth on the regulators and the motor gears to establish that the ratios are the same between the round motor and the square motor (also measure the arms from pivot points to pivot points and roller ends).  This seems like a lot of extra work but it is not too onerous, and it is better than cracking a window.  Of course, if you can find any Cadillac info providing specs for the glass and regulators, you can cross match.  Some members have Master Parts catalogs that can tell if parts are the same using Cadillac part numbers.

If you open the motor housings to clean/refresh the motors, and you want to coat them to keep out water after closing them, you might try coating the motor with something like Rust-O-Leum undercoating spray.  Of course, be sure to mask off connectors, fasteners, etc.

Christopher Winter

[BillR. CLC # 29203]

Christopher and M McNeff,

Again, thanks for the info.

BillR.