Rear Quarter Window Cranks

I started work on the rear window cranks today. I restored the rear quarters about 1.5 years ago. The driver side rear window crank would never fit on the regulator shaft. It fit on about 1/8” which was not enough to use the retaining screw. The passenger side fit a little better and could be installed but fell off a few weeks later. They have both been off the car for at least a year now. I’ve wanted to fix it but there have always been more important projects to address.

I started by using a rubber mallet to tap around the regulator shaft on the rear quarter panel. This reshaped them enough that the regulator shaft stuck out enough to attach the cranks. This worked very well and did not distort the panels at all.

I cut the end off of one of my old, original window cranks. Since the allen screw is under the arm of the crank, this would allow me better access to the hole. I then drilled out the threads with a slightly larger drill bit. I then used the old crank as a template to drill holes in the regulator shaft. This allowed me to then install the new crank and tighten the retaining screw into the small divot. This should keep the window cranks from falling off the shafts.

Later in the afternoon, we were running errands today and drove by JoAnne Fabric. I went it and picked up some dense ½ foam. I removed the arm rest from the bench seat, removed the upholstery, covered the stock padding with the foam on four sides, and then reinstalled the upholstery. The arm rest looks a little better now. You could previously tell the foam inside was deteriorating. It was a five dollar fix and I think it was work the money and effort.