Anybody restore a window regulator before?

[albertaboy]

Here's mine after a vinegar dip. I'm not sure what to do for a lasting finish. Even the re pops appear to be just painted. The various contact points will wear quick and begin to rust. Any pointers? Thanks.

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[rich b]

I have always just painted regulators and greased the moving parts; probably won't rust much if any again.

[J Franklin]

Yep, just clean it well and paint it. The grease will keep the rust off it.

[albertaboy]

Originally Posted by rich b

I have always just painted regulators and greased the moving parts; probably won't rust much if any again.

Originally Posted by J Franklin

Yep, just clean it well and paint it. The grease will keep the rust off it.

Thanks for your replies!!
Did you take them apart any further or just spray what you can see? Rivets would have to be ground to separate the gears from the plate.

[J Franklin]

If it works don't ruin it! They most likely dipped painted them if they even put any paint on them.

[rich b]

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Originally Posted by albertaboy

Thanks for your replies!!
Did you take them apart any further or just spray what you can see? Rivets would have to be ground to separate the gears from the plate.

No need to take it apart further once you get it moving free; just paint, turn, paint, etc until you get all you can. Oil the pivots and grease the gears and rollers.

[Marvin/TN]

They don't paint regulators in today's cars just bare metal

[supereal]

If any of the teeth are missing or damaged, we remove the rivets and disassemble the regulator. Then we weld the teeth and reshape them with a diegrinder,and bolt the assembly back together with white grease on the moving parts. Finding replacement units has become a fruitless search, particularly for low production cars such as convertibles.

[albertaboy]

Originally Posted by rich b

No need to take it apart further once you get it moving free; just paint, turn, paint, etc until you get all you can. Oil the pivots and grease the gears and rollers.

Sounds like this evenings plan. Thanks.

[delco1946]

So im soaking my regulator back and forth between acetone and purple grease eater stuff. Mine had very little paint, most of which didn't come off. I may not bother to paint it since it seems fine, but since several ppl mentioned it, what sort of paint did you use? I was going to use white lithium grease per earlier posts (?).

[J Franklin]

Any paint if you want it painted.

[Tinker]

I sprayed rattle can black epoxy paint in a few lite coats till it was all covered. Then used white lithium grease.

[19Fordy]

A friend of mine just had his nickel plated.

[fordor41]

Originally Posted by Marvin/TN

They don't paint regulators in today's cars just bare metal

that's because new cars are sealed up so good compared to 40's cars

[delco1946]

As i continue to clean my regulator, it looks like it may even be aluminum and thus doesn't even need to be painted (?). There is basically no rust except for where a bolt or rivet connects pieces and the spring. Any chance a 55 crown vic used aluminum regulators?

[J Franklin]

Doubtful.

[325w]

I only worked on one 55 Crown. The regulator were steel for sure.

[19Fordy]

Not likely it's aluminum.
Check it with a magnet. Might be lightly galvanized.

[Oldbluoval]

I've had many NOS and most of them were bare metal. I work on Model A slants a lot and they were originally bare also. One thing I've found is don't heavily grease them up....it attracts dirt and other to the unit. The lithium is what I use as it sort of flashes over a bit and not as attractive to catching the dirt, etc.
I good coat of some sort of primer could be in order but heavy paint would/could cob up the working parts.
Another tip when they are cruddy and dirty is to take them out in the sun and use oven cleaner on them as a first process,
Just my HO

[36 CS]

You can parkerize or Blacken them. It reminds me of blueing a gun. Got to have heat,solution to heat and a stainless container to place the regulator in.google the process and it should bring it up with instructions. Amazon has solution.