Window to the world

The windows in these Thunderbirds were glued into the tracks from the factory. Then the tracks were bolted into the window mechanism itself. After thirty some years (or twenty) the tracks come loose from the glass and things get sloppy. Back when I was driving this beast full time I had used a product from Duramix to glue things back together. It usually stayed put for about six months before coming loose again. This time around I decided I was going to have it professionally fixed.

If you haven't ever removed the door glass out of your Thunderbird (which I find REALLY hard to believe) it is really pretty simple. Put the window up at about six inches (figure A) and remove the arm rest and door panel. From there it is two bolts holding the rear guide onto the track (figure C) , two bolts holding the front guide onto the track, one nut at the pivot point with the window mechanism and one bolt holding the front stop onto the track (Figure B) . After those have been removed the glass and track assembly can be lifted (carefully) out of the door.

I pulled both windows out and took them all down to Auto Glass Center here locally. Figuring "hey, they are the Auto Glass Center they should know how to fix these the best".. Well I'm not to sure about that.. In talking with the guys in the shop about the positioning of the tracks on the glass I said "You guys probably have a book?".. *chuckle*.. no they didn't.. they used the same stuff they use to glue in windshields with (can't hardly think that will hold for very long) and they didn't get the glass pushed all the way into the channel.. Soo all in all I wasn't very impressed with the service.. The only thing I WAS impressed with was the price.. at 20 bucks I can simply try somewhere else when they come loose in the future. No big deal.