fixing thunderbird window track clips howto

I just fixed the broken window track clips on my 87 Tbird and thought i would write up a howto as i have not seen one.

1: parts: get the aluminum replacement window clips for 87/88 TC's www.equalizer.com part number MD1280. one set per door. Razor blade or knife to clean off goo. sand paper. glue for window glass, i used 1 minute 2 part epoxy and it has held fine. marker to mark glass

2: remove your door panel

3: along the inside of the window at the bottom there is a piece of trim held on by 2 philips screws. take them out and pull the trim off.

4: remove the felt guide held on by 1 12 mm bolt that guides the glass up out of the door.

5: unbolt the remnants of your clips from the window tracks

6: lift out the window glass, you will have to tilt the glass to one side to get it to lift out.

7: use marker to mark where the clips where on the glass

8: razor off the old glue

9: use sand paper to rough up the glass a bit, but make sure not to mess your marks up.

10: epoxy on the new clips

11: install in opposite order

What was the price for the clips.

Replacing the polyethylene clips is the key. Finding an adhesive that will make a good bond to them (for me) has been impossible.

-Shane

the aluminum clips from my local shop were 10$ a set so 20$ for both doors. the glue i took off the stock windows was a rubber cement type glue and when i talked to the glass guys at my local shop they recomended 1 minute 2 part epoxy that you can get at any parts store, so far its been a month and i took the panel off to check em and they haven't budged. so far so good.

** i just did a quick google and found em at a few places for 5.99 a set, so i might have overpaid a little but i needed them that day.

just an update to this, my passenger side window got broken and i ordered a new one. when the new one came it had the plastic clips already on it so i left them. though this tells me the plastic ones are still available somewhere.

I'll add to this that I went through the process outlined above, but I reused my plastic clips since they weren't broken. However, I used JB Weld to hold the clips to the glass. Since then, the car has been through many 100 degree summer days and many 5 to 15 degree cold winter nights. The glass has held on strong and still feels solid in its clips. Kudos to JB Weld.

Good to hear, I was not sure that JB would bond well enough but aparantly it does.