BA Frameless windows........
 

Hi everyone, new to the forum and have been doin a lot of offline research before Googling the question and coming up with the answer.... AstinaGT!!!!

I have pulled down my doors shortly after picking up my BA and measured up the culprit window lifter rollers/bushes that flog out on these things. If you look at any other frameless window it has the same sort of setup but not the same roller shape and size.......being in the Automotive parts trade for ten years i have had a lot of experience with these things on the R34 Skyline coupes etc.....

I notice noone has mass-produced these things, even with the diagrams that are available, and there seems to be plenty of cars with the problem. Why are there no group buys or ebay listings???? Is it not a tried and true fix????

I have made some out of Nolathane Bushes, UHU Glue and a sharp box cutter but i would rather put a machined plastic option in there as the urethane has a bit too much flex and cannot hold the glass firm against the weatherseal at 100kph......

I have done as you have. What plastic should be used ideally do you think, im researching mould making and hope to have some made within the month. Just need to know what I should mould them from.

The problem with making them out of the DIY urethane stuff is if it isnt mixed 100% and has swirls in it, it ruptures on this swirl mark. Same with plastic, thats why i went with bushes already made and a flexible glue to bond them.

if i had access to a lathe and some time, i could turn them out of a piece of automotive grade nylon or similar, it has very little flex and can handle a bit of knock without splitting like urethane.

Ideally giving the plans to a plastics shop and getting them to use a CNC Lathe would be the go, turn down approx 50 of each of the two styles and selling them off on ebay or whatever, doing it all by hand would be too time consuming, but the cost of setup on the CNC, people want too much money the shape of the roller would take an hour to make a map of and program to run in the CNC.

The machine would spit them out in about an hour too so its really finding someone who could make a few to try and see if they would consider selling them once the prototypes were trialled???

Update - Just sent a few emails off to local plastic fabrication and machine shops with schematics i made up in AutoCAD of the rollers, should save a bit of coin as ive done a bit of the "hard work" for them, as the file will slot straight into their CNC machines as is.

Will post up the replies as i get em, i may have to be the guinea pig for some samples for a couple of weeks to see if they work, properly, long term and dont cost an arm and a leg...........

Mind posting the dimensions for them? They are here on the forum but to double check they match up. Thanks!

THe reallly sad thing is being a plastic engineer for a job. More annoying I guess especially how mazda don't sell to much as individual bits.
When they made them originaly they injected each on for 0.000001 cent each.

It is a very common frameless window issue, Going even way back to like HQ era. I remember building new ones for a Monaro 2 door.

IMO best would a HD - High density plastic - like a HDPE or even just a Nylon.

Another option which I think was take off a factory Jag I've seen is to cover the runners/tracks in rubber. Then use a Brass guide wheel. It keep quiet and smooth. Apparently it was how the did them on early Rolls Royce.

This is the 2 I have collected. Seems to be out 0.1mm compared to eachother:-

http://i39.photobucket.com/albums/e1...uidebrownr.jpg

http://i39.photobucket.com/albums/e1...uideroller.jpg

I'd be making them out of nylon. Regular plactics will be too hard.

ta Ryan. I will collect info on plastics/nylon etc and see if I can make a mould.

Just remember that you can't use a plastic too firm as you have to force the second tapered roller over the pin that is not able to be removed. Unless it's an easy job to grind it off and put a cheese head bolt in its place, it will have to have enough flex to stretch over the head of the pin and have little play once seated where it should be.

I made some silicone moulds sometime back and made a roller out of polyurethane. the grade of polyurethane I used was bit too soft. since i got the mould I should try it again with a different grade.

http://i167.photobucket.com/albums/u...d/IMG_3503.jpg

what temp can your silicone moulds TAKE?

Im not sure .....will have to check the spec sheet ....

......so after much delay and other things taking priority over the car i finally got a mate in NZ to make and send me the bushes, unfortunately the time taken to make them doesnt really justify the cost at about 15 to 20 dollars each, if someone could mass mould them out of nylon, winner.

The main track rollers that are the basic top-hat shape work a treat, as for the other ones, the nylon is far too stiff to press over the stud on the window regulator boss, i even tried cutting them perfectly in half and glueing them round the stud, no good, stresses are too high.

Then by fluke i gave PowerWin Automotive in banyo a call, they have overhauled exchange regulators on the shelf for 110 each and the top-hat rollers for 20 each!!!! unfortunately he wont sell the other roller separately but for 110 you get a tested and guarunteed exchange option thats far cheaper than 1200 a door for the glass and the regulator from mazda.......

Murphys law you find these things out just as youve given up all hope......

I'd actually e-mailed a mob in Perth today and asked if he was interested in doing a group order...keep an eye out in the Group Buy section.

yeah $20 each is a bit steep. didn't think they'd be that high. if they cost that much, i'd only be doing the drivers one.

$110 option isn't even worth a look.

i've been in contact with the blokes that make the superpro bushes. and they have asked for the specs. more info to come.

The race is on :p

Hi Ryan,

I can make the bushings for $2.00 + GST each,

but there will be a set up cost of $185.00 + GST to cover the manufacture of alloy pattern and production mould which has to be made to make the part.

80 +/- 3 Shore A material is what we would use.

Regards

Personally I would buy 4 front sets and two rear sets. Assuming they are the same. Btw there's two (or more) types requiring multiple moulds. Which makes it cost prohibitive...

there is 2 types?

If it's the same price for both types of bushings, it'll take 20 takers to get it down to a reasonable price ($29.15). This is also accounting for 4 bushings. Personally I'm fine with a $30 price point.

Either that or somebody can capitalise on it and make some dosh. Only problem is demand would dry out at some point unless they hit it up on eBay.