This document goes through the basic steps required to utilize the electric window motors from the Ford Mk3 Mondeo.

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Norman Ray
5 years ago
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Modifying Ford Mk3 Mondeo door glass motors The options for installing electric windows in a Diablo replica are limited to only a few options; You can install the original motor and cable runners at

1 Modifying Ford Mk3 Mondeo door glass motors The options for installing electric windows in a Diablo replica are limited to only a few options; You can install the original motor and cable runners at 500 a side, use scissor mechanisms such as those found in early Ford Granada s or modify a similar system found on another make of car. This document goes through the basic steps required to utilize the electric window motors from the Ford Mk3 Mondeo. Preface Early Ford Mondeo s used a single rail solution for the electric windows much like the electric windows used on the smaller Fiesta. These solutions work as the although the glass is long, it is fitted into runners on both the front and rear edge and it is this which keeps the glass parallel. In the Parallel Designs Diablo replica these motors are not sufficient. Movement in the door as well as the fact that the leading edge runner is not a particularly tight fit allows the glass to twist as it is pushed upwards and down by a single runner, jamming up. By using two parallel runners, the glass is prevented from twisting and so rises and falls within the frame without binding or locking. This is the same solution as utilized by Lamborghini themselves, although they do not use the same type or runners that Ford use. Motors are not prevalent on the second hand market at present, so prices for motors can be high. Expect to pay around 50 a side. As time goes on, these prices will fall as supply increases. First steps, Dismantling This is what the MK3 motors and runners look like. Dismantling is simply a case of drilling the rivets out that hold the various brackets together. It is also necessary to remove the plain metal bearings that hold the plastic cable guides. Do not remove the bracket holding the motor to the runner, its not 1 of 9

2 necessary to do this. Retain the wheel bearings as these will be required. Discard the wire cable, this cannot be reused. Once you have the motor dismantled, you should end up with a big pile of parts like this: Modifying the components The next step is to shorten the runners so that they fit inside the Diablo s door. Measure the inside of the door and subtract at least 10mm to allow for the protrusion top and bottom of the white plastic bearing carriers. Before cutting the runners down it s a good idea to bend them to match the profile of the glass. The runner which holds the motor can simply be bent by hand, the other runner is a more complex shape and so requires the use of more force. When bending the runners, put the sliders on and offer it up against you glass to make sure you have the correct curve. There is some movement in the sliders if there are minor errors with the curve, but its best to get the curve as accurate as possible. Do not simply bend the runner to the shape of the glass. You have to take into account the fact the runner is stood off from the glass by the slider, this would make the runner bent at a smaller radius than the curve of the glass. The more complex runner may distort as it is bent which would make the travel of the slider on an arc when viewed face on. So it may also be necessary to slit, bend and re weld this runner to get the required linear travel. 2 of 9

3 Once the length of the runners has been established, measure and cut from the bottom of the runners. By measuring from the bottom, the complicated mounts for the white cable guide and the metal bracket remain untouched. This leaves the much easier top mounts to replicate. To fabricate the mount on the top of the runner holding the motor, you simply hammer flat enough of the runner to slide the white plastic guide onto the top. Then mark through the bearing hole and drill to suit. The other runner requires more effort. In this case I removed the mount section from the discarded end of the runner. Without cutting into the actual slide part of the runner, I stitched it into the mount section with a welder, grinding down any welds to make the sure the slider was not impeded on its travel. With these jobs now done, its time to turn our attention to the sliders themselves. The Mondeo glass sliders are set to hold glass at an angle. In our Diablo installation this is not correct, too little of the glass would be gripped to work correctly. To correct this, the slider brackets are cut and rewelded to correct the angle. In the image above, the bracket on the right is unmodified. The one on the left shows the cuts required before re welding. Once these brackets are modified, they can be reassembled onto the slider before moving onto the next stage. The small bearings that were riveted to the runners also need to be modified. The bearings are put into a lathe or drill press and are drilled and tapped to 3 of 9

4 accept a 4mm bolt. When tapping the thread it might be easier to use a vice to hold the bearing. Be sure to protect the surface of the bearings from scratches and dings which would cause accelerated wear of the grey plastic cable wheel. If the bearings are damaged when they were removed, its probably best to replace them. They are not a precision part so a great deal of care does not need to be taken in their construction. Reconstruction Now all the major parts are modified it is time to reassemble them. You may want to paint the parts you have cut and re welded, but be aware that the slider edges should be kept as original as possible as if they are thickened up too much the sliders will be too stiff. I made a frame to hold the runners to make sure the runners are kept parallel. It also helps to stiffen up the door and provides a simple method of mounting that keeps everything rigid. Bolts are passed through the bearings and the runners and into the metal frame. As the runners will sit at an angle tightening the bolts too much will distort the runners, so use lock nuts and tighten them enough that things do not wobble, no more than that. Once the runners are fitted to the frame, the next thing to do is to cut the flexible cable liners. As the liners were designed to fit longer runners, they will need shortening to suit. Cut them with a hacksaw slowly as they are constructed from stainless steel and will blunt a hacksaw and cause rough 4 of 9

5 cuts which will catch the inner cable if done too quickly. Once the liners are cut, you should have a configuration which looks like the next image below: The next stage is to run new wire around the frame through the inserts. Leave enough cable to wrap around the motor drum. The old cable would have used crimps that fix onto the cable. The crimps slip into recesses on the sliders and the cable drum. I used inserts from a universal cable repair kit that are the same basic size as the crimps. These parts work in the same way but use a small grub screw to clamp the cable as opposed to crimping force. A file was used to modify their size to fit perfectly. The cable should be tensioned in such a way that the springs on the cable drum are compressed to half their uncompressed length. The drum should be positioned in such a way that the cable is wound evenly on the drum, basically in its middle position. This will ensure that when the motor drives the sliders to the top or bottom of the runners the drum is not shocked unduly. Another useful thing at this stage is to weld a tab at the bottom of the motor runner such that the bottom plastic guide rests on it. Every single Ford mechanism I have seen has a crack in this part. As the slider drops to the bottom of the runner, it hits a small rubber buffer on this plastic guide. So to prevent this part snapping and eventually snapping off, the tab stops it moving too far. 5 of 9

In the previous image the cables are run and are bolted to the frame. In this configuration it is possible to test the operation of the motor if required.

6 In the previous image the cables are run and are bolted to the frame. In this configuration it is possible to test the operation of the motor if required. You can do this by manually turning the drum or by hooking up the motor. Five cables are required to power up the motor. Two live cables, one ground and two cables to determine motor direction. It will not be possible to install the frame and runners into the door with the motor in this state. The aperture through which the mechanism should fit is not actually big enough to pass it through, so the frame needs to be made in such a way that the runners can be folded up and unfolded once inside the door. 6 of 9

7 The bottom of the frame is shown here split, a small bracket holds the two pieces together and is simply secured with a 4mm bolt. It does not need to be structurally strong so this small nut and bolt is more than sufficient. The last thing to do before mounting the mechanism is to drill some mounting holes into the frame and offer it up. It is easier to perform the following operation with the door off of the car. The correct procedure for alignment is as follows. With the glass in the fully closed position, move the glass sliders to the up position and clamp them to the glass. The top position of the frame is now the correct distance from the door frame, so it can be clamped in place at the top using brackets or long bolts. The glass can then be retracted using the mechanism to its bottom position. The bottom position is known so a bracket can now be installed to hold the frame here. Minor adjustment of the sliders can now be done to ensure the glass is lifted parallel and into the frame evenly. If all is well, the glass should move up and down evenly and fit neatly into the frame. 7 of 9

The next step is to re install the door onto the car and make sure the distortion caused by the door fitting into the frame still allows the glass to slide up and down evenly.

8 The next step is to re install the door onto the car and make sure the distortion caused by the door fitting into the frame still allows the glass to slide up and down evenly. Some large doors on cars have small plastic guides to force long length errant glass into the frame if it goes out of true. These might be useful if your glass has a tendency to wander as it goes up and down. 8 of 9

9 Electrical connections Wiring for the motor assembly is straight forward, and has the advantage of not needing complicated electronics or relays to achieve such features as jam or obstruction detection. Looking into the motor s connector, the pinout is as follows: 1 no connection 2 switched 12 volt supply 3 glass up 4 glass down 5 no connection 6 no connection 7 permanent 12 volt supply 8 ground The permanent supply should be fused to 25Amps the switched supply 7.5A maximum. With the supplys connected, connecting the up or down control to the ground connection, causes the glass to rise or fall. When no movement is required, these connections should be left floating. The pins marked no connection carry digital data to other parts of the original vehicle and so are unused in our application. 9 of 9

Gearbox Assembly 101. Introduction. Before Beginning. By Mark Schutzer 4/13/06

Gearbox Assembly 101. Introduction. Before Beginning. By Mark Schutzer 4/13/06 Gearbox Assembly 101 By Mark Schutzer 4/13/06 Introduction If you are planning to re-motor an old brass locomotive you may want to upgrade to a new gearbox at the same time. The early 60 s and 70 s gearboxes