63-64 Ford & Mercury Window Crank Repair

So you own a 1963/64 Ford or Mercury and you are saying to yourself...
"Self. Why do the vent window cranks wind outward but the vent window doesn’t open?"

Well, if you don’t say it already, then believe me, one day you will!

We are here to investigate and correct this little malady.

First thing is to remove the offending doors trim panel. I won’t describe it here as they differ from model to model I’ll give you credit that you can do that.


Figure 1
At this point you will see the vent crank mechanism attachment bolts. Two hold it to the door the other holds the pivot to the window. Unbolt and remove the unit.

At this point you may want to quickly look at the back of the crank unit to note the fact that it seemingly has no back!!! Ah, the crux of the problem. Reach into the door frame and see if you can locate the back plate which will most likely be rolling around in the door bottom where it fell. If it is not you better hope you can find a yard with one of these cars and reach around inside its door and find one or hope some kind person on the board may have a spare! This is what you’ll have hopefully


Figure 2
As you can see the riveted over area has given way and the plate has been forced off.


Figure 3
At this point it is a good idea to clean it and remove the crank gear and re-grease and reinstall it. Watch you don’t lose the thrust washer at the end.


Figure 4
Next step is to drill through the rivet parts with a 9/64 drill. Luckily the area already has a centering hole to guide you.


Figure 5
Once you have them drilled you’ll need to grind or file the excess “rivet” flush with the back plate.


Figure 6
Then simply use some #6 nuts bolts and washers to bolt the plate on tight. Presto!

Install back on the car and crank away. 2/60 Air conditioning is functioning again!

Nice submission Stu. Perfectly formatted for the staff to edit. Thanks.