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POWER WINDOWS & LOCKS
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I got my Kits from Summit. I got tired of the drudgery of having power nothing. I got brave and bought a VPA power door lock kit & power window kit. I fought with the door panels and finally got them off. Not as easy as the book says. Window must be down to get the upper sill off and even then it�s a chore.
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POWER DOOR LOCKS
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I purchased a 2 door kit from VPA. They also have a 4 door version available.
First I decided on using the factory location for the VPA switches. I gave the switches a test fit in the factory hole. It was close, but not quite. Side to side the hole was perfect, but the height was a bit too small. So I decided to modify the hole slightly. I got a file and slowly removed material from the top and bottom, along the way, test fitting the switch many times, till it was perfect.
The wiring was pretty straight forward using the instructions. The only change I made was to swap the glass fuse style holder over to a blade style. I decided to get an Aux fuse box that attached to the side of the factory fuse box. I figured doing it this way would help neaten things up, esp. since I was installing a power window kit and a door popper kit.
The actually unlocking mechanism was interesting. You mounted a device that would pull a rod back and forth. One way locked the other unlocked. The trick was to mount it so its rod would run parallel to the factory rod. You were allowed to bend the rod slightly to ensure a proper fit.
Overall not too bad to install!
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POWER WINDOWS
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For this kit, I also ordered the 2 window version.
Now I decided to also go with the factory switch locations. This made it a bit tricky. VPA designed it for cars that had 2 switches on the driver�s door. This obviously gave the driver control of both windows. The passenger door had a switch for its window only.
Well as luck would have it Firebirds are designed to have only 2 switches. They are mounted in the center console so the driver or passenger can reach both.
So this meant I had some modifying ahead of me. I had to redesign the wiring of the window kit slightly to make it work from the center console only. The wiring diagram was not as good for the windows as it was for the door locks. But I figured it out.
The idea behind this kit is to actually use the crank that the non power cars come with. You have to remove the handle. Then the kit supplies a variety of gears in different diameters and heights that will mesh up with the factory gear. The idea is to make them mesh up with the universal gear on the power window motor.
The power window motor is made up of the actual motor
then a long shaft with the gear on the end.
This gear turns one way or the other based on whether you have selected the up or down function.
It works, but is slow, esp. in the winter!
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HOME PAGE
Follow this link to additional information on the car not found on this site!
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DIRECTORY FOR RAIF'S INTERIOR SITE
01 Site Intro
02 Power Windows and Door locks <<<
03 Miscellaneous Trim Pieces
04 Smoked Plexiglas Covers, Flush Mounted KITT Light Box
05 Carbon Fiber
06 Carpet Swap
07 Overhead Console
08 Red & Black Seats
09 Seat Cover installation
10 Red & Black Door Panels
11 Red & Black Rear Cargo Panels
12 Kick Panels &Lower Dash Panels
13 Car Motor Sports Mats and T-Top bag
14 Neon
15 Center Console Repair
16 Painted Center Console
17 Dash Repaint
18 Repainted Gauge Cluster
19 Autometer Pillar Pod
20 Seatbelts
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