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Sun Apr 13, 2014 7:14 pm

I had to repair my driver's side vent wing window in my '66 Beetle, so I took the opportunity to replace all the scrapers, felt and weatherstripping in the door. I can't seem to get the window regulator and vent wing post installed without blocking the other one.

My first attempt was with the vent window fully installed. Obviously this was a mistake because you can't fit the "upper loop" of the regulator in the correct spot with the vent wing post in place.

Next, I tried with the regulator partially mounted (just the 2 bolts fastened near the crank). This didn't work either, as the post mounting bracket hits the first cross-brace(?) piece of metal near the window opening.

Third, I tried a hybrid approach with the vent wing post inserted but the frame leaning back (away from the front of the car) so as to give the regulator "upper loop" enough space to fit into place. Once fastened, the vent wing frame would not pivot into place; the vent wing window "hinge bracket" (underneath frame) hits the second cross-brace(?) piece of metal nearest the front corner of the window.

Here's an annotated photo to hopefully take the guesswork out of my descriptions.

I'd really appreciate any guidance you could offer. Repairing this window has been a long, drawn-out process. I feel like I'm really close to finishing this and moving on to the next big project but this particular task is sucking the life out of me.

Sun Apr 13, 2014 8:02 pm

designed to frustrate.... I posted on this while back

What is going on is the upper loop is in the way, look at your photo you can see it right in the middle of the gap where the glass runs.

What you need to do is to tuck it under the inner lip of the top edge of the door, just where you rest an elbow and right where your blue arrow is "upper" loop of regulator, its awkward but the regulator must tuck under the lip/body return.

Be sure the three foam wrapped and stapled pads are on the regulator or the upper edge will buzz inside the door forever. if you need a photo let me know.

Good luck - I still have nightmares about my '66 doors......

Sun Apr 13, 2014 8:13 pm

@branston - I wondered about that but pictures elsewhere led me to believe it was in the right spot, despite the fact that it looked odd there. Interesting note, there were only two of those pads and they were attached to the bottom of the regulator frame. No idea why the previous owner put them there or what good they might have done.

I'll give this a shot tomorrow and report back. Thanks so much for the tip.

Sun Apr 13, 2014 10:10 pm

obfuscurity wrote: @branston - I wondered about that but pictures elsewhere led me to believe it was in the right spot, despite the fact that it looked odd there. Interesting note, there were only two of those pads and they were attached to the bottom of the regulator frame. No idea why the previous owner put them there or what good they might have done.

I'll give this a shot tomorrow and report back. Thanks so much for the tip.
Good luck, and be careful! The last time I did this on my 66, Herbie scraped off some skin from my knuckles and forearm. Guess he thought he was hungry.

Kyle

Sun Apr 13, 2014 10:51 pm

The good news is that this worked like a charm. The bad news (of course there's bad news) is that the lift channel seals have dried up and the window pops out of the channel when lowering.

Time to order some replacement seals!

Mon Apr 14, 2014 3:31 am

Heres's a photo of the regulator FYI