1964 Falcon – Power Windows

 

I have just completed adding several new options to the Falcon. Also I have decided on a name for it. I'm calling it Frankie which comes from my calling the car my FrankenFalcon. Name seems to fit pretty well since it is made up of all different makes and model car parts!

Now the power window kit I selected was to minimize cost and allow for 4 windows to be power. There are other more costly kits available from A1 Electric at www.a1electric.com, but they supply the entire power regulator replacement at a considerably higher cost and I don't think they can accomodate the rear windows.


Power windows.

While surfing the web for different auto optional equipment, I came across some neat after market power window add on system. What make it really neat is the motor is attached to a drive that slips over the existing window regulators with cables that allow the motor to be mounted remotely inside of the door. The motor kits are available from ebay and amazon. Search for “add on power window motors” or use the links in the amazon picture boxes provided below depending on whether you need a two window or four window kit.

 

I also used a Directed Electronics 535T Power-Window Automation System with one touch operation which allows auto down and up by a single press of the button on the front two window buttons. The two rear windows are just operated by the buttons. This device is available from both ebay and amazon. Search for Directed Electronics 535T” or use the link below.

Now this option is completely optional and can be omitted if you don't want the auto up/down operation and prefer to hold the buttons until the window is in the desired position.

Preparation.

This could be the most important step in the installation. The existing window regulators need to be operating very smoothly and with minimal effort with the crank. It may require you to remove the regulator from the vehicle and straighten the arms, replace the rollers and clean off dried grease and re-grease. I used wheel bearing grease both for the main gear and in the roller tracks. To get all of the tracks cleaned, it will be necessary to remove the tracks and if your windows fit properly it will be a good idea to spray paint the track mounting bolts before removal so you can reinstall the tracks in the exact position where they were. If you need to readjust the windows for fit, this is not necessary. Also while the windows are out of the vehicle it may be a good time to replace the felt runs. The window runs and rollers are available from falconparts.com as well as many other sources. The early Mustangs, being the spawn of Falcon, also used the same rollers, so any early Mustang supply house will have the rollers, but the window runs are different between Falcon and Mustang as Mustang runs are curved. Falconparts.com also sells some replacement regulators and regulator repair parts if yours are damaged. Just search for window regulator.

Wiring.

All of the necessary wiring required will come with the motor kits as well as the switches required. The wires in the kits have all of the terminals on the ends and thus do not require any special crimper or tools to install. If they are longer than necessary, excess wire can be coiled wherever there is space, or you can shorten them and reinstall new terminals as desired. I coiled any long wires myself. For the four window kit, it will also come with a four button switch mount for the driver's door and three single button switch mounts for the other three windows. I chose to mount the four switches in my console, so I did not use the passenger door switch mount. For the rear windows I mounted the switches in place of the ash trays under the sliding door. Here are some photos of my switch installations:

 

Console Switches Rear --------------------------------------------------------- Ash Tray Switches

In the above left photo notice there is a small 0 – 1 switch in the switch bezel. That is used to disable the rear window switches. Here is a photo of an example of the switches that comes in the kit:
What I did to mount the four switch bezel in my console was to get out my Dremel tool and carefully cut the supplied mount. The rear switch mounts were glued into the ash tray holders with black silicone.

Now those switches are not period correct for a 60's automobile so if you would rather have some chrome switches and bezels, then A1 Electric sells a four window kit like this one:

 
Chrome Switch Kit SK7-RGM


Notice that kit does not have the LOCKOUT SWITCH and if it is desired, it will need to be located separately. It can be bypassed if the LOCKOUT SWITCH is not wanted.

What I did was to get some armrests assemblies for a '87-93 Fox body Mustang. Since I was putting the window switches in the console, I used the space where the Mustang window switches were located to install a tweeter speaker for the stereo. Here is the result:

 

The switches above the tweeters in the arm rests are for power door locks. In addition to giving a smart looking arm rest, the cavity where the switches are located also allows to cover the window crank gearing. Here is what it looks like behind the arm rest:

   

The second photo is the crank covers that came with the kit which I painted to match the interior. They were used in the rear quarter panels. Also the armrests were painted with vinyl paint I had matched.

Wiring Routing.

The wiring routing will somewhat depend on whether you decide to put the switches in the console or at each door. The wiring in the kit is set up for having the 4 switch station mounted on the driver's door and the other single switch stations on the passenger door and rear quarters or doors. If you decide to mount the four switch station in a console you will need to get some longer wires to run between the console switches and the driver's window. I would get some #14 gauge stranded wire colors to match the color of the wires to be extended. Each kit can different wire colors for the driver's window motors, so I would wait to get the extension wire until I got the window kit if it is desired to match the colors. I cut the two connectors for the motor connections off the kit wires and used an in-line splice which I soldered and covered with shrink tubing to extend the wires. Personally I have had trouble with the crimp type connectors so I try not to use them.
If you decide to put the 4 switch station on the driver's door then the wiring can be used as is. The wire routing for this installation will require the power and the three other window motor wires to be routed through a flexible conduit between the driver's door and the pillar. I would recommend either of these:

To mount the conduits it is required to use a hole saw for the mounting hole in the door pillar and the door shell. It is best to locate the hole in the pillar first so you can use the access opening in the kick panel shell. Next locate the location for the hole in the door shell. You should be able to drill from inside the door if your drill motor will fit inside the door. Most 3/8" corded drill motors will fit with no problem. When locating the holes just be sure the conduit will fit inbetween the door shell and the pillar when the door is closed. It is best to locate the hole in the door shell either level with the hole in the pillar or the hole should be lower in the door shell than the hole in the piller to insure water will run down away from the inside of the vehicle. If water penetrates the door shell it will be ok as the door is designed to drain water.
Routing the wires for the door mounted switch install involves the passenger side wires across the vehicle. If it were done at the factory they would have probably put the wiring in the dash harness, but since I did not want to get up in that already mess of wiring I decided to run the wires under the bottom of the firewall pad and under the top of the carpet. As long as you make sure the wires stay away from the throttle linkage it is a good place to run them. For the rear windows remove the sill plates and route the wires under them next to the factory harness. You can run the passenger rear window wires either across the vehicle and under the passenger sill plate or under the driver side sill plate and then under the rear seat to get across the vehicle.
If you go with the console switches the wiring is somewhat easier in that only the wires to the windows need to be routed to each window. Again they can be put in the same location for the front windows at the bottom of the firewall pad and may be run under the carpet to get under the rear seat for the rear windows. This installation will require modifying the passenger front wiring since there will not be a switch installed on the door. What is required is to cut the motor connectors off of the harness supplied to go between the switch and the motor and put them on the end of the wires from the console switch. Also there is a third power wire which would normally power the window switch that can be abandoned. Here are some wiring routing diagrams to further explain:

   

If you are going to use the Directed Electronics 535T auto up/down module then the wiring routing would be like below. If the 535T is mounted on the firewall near the left kick panel or behind the kick panel then the motor wires for the driver's door need to run from the switch to the 535T module and from the 535T module back to the motor. Also the passenger door window motor wires from the switch in the passenger's door need to run from the switch to the 535T module and from the 535T module back to the motor. This will add a bit more wiring that should be made with 14ga wire.

   

Note:Some window kits will use a common power wire for the rear windows which will require all the wiring to the rear windows to run under the left sill plate and under the seat over to the right rear window as shown in the wiring schematics. Other kits will have the power wire split at the 4 station switch allowing the right rear window wiring to be run either way. Check your kit wiring harness before installation.

 

Also the +12V power should have a new #14 ga red wire run from the starter solenoid to the fuse because of the additional current the windows will draw. And if you want the windows to be switched by the accessory circuit then a power relay is required. Feeding the windows from the accessory circuit directly is not recommended as the additional current draw through the ignition switch could shorten its life. Here are some suggested components and handy tools:

EDIT: I noticed after install and use for a while, the rear windows were a bit sluggish due to the longer wires required. So to eliminate this problem I added a couple of relays to each window and ran a #10 power wire to feed the relays. Here is a schematic:

 
Here's a video of the operation: