RE: [VintageLambo] Re: Espada window motor

Note that the original pulleys were made out of some kind of phenolic or crumbly plastic that comes apart in your hands and aren"t worth trying to salvage. The axles get crudded up over the years and rust. I ended up replacing all of them with stainless screen-door rollers purchased at the local hardware store. They have a wider groove than the originals which allows the cable to slide around a little, but they have genuine roller bearings in them which dramatically reduces the friction of the whole mechanism. The process was to grind off the nub of the old axle using a roto tool, pop out the old axle, then make a new spindle out of about a 1/4" length aluminum tube with a threaded ID (available at the same, well-equipped hardware store). Don"t remember the O/D of the spindle but it mates tightly enough with the I/D of the pulley bearing. The pulley fits over the greased spindle and screws in each end with small brass thrust washers clamp the inner race of the roller bearing in place against the triangle-shaped bracket. In the interest of full disclosure, it should be noted that this system has yet to prove its durability (I"ve had the car on the road for only two years). Also, I"ve got a problem with the driver"s side window hanging up about two thirds the way up. It may not be related to the pulleys, but I know exactly where the hang up is and I raise the window to that point, give it a little nudge with my fingers, and it goes the rest of the way up no problem. The passenger side works better than some new cars we get to test here at C/D. AR when I locate the replacement pullies, I will have a longer post on the process. I am not going to try finding an OEM type replacement for the pully.