Hey,

I have a 99 3.8L Camaro - I love it except for the fact it has manual windows. I saw a few window conversion kits around a while back. How much do these cost, and would any regular body / repair shop be able to install them?

How hard is it; what all is included in doing the labor?

Let Me Know,
Thanks,
Kevin

 

i would to know about this also

 

.

i bought a power window kit and a window switch(rolls the windows up and down with my alarm)for 120.00 thats at cost.anyone that does alarms and installs might be able to do it.im going to pay a friend 100.00 to install it.he said its a P.I.N.T.A

 

Check out this place.

http://www.a1electric.com

Camaro kit

http://www.a1electric.com/Merchant2/...t_Code=GM70-KC

I'm thinking about using their kit for my El Camino. You will still need switchs and wiring for the above kit. If you look at the site there is an install guide to give you an idea of what's involved

 

About 3 years ago a coworker/friend had a dealership put one of those "kits" on his Camaro & he told me that he didn't have anything but trouble out of it!

I don't know anything except what he told me about his, but I'd be real leary unless you were having someone that has done it before do it & you can talk to a prior customer to see how theirs is working out!

Good Luck!

 

Hmm....that place is local....I'll probably check it out cuz I have one of those freak Z28s that came with leather interior but no power options. I was thinking about the conversion for along time and even bought a pair of doors with power windows for the swap......but it the kits are reliable I'll try it out and see whats up.

-B

 

Another thing you guys might want to consider with this swap is the size of the motor.... the door glass on these cars are heavy as ****! The kit motors look rather small as compared to the stock motors. Here is a pic from shoebox's site http://csce.uark.edu/~jgbertr/rb/alt_web_page/W18.jpg
I really can't tell from the picture but it looks like the little gear that moves the arm up and down are plastic....its only going to be a matter of time before those little gears wear out and you're screwed. Once I visit the shop and check out the goods I'll post again.

-B

 

I went to A1 today and took a look at their kits....they look EXACTLY like the OEM setup and the gear that moves the arms arms up and down are metal. The motor that drives the kits are comparable to the stock ones if not better. The cool thing is that they have a lifetime warrenty on all of the parts.

I'm going to order one of these kits in the near future and do a write up on the installation process because it looks like a good product. With this kit its gonna run $219 for the kit itself and $49.99 for the wiring harness to connect to factory switches for a OEM look. With the price of stock swtiches I'm looking at $300 for the luxury of power windows. Not too bad if you ask me.

My other option was to install the doors I got off of a 2002 SS that had power windows and buying the harness from a donor car and having the doors painted. This route would have been $$$$

My other option was to gut the 2002 SS doors and install the regulators and motors in my car and buying the harness and swithces from a junkyard. This route sounded like a pain in the *** to do because I would have to figure out where the stock wiring went and junk, furthermore I would have to buy the express down module and try to wire that up....as opposed to just buying this kit and connecting only 2 wires. I'll keep you guys updated.

-B

 

Yes, please do keep me updated. Does that kit come with the outer button / appearance too? Does it just replace the plate where your door locks / power windows (soon to be) are located?

Do you have a URL for a site that sells that kit, or is it a local place only?

 

Kevin Ace - The URL that Poltergeist posted

http://www.a1electric.com/Merchant2/...t_Code=GM70-KC

is local...it was about 20 minutes from my house....I would recommend buying the harness from A1 and buying a set of OEM switches from the dealer because the aftermarket swtiches that they offer do not match the interior and run between $35-80 while the stock switches that match the interior run about $15 new from any GM dealer.

-B

 

I finished the conversion!!!!! Its an absolute LUXURY to be able to lower and raise my window with a touch of a button!!!! The Electric-Life conversion with the harness makes the installation an absolute breeze!

The hardest part was getting those rivets that hold the old regulator to the door. I had to use a die grider to grind the riviet to flush to the door and then I was able to use a punch to pop the rivets out. After doing the first door the second door was a breeze. I would highly reccomend this conversion to anyone with crank windows.....$300 for all the parts is nothing!

I also went to the local fabric store to buy some vinyl and went to Home Depot to buy some tin particle board to make a replacement lower interior door panel. It cam out looking REALLY good. I should have a how-to site up in about a week or two.

-B

 

Hew Blown383,

Where did you get the rivets for remounting the window regulator? I am about to remount my regulators using 1/4 x 20 machien screws but I would like to use rivets again if possible.

SweetZRag

UPDATE: BLown383 told me about Harbor Freight to get the large pop rivet gun for replacing window regulators. Here is the link for the tool and it does include enought rivets to do 3 cars both doors! All for $16.99 plus shipping. Beats Grainger who sells the tool for $144 plas another $13 for the rivets. You will need 1/4" aluminum rivets with a grip range up to 1/4".