I currently have 5 sets ready to ship. Please PM me with your zip code and if you want the weld on kit or the u-nut kit.
The price is 250.00 plus shipping. Currently the Medium Flat Rate shipping boxes from USPS are ideal for shipping. I am insuring them which adds a few dollars. If you want to ballpark your own shipping costs in advance, you can check it out on USPS using 27302 as the originating zip code for the Medium flat rate boxes.
For some history on where this came from, and how I got to sell it.
Years ago, FieroObsessed discovered a GM truck window motor that he figured out how to fit into his Fiero, and that window motor was much faster than the stock window motors. He also discovered that the tolerances in Fiero doors are so loose that even after replicating his exact measurements on the other door he had issues. He was kind enough to post up all the information, but couldn't commit to any kind of kit.
FieroGuru and Rodney Dickman collaborated and developed a kit that wasn't quite drop in (needs some small trimming on the regulator/scissor assembly, one new hole drilled and two others opened up a little -- and that's before you decide if you wanted to use J-nuts or weld on nuts). Rodney, always looking to bring us a quality product, would only use NOS GM window motors, because many of the aftermarket groups don't want to pay for the QA/QC to get quality parts from China.
After he sold as many of the sets of American/Mexico OEM motors that he could get, he ceased sales.
I reached out to him and asked if I could purchase any materials, notes, etc, and the rights to sell his kit again, using Chinese motors where necessary, and would be transparent on this fact. He agreed and he sent me everything he had (and both he and FieroGuru have been very patient with me in asking follow up questions). You can follow part of my learning curve and efforts to be ready to bring this back to market here: https://www.fiero.nl/forum/Forum1/HTML/100324.html
Right now, I have 21 sets of Rodneys original adapters. I have purchased OEM American/Mexico motors in bulk for one side, and Chinese motors for the other. I have sourced out the pigtails, and inventoried all of the fasteners that Rodney included with my purchase.
I have modified the adapter on the one side to fit the Chinese motor (it requires opening up the back of the adapter a little for the motor shaft. The Chinese units use webbing around them for reinforcement, instead of a thick collar like the Mexico/American motors use).
I will post up how many I have ready to ship, and will only accept money if I have a set ready to go. So payment details will be handled via PM on a first come, first serve basis.
I am also working with a machinist to be able to continue to product a variation of these adapters once I've sold all of Rodney's. It's definitely been a learning curve!
Installation information can be found here: http://rodneydickman.com/pr...ge=8&products_id=383 Currently, my "U-Nut" fastener kit does*not* include the stepper drill bit. This is part of why I am not charging extra for it.
Please note that Rodney's comments on the advanced nature of this kit still apply. It is not a 'drop in' kit, there is modification that needs to be done to the scissor assembly, and care needs to be done when drilling holes and/or welding on nuts to ensure proper placement/alignment.
All motors are tested after modifications. Some FAQ stuff
The passenger side motor is the Chinese motor. Part of the reason why Rodney stopped selling the kits is because he could no longer find any US or Mexico made (the OEM motors) for any of the interchange for that side. I do try to hunt down the OEM Mexico motors, and I even talked with the suppliers that I bought the batch of US / Mex motors for the driver side and told them if they ever got their hands on them, to let me know! No luck yet. I still scour the internet about once a month to see if any turn up. Sadly once the motors got past their 7 year "must make parts available" shelf life, GM let all of it go over to China.
"What happens when the warranty is up? Can we replace the motor ourselves?" the adapter plate is only part of it. The motor housing undergoes three modifications as well - trimming, leveling, and threading of different parts. What I will offer is if the Chinese motor fails after the warranty period, I will modify and sell replacement units at cost. I won't charge for my labor/tooling time. That means the same price you'd pay if you bought it from someplace like RockAuto (plus shipping) is what an end user would pay me, only it shows up ready to go in.
I would ask folks to ship me back the dead one so I can see what went wrong. This will let me go back to the manufacturer and other companies and see if there's a better supplier out there for the Chinese ones, by citing what failed. Same goes for any of the American/Mexico ones (as a matter of fact, I need to replace one of my American / Mexico motors, it "stutters" when it gets to the top, like it's skipping a tooth. Not thrilled about that. Goes to show even OEM has issues sometimes!)
If someone really wants to go through the work of modding the motor themselves, I'll give them the part number (or they can see the part numbers in FieroObsessed's thread).
Shipping I use flatrate shipping boxes. Typically for one kit I use the Medium sized box. I don't upcharge for shipping or the insurance, I eat the nominal cost for the tape, bubble wrap, and the trip to the post office.
[This message has been edited by Trinten (edited 09-08-2024).]
I also plan on finishing a few more so I can bring some to Carlisle and the 40th, if anyone wants to check them out in person and buy them at that time.
To help give me a little breathing room with costs for the upcoming 40th Anniversary (and hopefully Carlisle), any orders placed/paid for by June 16th 2023 will only cost $200.
That's 20% off! And only for these five sets, if bought before June 16th.
Once these five are sold, there will be a pause in production. I'll need to order more motors and put them through all the modifications, and won't have time to do any of that till I'm back from the 40th!
With the trip to Carlisle coming up (and the 40th shortly after that), I'm going to put a pause on taking any more online orders until after the 40th. If you are going to Carlisle, I won't be able to sell them on the show grounds, but I will bring a set or two with me and keep them at the hotel if anyone is interested in seeing them in person and buying a set there.
[This message has been edited by Trinten (edited 06-18-2023).]
I will be taking orders through July 7th, so I can get everything shipped out before heading up to the 40th. I plan on bringing some sets with me to the 40th, so if you'd like to see them and buy a set in person, you'll be able to.
Is it possible to use these kits to convert manual windows to power, or would other parts be needed? I have the wire harnesses but no power-window doors.
If you're going to do power locks as well, there are many who feel the power lock system (even after everything has been properly cleaned and lubricated) is anemic. I can send you information separately on what I did to improve my power locks if you'd like.
I have 10 sets of window kits ready to go. These are the last ten using Rodney's original adapters (with the one side modified slightly to accept the Chinese motors)
These includes a one year warranty for the motors. If the motor fails on you, send me back the dead motor with the adapter and I will prep and mount a new motor and ship it back to you. No shipping charge to send it back, since you are paying for shipping to send it to me.
I got some good questions in PM, so I wanted to share them here:
"Which motor is the Chinese motor?" The passenger side motor is the Chinese motor. Part of the reason why Rodney stopped selling the kits is because he could no longer find any US or Mexico made (the OEM motors) for any of the interchange for that side. I do try to hunt down the OEM Mexico motors, and I even talked with the suppliers that I bought the batch of US / Mex motors for the driver side and told them if they ever got their hands on them, to let me know! No luck yet. I still scour the internet about once a month to see if any turn up. Sadly once the motors got past their 7 year "must make parts available" shelf life, GM let all of it go over to China.
"What happens when the warranty is up? Can we replace the motor ourselves?" The adapter plate is only part of it. The motor housing undergoes three modifications as well - trimming, leveling, and threading of different parts. What I will offer is if the a motor fails after the warranty period, I will modify and sell replacement units at cost. I won't charge for my labor/tooling time. That means the same price you'd pay if you bought it from someplace like RockAuto (plus shipping) is what an end user would pay me, only it shows up ready to go in.
I would ask folks to ship me back the dead one so I can see what went wrong as part of that. This will let me go back to the manufacturer and other companies and see if there's a better supplier out there for the Chinese ones, by citing what failed. Same goes for any of the American/Mexico ones (as a matter of fact, I need to replace one of my American / Mexico motors, it "stutters" when it gets to the top, like it's skipping a tooth. Not thrilled about that. Goes to show even OEM has issues sometimes!)
If someone really wants to go through the work of modding the motor themselves, I'll give them the part number (or they can see the part numbers in FieroObsessed's thread).
Shipping I use flatrate shipping boxes. Typically for one kit I use the Medium sized box. I don't upcharge for shipping or the insurance, I eat the nominal cost for the tape, bubble wrap, and the trip to the post office.
[This message has been edited by Trinten (edited 08-21-2023).]
Down to 8 sets left using the original Rodney adapters.
I had another PM asking me the progress on the replacement adapters. We're on the third revision right now, there's still things I'm catching and learning after the fact. Rodney was incredibly transparent with his development of this, though it was done over a long stretch of time and there are many emails and drawings on it. So I'm still working to do some 'reverse engineering' as it were.
We've got a few more ideas of how to produce these without needing to weld the various stand-offs on the adapter, but R&D is costly. Worst case, the guy working on my Fiero said he'd be willing to do the welding like Rodney did, I would just need to source the initial "base plates" Rodney was having laser cut (I'd probably even try to use the same company he was using if possible).
I'm sharing all of that to be transparent of where I am with the next revision, and that I am committed to finding a way to keep these available for the Fiero community.
In Rodney's original instructions, I didn't see a note that the wiring on the pigtails needs to be flipped, because the motors are flipped R/L from the donor vehicle. I don't know why that didn't occur to me when CowsPatoot was installing these for me a few years back. We discovered it when we connected the window control switches, and Up/Down were reversed.
I'll be editing the instructions I send out, for those that already have the kit but have not installed it, Blue does not go to Blue. If you do that, it'll work, but up/down will be reversed.
I am down to 7 sets of motors using Rodney's original brackets (plus the mod to one so the Chinese motor fits on that side).
I do not have an ETA yet on when my revision of these will be done. If I don't have a sustainable solution by the time I sell these remaining units, I will talk with Mike about doing the welding of the spacers and stand-offs like Rodney was doing.
I'm still trying out some prototypes to eliminate some or all of the welding that Rodney was doing.
A catch that has increased the development costs is that the brackets are *not* mirrors of each other as I first thought. I thought the technical drawings that Rodney included were revisions by the filename extensions (A and B), turns out it was for the different sides. Learned this the hard way when trying to install a prototype and it didn't clear things properly. So I put a set of Rodney's brackets (without the motors on it) nose-to-nose (or... standoff to standoff?) annnnd they don't line up. Busted out the micrometer, remembered the technical drawings, reviewed and facepalmed.
That leaves me with 6 sets using Rodney's original brackets.
I will be producing more brackets, still working out a way to do it that does not involve the spot welding that Rodney was doing for the stand-offs and spacers. So once these last 6 sets are gone, it might be a while before I have more.
That leaves me with 5 sets ready to go that are still using Rodney's original adapter plates.
I'm still working on a way to produce these effectively ( that is: without needing to bug people to do the welding) and not need to raise the price. I need to take a crash course in CAD or something, one of the ideas I had is to have the 'base plate' made of thicker material, and machining out grooves where needed to mount the motor. This was the solution on the first test set that were machined, and it works pretty well.
The next issue was the taller threaded stand offs for mounting the assembly to the door. I was talking to some companies about making a standoff similar to ones used to mount motherboards in computers, but none would move forward without a technical drawing, and the few that were willing to do the drawing for me wanted a surprising amount of money (included one free revision!).
And I don't fault them for that. CAD is a skill, and people should be paid for their skills. If I can figure out how to do it myself though, I'm going to do that. If I can get this hurdle done, I'll be in good shape. The plates will be made, with an appropriate drill-out for where the stand off will need to be threaded in, and I'll use my tapping tools to make that thread, and Red Threadlock the standoffs onto the backing plate.
