Back to this topic. This was at Autosport, georgeous bit of it, it has to be said. Mk2 Focus RS green and 110k of your finest spent on it. No show car - it's going rallying. Anyway, to the point: it had no sliders and the windows could just be pulled up and down: Quizzed the boys on the stand and the answer turned out to be to simply make the windows wider & hence tight in the runners. Tested it, worked a treat. Quizzed them about the risk of the windows dropping down whilst clattering down the lanes, but they weren't concerned. I didn't get a measurement by how much wider unfortunately (edit: called the car builder - 1 to 2mm), and was later speaking to someone else & was told if you go too wide, the window will just bow out in the centre and not fit in at the top.
Is there something special about the 6N winders? Pretty sure the difference between electrics and manual winders was about 1Kg across both doors, not worth the hassle so I kept electrics, it's one less job and gives a bit of comfort when I'm pulling into the control - press the button and the window's down
Difference between full doors and window mechs, with glass windows, instead of plastics in sliders with no mech, and no inside skin of door, is about 10kg a side, if not more. 911 Carrera RS Lightweights had a leather strap to pull the plastic windows up and down, which were a reasonably tight fit in the runners to hold them still I believe. I reckon an old bit of seat belt is the modern equivalent You could always use a hook and eyelet system on the back of it to make sure it's held, or even put velcro on the back of the strap (less of a hazard than having hooks in the car) to attach to roll cage / door card / other. I reckon 1-2mm wider than the inside dimension should be enough, and leave enough tolerance for expansion in hot weather. I'm planning on giving this a go in the next few weeks, so I'll feed back on the pitfalls of the 'interference fit' option. I think it might cause issues with the linings of the window runners moving around. I expect a bit of glue on the back. and silicon lube / vaseline on the front, can solve that.
Can anyone recommend a neat source of handles or maybe fabric pulls to replicate the above? I've nearly got my windows done, but have not yet seen a suitable neat handle.
Chris have you spoken to your insurance regarding this mod? I'm also coming to a similar conclusion, but worried that the car is basically no longer secure.
Got it all planned and coming together as I speak. Handle coming from Plastics 4 Performance. Spoke to them last week and they said they'd been through every handle catalogue going and no decent off-shelf ones exist. So they make up some blocks of polished polycarb, trapezium shaped so you can grab them with your fingers. To lock the window, a pip pin will be being placed in a suitable place to jam the window & prevent it being opened.
I was going suggest the little plastic blocks used in holding kitchen cupboards together. Or as I like to market them.... super lightweight racing perspex window handles.
