On many Minis the rear quarter window has a latch mechanism which allow you manually open close them to provide air flow through the cabin, however about a year ago, I came across a seller (Facebook : https://www.facebook.com/ClassicMinisJapan/) that was selling kits from Japan that converted these window openers to electric powered ones https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w-NSu7e0HJU. After sourcing a photo of the parts on the kit, it was obvious that the kit wouldn't work on my (Australian) Mini without a few modifications to the C-pillar and rear parcel shelf. To add to this, the kit was over AUD$300 for what looked like a pretty basic set of parts.
I've already decided that the front windows in the Mini will be power windows so I wanted to make my own version of the rear window motorised openers. The setup was based around a high torque worm geared motor attached to a shaft and a lever arm.
The first step was to drill out and remove the two pins in the window latch with a 5mm drill bit.
I machined some custom pins to replace the factory ones in the window latch. These pins were made from stainless steel to match the chromed window fittings, and be hard wearing.
For the shaft between the latch and motor I purchased a 1/4" flexible extension shaft
I cut this shaft apart to use the flexible core under the main sheath and then machined some small steel couplers on my lathe - for the ends of the shaft. Then using a small piece of steel plate I made a lever arm for the top of the flexible shaft. To make it nice and neat, all pieces were silver brazed together. The overall length of the shaft was 180 mm
This piece slides over the custom latch pins and allow the shaft to rotate on the same axis as the outer latch pin.
The motor was to be mounted to the rear parcel shelf via a custom bracket and positioned so the flexible shaft did not rub on the rear seat or the window rubber. The motor was angled at approx 25 deg from vertical.
To finish off the look, the cover of the flexible extension shaft was shortened and slipped over the custom shaft.
Once the parts were put together, it all looked like this (photo taken through the rear window opening). The black piece at the base of the shaft is a 6mm rubber flexible coupling to join the shaft to the motor.
The worm gear motor is DC, so wiring would be a simple job and allows the motor to open and close each window via a simple DPDT switch. I used a slow 10RPM motor and it takes approx 3 seconds to open/close the window and would give enough time to predict when the window is completely open/closed and not damage the motor by keeping the motor powered on for too long - as there is no auto-stop function.
Unfortunately, after spending a lot of hours prototyping and fabricating all these electric window opener parts I actually decided against installing these motors in the rear windows and will likely sell them to another Mini owner, however I figured making the info publicly available would be good info for anyone else willing to go DIY and make a set of openers.
I've already decided that the front windows in the Mini will be power windows so I wanted to make my own version of the rear window motorised openers. The setup was based around a high torque worm geared motor attached to a shaft and a lever arm.
The first step was to drill out and remove the two pins in the window latch with a 5mm drill bit.
I machined some custom pins to replace the factory ones in the window latch. These pins were made from stainless steel to match the chromed window fittings, and be hard wearing.
For the shaft between the latch and motor I purchased a 1/4" flexible extension shaft
I cut this shaft apart to use the flexible core under the main sheath and then machined some small steel couplers on my lathe - for the ends of the shaft. Then using a small piece of steel plate I made a lever arm for the top of the flexible shaft. To make it nice and neat, all pieces were silver brazed together. The overall length of the shaft was 180 mm
This piece slides over the custom latch pins and allow the shaft to rotate on the same axis as the outer latch pin.
The motor was to be mounted to the rear parcel shelf via a custom bracket and positioned so the flexible shaft did not rub on the rear seat or the window rubber. The motor was angled at approx 25 deg from vertical.
To finish off the look, the cover of the flexible extension shaft was shortened and slipped over the custom shaft.
Once the parts were put together, it all looked like this (photo taken through the rear window opening). The black piece at the base of the shaft is a 6mm rubber flexible coupling to join the shaft to the motor.
The worm gear motor is DC, so wiring would be a simple job and allows the motor to open and close each window via a simple DPDT switch. I used a slow 10RPM motor and it takes approx 3 seconds to open/close the window and would give enough time to predict when the window is completely open/closed and not damage the motor by keeping the motor powered on for too long - as there is no auto-stop function.
Unfortunately, after spending a lot of hours prototyping and fabricating all these electric window opener parts I actually decided against installing these motors in the rear windows and will likely sell them to another Mini owner, however I figured making the info publicly available would be good info for anyone else willing to go DIY and make a set of openers.
Mate this is impressive. I have a 68 round nose and what to do the same. Cheers for your help
ReplyDeleteThis just goes to show that the Japanese kit is over engineered.
ReplyDeleteThis home made version in many ways is superior and needs less parts, and avoids the need for the plastic bracket.
Turn it into a kit, this would outsell the Japanese one 😉