Wagon Rear Window Motor

[85cs]

Hi - hope you are all well ...

I have an 85 Country Squire and the rear window gears need replacing. I have done it for three of the front windows and once you do one is an easy process - following the dimples and i used a plastic plug to cover the holes, although they are behind the trim -

So, i have been reading and some people here say drill holes and one said that they did it without drilling holes.

I have been trying all day and drilled one hole - slightly off, so cant really align with bolt - so my question is there really a way to do this without drilling (or will i have to have the rear gate refinished after i am done - i have multiple tools (screwdriver, small ratchet, open and close spanner and i just cant get to the top bolts let alone the bottom one....any ideas / photos / would be great -

Thanks

LV

[VicCrownVic]

Replacing the window motors is a huge pain without drilling. The worst part being getting the motor mounting bolts back in during reinstall. I don't recommend trying it but if you feel like you have a ton of patience, and I mean a few hours to reinstall the motor, have at it. The Ford service manual actually instructs to drill holes.
I'm pretty sure dad and I drilled holes in the tailgate of my (long gone) '88 Country Squire when we worked on the window motor.

[sly]

The only reasonable way to do it without drilling the holes in the doors is to drill the rivets that hold the window regulator to be able to get enough room to get at the window motor bolts. This also involves removing the window from the regulator (more rivets to drill). It's much easier to just drill the dimples out to get direct access with deep socket (I think 8mm or 5/16). I say deep socket because a normal size socket can fall into the door because it's just small enough to get inside the newly drilled hole completely.

[kishy]

Edit after the fact: I read this as being about the tailgate window, not the rear side doors, and my reply below is written accordingly.

I recently did this on my 85 CS.
As you have found, there are no dimples.
There is metal structure inside the tailgate in this area that really complicates access from within.
I fought for a while to find a way to swing a small wrench inside the tailgate but concluded it was not possible without at least cutting more access, so I opted to drill.
I also drilled misaligned and ended up with extra holes that poorly align as a result.

As the interior panel/card for the tailgate does not come down low enough to cover this area, you will have visible holes that you may wish to somehow plug.

I have no suggestions for how to do this better or easier, just adding my experience.

[Kodachrome Wolf]

I cut an access window to get at my motor and used a slightly larger piece of sheet metal to cover the hole. Remove four screws and boom, access. Sounds trashy, but given the alternative, it’s not that bad.

[85cs]

[/I][/I]Thank you all for the responses -- so after the one very unsightly hole, i will send it to my mechanic, hopefully they have either more tools or smaller hands !

My car is a relatively low mile (60K) that was lovingly cared for, so it all original, zero rust, everything works kind of car that i love and enjoy very often...

[bnw]

I tried replacing the tailgate window motor without drilling.
Spent at least two hours on dismantling.
Managed to position one screw, only a bit, while installing it back, after an hours.
Finally drilled holes. Unfortunately, the tailgate's design is awful in this matter!