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PRODUCT SPOTLIGHT: AirSafe Emergency Support Kit ^TM by R.S. Restorations

November 27, 2024

Masterclass in Metal: The Battle for the Al Slonaker Memorial Award

February 11, 2025

You can’t blame Dean Sears for feeling a little confused about his love for cars. You see, he’s spent the past nine years as the head of Sport Trucks by Dean in Moorpark, California. His first car, in fact, was a truck. Well, sort of a truck. It was a ’68 El Camino. Pundits have described this vehicle as neither car nor truck, and often the word “confused” is used. Yes, even in 1978 Sears couldn’t decide between cars and trucks.

CANDY LEXUS

The Lexus IS300 is not only stylish in its outside appearance, but because of its acceptance as a true sports sedan by most tuner enthusiasts, it’s a desirable starting base for creating a potent street performer. This RWD Lexus is factory-fitted with the rugged 2JZ-GE 3.0L DOHC inline V-6 engine, as used in Toyota Supra models in past years and updated with VVT-i Variable Valve Timing. It also features double wishbone front and rear suspension systems, as equipped from the Toyota factory. A limited-slip differential option helps put the power to the ground, and the edgy Lexus body produces an impressive 0.29 coefficient of drag. This is definitely a slippery package with both good looks and ample performance.

NOT JUST AN EVERYDAY CAM

It can be argued that one of the best mods you can make to an LS-based or Gen III motor is a camshaft change. With the number of aftermarket companies making many different types, a good cam can be found for anywhere from $300 to $1,000, depending upon what type of power you want to make and how sophisticated the cam package is. Because 99.99 percent of all vehicles on the road today are computer controlled, most aftermarket companies are able to suggest whether a new tune will be necessary or if the stock one will suffice. But with so many different options out there, it can be quite confusing as to which is the right one for you.

Spotlighter

POWER WINDOW HOW-TO

Installing Power Windows in a 1956 Ford F-100

Author

Warren Boughn

Story & Photography

Adding power windows is a popular aftermarket option for classic vehicles these days. Worn-out window regulators have given people problems for years, and as replacement parts have become increasingly more expensive and harder to find, it’s simply easier and often cheaper to replace the old regulators with new electric ones.

In the past we had to raid wrecking yards for parts that would adapt into our vehicles, and as expected there were generally a few problems associated with doing this. First, you don’t always know the condition of the parts being used, even though they look good; and second, you would need some background in window geometry to get the job done correctly. Finally, you need a certain level of basic fabrication skill and tools, which would be more than basic hand tools.

With today’s technology and the availability of well-engineered aftermarket power window kits this has all changed, as it’s commonplace for most people to go straight to a kit designed for their vehicle.

One such company offering these kits—and there are a number of great kits on the market—is Electric-Life. This company manufactures a lot of its own parts and has a rather extensive selection of power window and switch kits available for 1930s to later-model cars and trucks, so there should be no problem getting just what you need for your own upgrade.

Electric-Life offers universal center lift kits as well as motorized regulators, and it has billet, lighted and non-lighted window switches. It offers “Door Jammers” (a wiring passage system), remote window drop kits, remote entry kits and power bear-claw latch kits. The power window kits are very complete, meaning they contain all of the necessary hardware, the brackets, motorized regulators, switches and wiring harnesses necessary to get the job done. To make the installation go smoothly, easy-to-understand instructions are also provided.

Today we are installing Electric-Life’s retro window kit into a 1956 Ford F-100. This is one of the easiest window kits to install. The only thing you need to do is remove the old regulator, drill wiring access holes in the doorjambs, run a few wires, and the rest is a bolt-in. The whole installation took only a few hours from start to finish. Although we were working with a truck in progress, you can install one of these kits in a finished truck with no more problems than we encountered.

Follow along as we take you step-by-step through the installation of an easy-to-install, retro-fit power window kit. Chances are that your installation will be very similar. TB

This is a bird’s-eye view of the Electric-Life power window kit and accessories we received. This kit is very simple and is a direct bolt-in.

To start off the project, we lowered the windows all the way and then removed the window crank handle.

This step was followed by then removing the four regulator mounting screws.

We then slid the regulator arm off the window track.

This allowed us to finish removing the window regulator.

Here’s a look at the stock regulator (left) compared to the new one (right) from Electric-Life.

Next we connected the wiring plug to the back of the motors.

When the window kit is shipped to you the mounting screws are already installed. They need to be temporarily removed.

The new window regulator is slid into place and the arm is slid into the bottom window track.

Now it’s just a matter of installing the mounting screws to the regulator. It uses three of the same mounting holes that the stock unit used.

Now that everything is installed, we can test the windows. We used a 12-volt cordless drill battery. We left the windows in the down position so we could lube them.

We used white lithium grease in a spray can.