Convert Electric Doors to Manual Doors

[OLDsquaw]

I got donors door off of an 89 Cherokee Laredo due to the fact that the Comanche doors had some rust and dents. I had to have these doors because of the wing glasses, Inside Mirror adjusters and the sturdy chrome door handles. My Comanche doors did not have any of the cool perks that the XJ Laredo doors came with. The only problem was that the XJ doors were full of electrical thingys which means lots of possible problems that I do not want to worry about while off-roading.

 

To begin with, I had to grind 6 different rivets on the manual MJ doors. 4 rivets for brackets and 2 rivets for where the manual crank is located. There is one nut I had to remove with an 18mm wrench that holds the window to the bracket on the window regulator. Unfortunately, I had to butcher the MJ door a little bit but maybe you guys can save your doors if you attempt this. 

 

On the Power XJ Laredo door you pretty much do the same thing you did on the MJ manual door but this time there are 3 rivets that hold the Power Window motor on and 4 Rivets that hold the brackets on. After you grind those rivets out, you are ready to take off the nut that holds the window on to the regulator. After the nut is off you can try to wiggle the power window regulator assemble out of the door but just like the manual assembly, there just is not a lot of room. I had to butcher my XJ door a little bit but repaired it with welds after I got the manual assembly in place. 

 

I was contemplating on whether to use rivets or bolts to mount the manual regulator in my XJ door but i decided to just spot weld the holes into place. 

 

 

[Swampy]

Wow didnt think it was as simple as this. Definitely opens up the door option possibilities

 

[SVPete]

Out of interest...why did you cut the section out of the passenger door?

[Minuit]

I've never had trouble getting the power window regs out either and I've taken lots of XJ doors apart, both manual and power. There's a certain way you have to do it but definitely enough room once you figure it out.

[saveevryjp1998]

I will never finish a single 1 of my trucks as long as I keep getting side tracked by you clever individuals. I stumble upon this stuff as I have often wondered myself with the parts here and idea in my head already. Yet someone beat me to another project. Great job and thanks for sharing. Its getting harder to find any manual doors this way, let alone any that do not have rust. I drive south for these parts.

[NC Tom]

so, to be clear, I can change my stock MJ power to manual without getting new doors? It's a matter of swapping the motor with a crank?

[HOrnbrod]

2 hours ago, NC Tom said:

so, to be clear, I can change my stock MJ power to manual without getting new doors? It's a matter of swapping the motor with a crank?

 

I don't understand what the problem is.    I changed from manual to power doors, and it was a simple matter of swapping regulators then wiring the new power regulators. Going the other way from power to manual is just a matter of swapping regulators then punching a hole in the door cards for the window crank. The hardest part is drilling out the three/four (I forget) rivets that hold the original regulator in.

 

Good luck finding decent manual regulators. They are on the endangered list....

[NC Tom]

On 7/4/2018 at 1:01 PM, HOrnbrod said:

 

I don't understand what the problem is.    I changed from manual to power doors, and it was a simple matter of swapping regulators then wiring the new power regulators. Going the other way from power to manual is just a matter of swapping regulators then punching a hole in the door cards for the window crank. The hardest part is drilling out the three/four (I forget) rivets that hold the original regulator in.

 

Good luck finding decent manual regulators. They are on the endangered list....

 

Heh! The "problem" is that my brain was sure it would be more involved. Clearly, it's pretty straightforward.