There’s something about jumping behind the wheel of an old truck. The cockpit consisting of minimal buttons, switches, toggles . . . it’s as if ya jumped on board an old tractor it’s so bare! Yet, that is what’s killer about old haulers. The bells and whistles weren’t even a glimpse in the eye to the truck designers of their times. The designers showed up to the drawing board with ideas of what made a truck a truck and as Paul McCartney would say, “Let it be.” Put all of those factors together and that’s what makes piloting an old truck what it is; a step back in time when things were straight forward and to the point. A stroll down easy street, yet in style, may be best suited to describe the feeling.
The whole enchilada, here’s everything needed to convert the ’55-’59 GM truck to power windows; a power window kit from Specialty Power Windows, and a one-piece window kit from Brothers Trucks.
By today’s comparisons trucks are by no means simple. In fact, I don’t even think it’s politically correct to refer to a truck as a truck. I believe the proper term is “LUV”, Luxurious Utilitarian Vehicles! Reason being is they still handle the task of the working man, but inside it’s all frills and no thrills. For someone like me, I can do without all the hoopla. (Being you’re reading from a guy who hasn’t had A/C in his daily driver in five years and up until a few months ago a heater was outta the questions as well!) However, one thing I can’t live without is power windows.
Whether it is old or new, the one thing that is a must on the list is the convenience of that little button that will open the outside world to the cab of a truck. When it comes to the trucks of yesteryear the absence of the handiness of power windows is just another example of the shades of the times in a bygone era. Yet, as the world turns the demand to fuse the old and new overwhelmed the truck aftermarket and companies came to the conclusion that a power window kit is a must for these dinosaurs. One of the leading competitors in this field is a company’s name who says it all, Specialty Power Windows. SPW is a company that not only sells and distributes their products, but they design and engineer their products in-house, which allows them to make sure each kit is up to SPW specifications. They offer several direct fit kits for various makes and models, as well as universal kits. Here at Star Kustom Shop we are dealing with a ’55-’59 GM truck, so our interests in the company’s offerings were direct. What we found was quite intriguing. SPW offers several kits for our truck, the first being a kit that will retain the vent window, and allow the side glass to be motor driven. It’s their other kit, though, that’s what we’re after; a one-piece window kit that is centered around SPW’s Power Wonder-Lift. The Power Wonder-Lift is a cable driven GM motor kit that provides ample power and is a breeze to install. The ’55-59 GM kit completely replaces the old crank handle and regulator, and it comes complete with regulators, lower glass channels, GM switches, complete wire harness, with switch and motor plugs, and a flexible stainless steel wire conduit kit for door opening.
The first step is to remove the factory brackets for the wing-vent windows in the confines of the glass opening along the sill of the door. A cut-off wheel or air saw is quite adequate.
On the flip-side of the power window kit is the upgrade to one-piece glass. Brothers Trucks offers a variety of parts and supplies for ’47-’87 GM trucks, and perhaps their best known products are their one-piece window kits. The kits are a solution for a quick fix to delete the wing-vent windows. Beyond that they install with simple hand tools and come complete with everything needed to get the job done; including side glass, felts, scrapers and more. The addition of the one-piece glass will give the side-profile a slick and un-obstructed view like never before. It will also give us more room to dangle our arms upon the doorsill. With all that being said, it sounds like Star Kustom Shop has its work cut out for them, meshing the modern conveniences of truck life with vintage haulers that could have only dreamed of having such luxuries! CCT
With the mounts in place, the regulator can be installed. The regulators feature mounting tabs that snap in to vertically slotted channels. (The tabs can be removed and located to other slotted channels.) By lining up the regulator’s vertical channels to the horizontal channels on the rectangular mounts, the regulators are secured with just two bolts, and offer both vertical and horizontal adjustment.
