How many times have we heard, "If only I could go back, I would order a (name your favorite Mopar here) and pack it full of every option in the book." It's pleasing having a car decked out with sweet features, power windows being one of the nicest. These days, kids get a look of confusion when confronted with a window crank, but back in the day, only the high-line luxury cars regularly came with power-window lifts. Some of the high-end musclecars could be found with option code P31, but such cars have always been few and far between. With the rarity of original parts, adding power windows to your Mopar has been a task few would attempt.
The Electric-Life power regulator is made as a direct bolt-in replacement for the manual stockers. The modern Bosch motor is lighter and stronger than those used in OE systems. Although some consider power windows unnecessary fat, we weighed the Electric-Life regulator and found it was about a pound lighter than the stock wind-up regulator.
Electric-Life is a company that is no stranger to power-window lifts. The company builds window-lift systems for OEM manufacturers and has been involved with aftermarket retrofit kits for years. Recently, Electric-Life entered the Mopar market with kits to cover most popular musclecar applications. Though various "universal" kits have been around for years, the Electric-Life custom-fit kits are designed to bolt in as a replacement for the OE regulator. The Mopar kits feature heavy-duty Bosch motors and scissor-style mechanisms like the stock pieces.
We always wished our '71 Charger R/T had come off the assembly line with power windows. With the availability of a kit for the front doors, we figured, why not give the Electric-Life setup a try. The stock wind-up regulator in the driver's door had become rough working over the years, so we were looking for a replacement anyway. Electric-Life has a variety of switch-gear options, and we decided to go with the GM OE switches. Though not the same as the original Mopar switches, they have a period OE look to them. The components are nicely zinc plated for corrosion resistance, and the scissor-arms are fitted with correctly sized nylon bushings to match the stock window lift channel. The kit is complete with the wiring harness, which was simple to work out.
One of the detractions of power windows for musclecar buyers was the weight penalty. The original OE systems, with their cumbersome motors, weighed a ton. When picking up the regulators in our kit, they didn't feel heavy with their compact motors. On a hunch, we weighed the power regulators and found them nearly a pound lighter than the stock wind-up regulators in our charger. So much for the weight penalty. Getting inside the door to rework the mechanisms can be a challenge, but we figured the reward was worth the intimidation. The regulator itself is the only part of the window mechanism that needs to be removed, and it isn't tricky to replace at all. The front and rear tracks set the bulk of the glass adjustment, and these don't have to be disturbed; alignment shouldn't be altered with this installation. We opened the door panels on our Charger, and with a few bolts, the stock regulator was out. The Electric-Life replacement matched the stock regulator's mounting locations, so it was simply a matter of hooking the electric regulator's arms into the window-lift channel and bolting it in. Run the wires, install the switches, and that's all it takes to option up.
