Mo' Car Blues

There were a few reasons why I bought the car I now affectionatlety refer to as 'shitbucket'. One was the cost - it was the cheapest at the car auction. Another was its perceived reliability and the fact that a common-as-muck motor would mean easy and cheap parts if and when I needed them. However, in all honesty, I'm not proud of it, but I'd have to say that I was seduced because this particular Ford Laser included electric windows AND central locking. What can I say, I'm a sucker for the mod cons.

Therefore, given the general condition of the car, I was not surprised to find that after a few months of loving missuse the windows on the right hand side of the car stopped working - not a huge problem in itself, but the fact that the back one was halfway down at the time was, well, a bit of a pisser...

Now, contrary to popular belief, there are advantages to having a window down all the time, and they include, but are not limited to,
1)Permanent air circulatory system, good for those long hot days.
2)Less hassle when locking and unlocking the doors - no fumbling with keys, just slide your arm through the open window and pop the front door lock.
3)A bin bag marks your car as distinctive, and to have a car that stands out in an otherwise mundane vehicular world is all important in this day and age.
4)It acts as conversational piece - 'Hey you left your window down', 'no I didn't, it's just knackered.' Endless variations.
5)Gives me extra ammunition to throw at Jimmy Wang.

Of course, it's not all roses. There is the continuous worry of theft, as apparently, experts have informed me, it would as easy for a thief to open the car as it is for me. I know, it surprised me too! Also, the inside tends to become saturated with rainwater when I forget to put the attractive binbag cover over it. And having a permanent air circulatory system is all well and good, but it does get a tad chilly now and again, like at 4 in the morning when I return home from work.

In the end I decided that I would have to do something about the windows. The front was easy as it was merely a dodgy switch at fault, so I rewired it to be controlled from a different switch. the back, however, was a little more tricky; I took the panel off the door and you would not believe the size of the motor it takes to put an electric window up and down! It's huge! I studied the schematics, took careful notes and measurements before ripping the bastard out. The window is now held up by a length of wood and an empty plastic water bottle. Chances of it ever coming down again are slim to none.....