Electric Window Conversion

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Roboo

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Hey, I looked around here off and on for months but couldn’t find anything useful (I’m sure what I need is here somewhere but I couldn’t find it.)

So about 9 months ago I purchased my 1981 K10. I bought it for a daily driver and my plan was to restore it while daily driving it but that didn’t pan out now I have another daily driver and the truck will be pulled in the garage for the winter so I can work on it and get it back into its glory days..

Anyhow when I bought the truck it came with two new doors from Arizona that are factory Power Windows and my truck is crank windows. Id like to switch over to the new doors and use the power windows but i’m not sure where to start with the conversion, not all the wires are there, i’m not sure how I’d go about hooking wires up in my truck or what wires/harnesses I would need to get. One window needs both glass pieces swapped in and the other just needs the vent window put in. Any help would be greatly appreciated!

The truck also sadly had a 5.3 vortec swapped in by the previous owner not sure if that will change anything with the conversion. Thanks!
 

Corvette Ed

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Welcome to the forum. The 5.3 shouldn’t have anything to do with your conversion. I’m sure some other member can help. I sure wish the previous owner of mine had swapped my 6 for a 5.3. Good luck.
 

Doppleganger

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LMC sells a HD power window/relay harness that is wired wrong. This is the correct diagram the fella who figured it out posted on another site. I think you could just make your own.

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Roboo

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LMC sells a HD power window/relay harness that is wired wrong. This is the correct diagram the fella who figured it out posted on another site. I think you could just make your own.

You must be registered for see images attach
Thanks!
 

Matt69olds

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I did this conversion about 25 years ago on my 81 GMC. I used a factory power window/door lock setup from a wrecked 86 Silverado.

It’s a fairly easy swap, but time consuming. Definitely use the LMC harness!! I did my own relay conversion many years later (adding express power down feature on both doors) the windows are much faster than they ever were with the factory setup. Not to mention the wiring is 40 years old, no doubt it’s brittle. If any of the wiring was questionable at the time of installation I would have addressed it then. The wires were cracked and just about broken where they went thru the door boot.
 

Matt69olds

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I just re-read the comments on this thread, did LMC correct whatever problem was with their harness? What was the problem? Since the OP has doors with wiring, but no cab harness, does the LMC harness include everything but the motors/actuators?
 

TPISly-C10

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did this few week ago! use all dorman product for my project swap part, that a used harness, door lock and rubber boot from a Suburban at the yrad U pull :)
 

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TPISly-C10

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;)
 

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TPISly-C10

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work great and fast no need to add relay kit ;)
 

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TPISly-C10

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eazy plugs and play :)...and don't forget door locking rod from your donor you gonna need it ;)
 

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hoagster

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eazy plugs and play :)...and don't forget door locking rod from your donor you gonna need it ;)
Will this setup work with a 73 fuse box?
 

AuroraGirl

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I mean, you dont NEED To use a relay kit but the reason its done is to enhance the lifespan of the switches and to provide less potential for things like voltage drop and increased lengths of high amperage runs which is only a good thing for the long run. If you dont want to mess with it now and make it future-yous problem, thats fine. (We all do this in some way)
 

Matt69olds

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Will this setup work with a 73 fuse box?

I’m not a square body expert, so I might be wrong. I don’t think power windows were available until much later in the production run. I remember somebody here doing a window conversion and finding out the cab and doors weren’t marked for the wiring boots.

You could use a typical 5 pin relay instead of the factory part. Instead of power coming off the fuse in the fuse box, use any run/accessory powered spot in the fuse box to trigger the relay
 

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