I have owned a 57 retractable hardtop since I was in my 20's About 10 years ago I purchased another 57 because it had power windows, power seats, etc, and it was less money and a lot less work to buy one than to try and purchase all the parts and install these.
The car always had sloppy rear windows and the adjustments for the upper stops where not correctly adjusted. I also had a problem with the window catching on the curved, felt lined channel that guides the window. I have a friend in the Retractable club who gave me a couple of tips on fixing the problem so I removed everything to try and get the system to work.
There is a flexible insert that is covered in moleskin that sits in the channel. It is tack welded in and is also held in by studs with a flat round head. THe moleskin was totally worn out and the window was actually catching on the flexible metal that lines the solid channel. I removed the flexible metal and carefully removed the metal around the heads of the studs. Once that was also removed, I then used a finger sander and a wire wheel attached to a drill to clean and polish the inside of the solid channel.
I purchased the moleskin from Concours Parts as theirs has an adhesive backing. DO NOT removed the whole backing and try to get the moleskin in place. I took the moleskin and cut through the removable plastic covering in the center, the same width as the channel. I then removed the center section a few inches at a time as I pressed the adhesive backing to the bottom of the channel. I just pulled the covering off as I attached the moleskin to the bottom of the channel, leaving an inch or so at each end to cover the end of the channel. I then did the sides by removing the backing from the adhesive and worked it on both sides. I then cut the end parts and folded them over the end. On one side there is a section of this channel that has two metal extensions for about a foot or so and that has the same window anti rattler strips used on the garnish molding. One side was totally shot, so I removed the anti rattler strips and then covered the exposed metal with the moleskin, cutting it in half lengthwise cand attaching it to the inside while folding over the extra to the outside. The other side was in good shape so I left it as is.
I also removed the window regulator and greased the transmission and moving parts on it. I removed the quarter window by removing the three nuts from the window hinge that are located behind the removable covers to the rear of the door jamb. I had a slight problem here. There is a triangle piece of sheet metal inside the door jamb in this area for structural integrity. Unfortunately one of the adjusting studs came out of the hinge and fell down into this triangle. We tried to get it out with a magnet but wound up cutting the sheet metal inside from the door jamb to get the piece out. It is NOT available. My suggestion is, if you are going to remove this window, stuff a couple of shop rags inside the triangle, then if the fastener comes loose and drops into the area, it will save you the frustration of having to retrieve it.
The in and out slop of the window was fixed by tightening the set screw in the hinge center, it is a simple flat blade screw.
One thing that baffled me was the wiring for the windows, it seems no matter what I did, the harness from the switch to the motor would catch or be rubbed by the window mechanism. I used my "who want's to be a Millionaire" chit and called a friend. Apparently, the wiring for the window switch is routed on the exterior of the well for the window regulator rather than on the inside as is done with most power windows. Now that makes sense, but the person that did the last restoration put the wires in the inside.
The lower stop bumpers are available from Dennis Carpenter but the upper limit is no longer being produced. The rubber was missing from both sides of the upper limit stops, so I took some flat rubber and cut it to fit and glued it with weatherstripping adhesive to the metal and then reattached it to the car. The last thing was adjusting the window stops and making sure the window smoothly travels in the channel.
I hope this helps someone else.
My upper window stop needed new rubber too. It was actually too short from the factory, and would over travel about 2 out of 10 times. I think I added two very thin flat washers under it. It is a close adjustment as I recall. Think it was drivers side. Skyliners are all about adjustments, and good maintenance. Not constant maintenance. I have had mine 20 years now.