HowYouBuildIt - How You Install a door window motor in a 1999 Firebird.
How You Install a Door Window Motor in a 1999 Firebird

Background
My window motor died in my Firebird. I bought a replacement motor at a local auto parts store and replaced it myself. I have had car doors apart several times before but this was my first window motor replacement. I found very useful info at shbox.com...thanks guys!!! The screw layout in my car was a little different and I morphed the procedures provided by the motor manufacturer with those provided on the referenced site. Specifically, I took advantage of the shbox.com suggestion of drilling out the rivets that hold the motor to the bracket rather drilling out than the rivets that hold the bracket to the door frame as suggested by the motor manufacturer.

Instructions
  1. Remove the negative terminal from the battery.

    Remove Negative Terminal From Battery

  2. Tape the window. The instructions that came with the motor suggested taping the window with cloth based duct tape. As you can see from my pictures below, I used painter tape because that is all that I had on hand. I received some feedback (thanks Rick!!!) that I went a bit overboard with the taping. All you really need to do is run a strip of tape along the rubber seal and the glass so that the window is taped in a "up" position.

    Tape The Window

  3. Pop out the door switch assembly. It should pop out easily.
  4. Remove the screws holding the decorative panel to the door. I removed five screws from my panel.

    Remove Screw From Handle Assembly Remove Screw From Inside Switch Area Of Arm Rest Remove Screw From Under Switch Area Of Arm Rest

  5. Carefully remove the door panel. Lift it up slightly and carefully remove it from the door. If it does not remove easily, look more more hidden screws to deteermine what is holding the panel. Remove this carefully to avoid breaking the clips that are molded into the decorative panel.

    Inside Car Door 1 Inside Car Door 2 Inside Car Door 3

    Inside Car Door 4

  6. Remove the speaker from the door to give you some more room to access the window motor. To do so, remove the 3 screws holding the speaker to the door assembly and remove the cable connecting the speaker.
  7. Secure the window. The instructions suggested to drill a 1/4" or 3/8" hole through the backplate and gear. There were no pictures and it was not obvious whereto drill this screw without damaging the gear mechanism. The shbox.com site suggested securing the window with a C-Clamp. I attempted to do this but I could not find a good place to put the clmap and I did not feel that the window was secured well. Therefore, I inserted a 3/4" piece of copper pipe into a hole in the door panel such that it prevented the window from moving downward. You can see the pipe in some of the pictures on this page.
  8. Drill out the rivets holding the old motor to the bracket which is mounted to the door. To do so, I followed the instructions provided here. As instructed on that site, I drilled three holes in the inside door panels to access the rivets. I felt around passing my hand through the speaker hole and other holes to estimate the exact location of the rivets. Next I drilled out the rivets themselves. The rivets and the door panel support to which the bracket is mounted drill very easily.

    BottomHole Exposing Bracket Rivet 1 BottomHole Exposing Bracket Rivet 2 BottomHole Exposing Bracket Rivet 3

  9. After the rivets holding the motor to the bracket are drilled, the motor will probably fall; mine did. If not you should be able to easily pull it off.
  10. Insert your new motor and use screws in place of the rivets to secure it in place. Patience is required to properly align the motor to the gear mechanism in the door. In my case, my window died about a quarter inch from the top. The new motor seems to come with the gearing in exactly the right position if the window is at the top. I had to change the position of the gear slightly on my motor to get it to align properly to the gearing in the door. The instructions that came with the motor indicated that you must make sure that the window is all the way up before replacement but they did not propose a method to raise the window when the motor is not working.
  11. Adjust the retainer clips that support the window in the upmost position. I found that one of mine was significantly off.

    Inside Door Showing Retainer Clips At Top Closeup Of Retainer Clip

    Here are some pictures of inside the door.

    Full View Of Inside Door Left Side Of Inside Door Another View

    Inside Door With Plastic Inside Door With Plastic 2 Inside Door With Plastic 3

  12. Replace the negative terminal of the battery and test the window.
  13. Replace the plastic cover and press the sealant back onto the door for proper seal.
  14. Replace the door panel.
  15. Replace all of the screws to secure the panel to the door.
  16. Replace the speaker.