Rebuilt the motors in my 87 GT last night. A few notes from my experience and a question:

- On the side where the motor shaft has to come out to release the gear...both screws holding the motor in place snapped off at their heads. They had some rust but broke very easily (wrist pressure on a small socket wrench). After some consternation, I drilled out the bolt shafts and used bolts to put it back together. The other side was rusted as well, but the motor doesn't have to come out to release the gear.
- On that same side, I couldn't free the gear and shaft without pulling the motor shaft out to the point where the brushes were off the stator. I found a Youtube video where a guy used stapes to hold them in place for reassembly, but I found that thin paperclips worked well: I bent the tip over at about 3/16" to hook over the end of the brush, then wrapped them over each gasket and around the motor enclosure to hold the brushes back while I slid the shaft in place. There's enough clearance once the stator is in position to hold the brushes in to remove the paperclips. An extra set of hands was very helpful.
- Since I had everything apart, I went ahead and changed the gears and the three gaskets I had exposed.

All-in, it took me about three hours. But I had a lot of missteps, including executing the paperclip trick at least four times, and I had to drill out the broken bolts. I think I could do the whole thing again in about 30 minutes.

The best part was seeing the smile on my daughter's face at 6:15 this morning when she left for school and the headlights went up.

Thanks to the folks here who chimed in with advice before I started this little project. Next up is dew wipes and window motors on both sides, and the headliner.

Did you find the little ball at the bottom of the shaft?

quote Originally posted by IIKool: Did you find the little ball at the bottom of the shaft?

Sure did. The Youtube video was especially helpful in that I knew the shaft had to come out on one side to free the gear, and to watch for the brushes, springs, and that little ball bearing.

I hope the dew wipes and window motors go as smoothly (minus that smashed thumb).