1957 Chevy Bel Air Power Windows - Roll 'Em Up & Lock 'Em Down! Part 2

Back to the keyless entry system: This is the main relay/routing block for all the wires from the lock actuators. Using the supplied wiring diagram, we connected the correct wires to their mates, and our locks were ready for power.

From there it was a matter of wiring the actuators into the control box for the keyless entry system. Again, everything is color coded, so all you have to do is follow the enclosed wiring diagram and hooking everything up is a piece of cake.

While we only used the keyless entry part of the system, the Electric Life unit can also serve as a car alarm and panic system if you want. It also has a kit to mount a remote trunk release switch. Once everything was wired up, we tucked the box underneath the dash.

The last step was connecting the controller to power, easily done thanks to the Painless Wiring harness and its extra accessory wires. If your car still has a factory harness, you'll need to hook the controller into a constant hot power supply so the locks work all the time, even with the key off.

With the keyless entry system all set, we tackled the last task with the power windows, hooking all the windows together, then to power. Following the wiring diagram, we used blade connectors to hook all the wires together. The benefit of using blade connectors and not permanently crimping them all is if we had to change anything in case we had a wire backwards, this made things a lot easier. It also gives you the option of changing which button on the driver's side control switch activates which window, so you can sequence the buttons however you'd like.

After figuring out which order we wanted and hooking up to power, we reconnected the car's battery and checked to make sure everything was working properly. After no issues with the windows, we wrapped each blade terminal with some electrical tape and tucked the wires away with the rest of the wiring harness.

Here we checked to make sure the keyless entry was working properly. One nice feature of the Electric Life kit (and something to be aware of) is that if you manually push down on one of the locks, it'll also trigger the other lock, so both function as a pair (or a quad if you've got a four door). The other great thing is the factory key actuators still work, so if your battery goes dead, you can still unlock the car manually.

With everything hooked up and working properly, we buttoned up the doors and put the back seat area back together. Aside from the late model switch, the panel still looks all-original.

Here's a shot of the quarter window area. While we had the arm rests out, we also installed some new ashtrays to replace the decades old ones that had all sorts of funky green stuff and rust on them. With everything back together our '57 was ready for the road.