Possible to R & R gilles w/o removing wiper arms ?

[Wayne M.]

My '65 has chromed inlet grilles (there since I bought the car in 1988). Got another set and painted them the original Goldwood Yellow in the early '90s. Now, over 20 years later, I figure it's time to swap. I'd hate to disturb the wiper arms on the shafts, as the blades sit perfectly in park position. Besides, I don't have the tool to remove. It sorta looks like I could just extract the 4 Phillips screws (without dropping them into the plenum ) and gently wiggle the grille and slide off the arm [wiper blade removed, of course].

Anybody successfully done this operation ?

[Don D.]

Re: Possible to R & R gilles w/o removing wiper arms ?

I just disassembled my car for restoration and I'm pretty sure you need to remove the wiper arms to remove the grills. I don't think the holes in the grills are large enough to slide over the arms.

[Don D.]

Re: Possible to R & R gilles w/o removing wiper arms ?

You could mark the location of the wiper blades on the windshield with tape as they sit now. You'll only have the blades off for a few minutes and the motor shouldn't move while the blades are off. When re-installing, the splines on the shaft are fine, but you could slide the arm on the shaft without locking it into position. Once you have the blade in the same position as they are now (based on the tape markings) you can push the arm on fully and lock it into position.

[Frank D.]

Re: Possible to R & R gilles w/o removing wiper arms ?

You should get the wiper arm removal tool although they will come off without it with a little coercion.
Take some blue quick release painters tape and put a horizontal strip on the windshield across the top of the rubber wiper blades (both of them).
Pop the arms off remove your grills. When you replace the grills just lay the rubber blade along the blue taped line and force the pivoting part that goes on the spline shaft forward and down on both blades. You're done...

Dang - I was typing slower than Don it seems !!

[Peter H.]

Re: Possible to R & R gilles w/o removing wiper arms ?

If you need the handy dandy tool.. Lisle # 65750 or otc # 4676 ... Very handy tool...peter...