wiper door stainless hits windshield

[Michael D.]

Hello all
I am working on a 68 conv. The car just came back from a body shop, it had the long hood, no wiper door when the car was purchased.Trying to get it back to original. I purchased a 72 wiper door at Carlisle last year, I was told 68-72 should interchange without a problem, then I was told 68 door will only work on a 68 after I bought the 72 w/door. The wiper door stainless trim is hitting the windshield when in the down position, also the fender trim looks to be a different width, slightly smaller in width, then the w/door trim. Is there a difference between the 68 wiper door and the 69-72 wiper door/trim? I spent at least an hour and a half reading the archives with no results. Will 68-69 door/trim fit better? Should I start searching for a 68 door and trim? Thanks in advance Mike

[Pat M.]

Re: wiper door stainless hits windshield

Mike I'll give your post a bump.

I don't know much about 68s, but I do think there were subtle differences in the 68 windshield fender trim compared with later Sharks. I think I saw comparative photos in the book "1969 Corvette" which showed different year pieces beginning with 68.

As to your other question I have no idea if the 68 wiper door itself is unique. Hopefully 68 gurus will chime in and tackle that one for you.

Good Luck

[Terry M.]

Re: wiper door stainless hits windshield

There are two styles of 1968 fender trim. I have some pictures at home, but these (*_*& NCRS meets interfere with this internet stuff. I encourage all of you to get out more -- you can then have your own pictures.

[Chuck G.]

Re: wiper door stainless hits windshield

I know a little bit, and that's dangerous.

As Terry said, there are 2 different styles of fender trim pieces. These are the pieces that connect to the rear most part of the fenders, along the edges of the windshield.

Could these be the problem? Dunno.

Chuck

[Pat M.]

Re: wiper door stainless hits windshield

I'm not sure if it's correct, but this is what I was thinking of, from Rick Bizzoco's "1969 Stingray Guidebook":

[Michael D.]

Re: wiper door stainless hits windshield

Thanks to those who took time to post Pat Thanks for the info/pics, the photo on the right is what my problem looks like Now can anyone give me an idea as to why the stainless on the wiper door is hitting the windshield? The body shop did shim it because it was sticking up and wouldn't go all the way down and so it would fit/close better but it still is hitting the windshield..

[Rich P.]

Re: wiper door stainless hits windshield

Michael,

you said that there was a full length hood on the car when it went to be painted. So the wiper door, grill and hinge assembly had to be fit to the car as well as the correct hood. It is very improtant to fit this before its painted. I learned the hard way over 35 years ago on some of the first cars I painted.
First you need to check to see if and how many shims are being used at the 3 fierwall mounting points for the hinge assembly. This is one of the places you get clearance for the windshield. Another is the height that the hinge is set as well as the 2 rear side screw stops.
if you have find shims at the fierwall mounting spots you will have a few options
1 start by removing them and then seeing what kind of clearance you have on the windshield (keep in mind don't try closing the hood without checking the clearance. If it will close without hitting your golden.
2 if you find there is no clearance to shut the hood after removing the shims you can try moving the hood forward and moving the wiper grill bak twards the wiper door. If doing this still does not give you the clearance you need can shave the back of the hood or the front of the wiper door to gain clearance. Of course since the car is painted it would be easier to shave the wiper door as it would be easier to repaint than the hood.

Hope this helps,
Rich

[Terry M.]

Re: wiper door stainless hits windshield

Here are the pictures of the windshield trim on two 1968s. Ignore the lack of paint on the March trim piece -- that is an owner inspired choice.

Edit add:
Left picture is a January 9 car, right picture is a March 29 car.

[Jack H.]

Re: wiper door stainless hits windshield

Want to make a bet that the 'owner inspired' alteration was the factory original plan for external cosmetics here?

Paint doesn't adhere all that well to smooth SS. Plus, the width of the lower reveal molding matches the width of the adjacent uprights...

My personal bet is the original styling car was designed NOT to be painted 'downstairs' and the trend initiated in '66/67 to reduce potential driver blinding external glare (one of Ralph Nader's 'knocks' in his book 'Unsafe At Any Speed') resulted in lower moldings receiving exterior paint...

[Dale C.]

Re: wiper door stainless hits windshield

I thought that all 68's had the fender trim like the red car, right picture, and that one one the left, in green, was a 69 and on type, per the judging manual?
Dale

[Terry M.]

Re: wiper door stainless hits windshield

Both those cars were fairly original, but not one-owner.

I too thought what you thought. John Woods and I showed these as part of about a dozen power point slides of those same cars at several judging schools -- of course maybe no one in the audience was interested in 1968s at any of our shows.

[John H.]

Re: wiper door stainless hits windshield

That corner part was always intended to be painted body color (with the bright bead masked off); I remember the St. Louis paint guys harping about it constantly during the Prototype and Pilot programs.

[Jim T.]

Re: wiper door stainless hits windshield

My original owner 68 built in FEB is similiar to both the green and red car that Terry M. posted pictures of.

My 68's trim ends going towards the door just a little farther than the red car, but also back a small amount from what the green car shows.

The edge of mine is inline with the lip of the stainless windshield trim. My fender trim end is inline with the beginning lip edge of the stainless trim.

This information is from the passenger side.

[Bryan M.]

Re: wiper door stainless hits windshield

I thought that all 68's had the fender trim like the red car, right picture, and that one one the left, in green, was a 69 and on type, per the judging manual?
Dale

That's how I think it's suppose to be.

The other difference I believe is that the wiper door trim on a 68 shouldn't have the slotted attachment hole on the ends.