63 wiper blade question

[David L.]

Re: 63 wiper blade question

Dave,

I'm not sure but I think the 3888296 was a Trico blade and the 3908118 was an Anco.

Michael,

GM # 3888296 was a production wiper blade as well as one sold over the counter. GM # 3888296 was and will always be an ANCO wiper blade. Back in the 1980's I had 4 NOS ANCO "dull" blades in GM boxes with the part number 3888296. I sold one pair for big money and the other pair is on my 1966 Corvette. GM # 3888296 also is listed in my 1967 Chevrolet Parts Catalog, effective April 1967 (photo enclosed) as well as in my 1966 Corvair-Chevy II-Chevelle Parts Catalog, effective January 1966.

GM # 3908118 has NEVER appeared in a Chevrolet parts catalog. I believe that I have every Chevrolet parts catalog between October 1962 and October 1968.

This is really very old news. I am really surprised about your comment.

Dave

[Michael H.]

Re: 63 wiper blade question

Michael,

GM # 3888296 was a production wiper blade as well as one sold over the counter. GM # 3888296 was and will always be an ANCO wiper blade. Back in the 1980's I had 4 NOS ANCO "dull" blades in GM boxes with the part number 3888296. I sold one pair for big money and the other pair is on my 1966 Corvette. GM # 3888296 also is listed in my 1967 Chevrolet Parts Catalog, effective April 1967 (photo enclosed) as well as in my 1966 Corvair-Chevy II-Chevelle Parts Catalog, effective January 1966.

GM # 3908118 has NEVER appeared in a Chevrolet parts catalog. I believe that I have every Chevrolet parts catalog between October 1962 and October 1968.

This is really very old news. I am really surprised about your comment.

Dave

As mentioned, I said I wasn't sure about which was Trico and Which was Anco. That wasn't my point though.

The point was that the 3888296 was indeed a wiper blade used for the first part of the 66 model year and it was replaced in April of 66 by the 3908118.

The Adams book stated that the 3908118 was a pair of 3888296 blades. That's not how it worked.

[David L.]

Re: 63 wiper blade question

I collected several hundred Trico and Anco wiper blades from 1963-1967 Chevrolets and other GM cars in the 1980's.
I thought that I had every version and I thought that I identified them all with GM part numbers.
If GM # 3908118 is not a pair of 3888296 Anco wiper blades as suggested by Noland Adams I sure would like to see an original Anco 3908118 wiper blade (assuming one exists).

The 1967 Camaro AIM (UPC 1, sheet A3) lists 3888296 (Anco) and 3899508 (Trico) wiper blades. GM # 3887568 (Trico) was replaced with GM # 3899508 (Trico) on 5/18/66 as per the revision record. The 3899508 wiper blade is listed in my 1967 Chevrolet Parts Catalog (effective July 1967).

Dave

[Michael H.]

Re: 63 wiper blade question

I collected several hundred Trico and Anco wiper blades from 1963-1967 Chevrolets and other GM cars in the 1980's.
I thought that I had every version and I thought that I identified them all with GM part numbers.
If GM # 3908118 is not a pair of 3888296 Anco wiper blades as suggested by Noland Adams I sure would like to see an original Anco 3908118 wiper blade (assuming one exists).

Dave

Ok, so you're saying that for the first eight months of 1966 production, the assembly plant ordered 3888296 blades and they arrived as unpackeged singles. Then in april of 66, they started ordering part number 3908118 and they came in pairs??

Like little boxes of "pairs" of wiper blades arrived at the St Louis plant?

Betcha it didn't happen that way.

[David L.]

Re: 63 wiper blade question

Maybe Noland Adams had some "inside information". He sure had access to a lot of GM shop drawings.

[Michael H.]

Re: 63 wiper blade question

Maybe Noland Adams had some "inside information". He sure had access to a lot of GM shop drawings.

Yes, he had access to a lot of great GM documents etc. A lot of the other information that he collected "at car shows" isn't so great though, especially in the 63 section.

[David L.]

Re: 63 wiper blade question

Yes, and he screwed up a lot of it too.

You are certainly entitled to your opinion. The book was published 23 years ago. It was the best publication on the market at that time and is still a very good reference with all the GM shop drawing of various parts. It is always very easy to criticize. In my opinion the judging guides are like Swiss cheese.

I have been searching for a 3908118 wiper blade for over 30 years and still have yet to find one.

Dave

[Michael H.]

Re: 63 wiper blade question

You are certainly entitled to your opinion. The book was published 23 years ago. It was the best publication on the market at that time and is still a very good reference with all the GM shop drawing of various parts. It is always very easy to criticize. In my opinion the judging guides are like Swiss cheese.


Dave

In Nolands defense, he openly admits at the start that he was not knowledgeable about 63-67 Corvettes, and learning as he went. He relied on input from owners of Corvettes for a lot of the information.
Unfortunately, whoever assisted with the 63 section had a LOT of bad information, even for 1989 standards. Much of that information has become "the law" since the book was released, (unpainted dash tabs come to mind) and a lot of folks believe all of it. It will take years to get some of those stories corrected.

[David L.]

Re: 63 wiper blade question

All that I want to see is a used or NOS 3908118 wiper blade (if it even exists) or at least some official documentation from Chevrolet, GM, or Anco. Opinions of the alleged 3908118 wiper blade do not count.

Dave

[Michael H.]

Re: 63 wiper blade question

All that I want to see is a used or NOS 3908118 wiper blade (if it even exists) or at least some official documentation from Chevrolet, GM, or Anco. Opinions of the alleged 3908118 wiper blade do not count.

Dave

I doubt you will ever find one. It was most likely an assembly line only part, similar to other previous blades for 63 and 64 Corvette and Passenger car.

I think a lot of folks know that the blades for 66 changed at some point during the production year.

[David L.]

Re: 63 wiper blade question

The 1967 Corvette AIM only lists part number 3908118 for wiper blades. It seems strange that most 1967 Corvette owners searching for original wiper blades are always only interested in the 15" Trico "dull" wiper blades with the "roof peak", GM # 3899508. I sold all my NOS 3899508 Trico wiper blades back in the 1980's. The only original 15" Anco wiper blades that I have ever seen on 1967 Corvettes are the 3888296 blades as shown in the shop drawing in Noland Adam's book.

Dave

[Michael H.]

Re: 63 wiper blade question

The 1967 Corvette AIM only lists part number 3908118 for wiper blades. It seems strange that most 1967 Corvette owners searching for original wiper blades are always only interested in the 15" Trico "dull" wiper blades with the "roof peak", GM # 3899508. I sold all my NOS 3899508 Trico wiper blades back in the 1980's. The only original 15" Anco wiper blades that I have ever seen on 1967 Corvettes are the 3888296 blades as shown in the shop drawing in Noland Adam's book.

Dave

I guess I'm a little confused on the Trico/Anco blades. I always thought that the early 66 blade, part number 3888296, was a dull Trico. (my 66 still had one flat back dull Trico blade when I bought it decades ago)
I thought the 3908118, released in mid 66 and used through 67, was a "tent back, or peaked back Anco?

I just looked at page 322 in the Adams book. He shows the early blades as part number 3888296 and the arms as 3888297 and 3888298. (sounds like they were all released from engineering at the same time) (and those part numbers align perfectly, numerically, with start of 1966 production) Numbers in the 390xxxx range are definitely not in the "start of production" numeric range. Too high numerically. That's another reason why I know the 3908118 was not the first part/number used for 66.

He also mentions that the first design arm, part number 3888297 and 298, were not brushed, or dull, but were polished stainless until 2-12-66 that the specifications changed from bright finish to dull. That's saying all 66's had polished/bright arms until after that date.
Ii disagree with that too. I know the dull arms appeared long before that. In fact my guess is that the partially dull arms showed up near start of production.

The print on page 322 appears to be a "tent back" style blade, which I thought was Anco? That would be the 3908118.

[David L.]

Re: 63 wiper blade question

I guess I'm a little confused on the Trico/Anco blades. I always thought that the early 66 blade, part number 3888296, was a dull Trico. (my 66 still had one flat back dull Trico blade when I bought it decades ago)
I thought the 3908118, released in mid 66 and used through 67, was a "tent back, or peaked back Anco?

I just looked at page 322 in the Adams book. He shows the early blades as part number 3888296 and the arms as 3888297 and 3888298. (sounds like they were all released from engineering at the same time) (and those part numbers align perfectly, numerically, with start of 1966 production) Numbers in the 390xxxx range are definitely not in the "start of production" numeric range. Too high numerically. That's another reason why I know the 3908118 was not the first part/number used for 66.

He also mentions that the first design arm, part number 3888297 and 298, were not brushed, or dull, but were polished stainless until 2-12-66 that the specifications changed from bright finish to dull. That's saying all 66's had polished/bright arms until after that date.
Ii disagree with that too. I know the dull arms appeared long before that. In fact my guess is that the partially dull arms showed up near start of production.

The print on page 322 appears to be a "tent back" style blade, which I thought was Anco? That would be the 3908118.

The 3888296 blades are ANCO. As I said previously I had 4 New Old Stock GM 3888296 15" "dull" wiper blades in GM boxes. I sold one pair over 20 years ago for $150. I kept the other pair for my 1966 Corvette. These 3888296 ANCO blades are the "roof peak" or "tent style". These blades match up EXACTLY with the shop drawing in Noland Adam's book on page 322, and I mean EXACTLY.
The rubber inserts on these NOS 3888296 wiper blades have "ANCO R PATENT 2782444" molded into the rubber with a circle around the "R". These rubber inserts also have two "ridges" on each each side along the entire length.

The 1967 Trico "dull" wiper blades have a similar "roof peak" style with "TRICO" stamped on the ends with late production 1967 Trico blades stamped "TRICO" & "MADE in U.S.A.". I sold a lot of my 1967 Trico blades to Pete.

Dave

[Michael H.]

Re: 63 wiper blade question

The 3888296 blades are ANCO. As
Dave

If the 3888296 is an Anco, then I don't understand where the dull Trico blades came from on early 66 cars. There is only one part number shown on the AIM sheet, 3888296, for all cars from near start of production to 28 April 1966 when it was replaced with 3908118.

There is one issue though. The AIM sheet we have is not the original sheet. It was replaced. Note the number of revisions run from 7 through 12. That means a previous sheet has been replaced with items 1 through 6. There's likely information on the original sheet that we need.

[Jeff B.]

Re: 63 wiper blade question

Someday someone is going to find a production line picture of a worker bending the arc out of a "passenger" car blade to fit the 63 Corvette. Then we can start a whole new thread.