dmruschell

I'm in the process of putting correct (replacement) wiper arms and blades on my 61, as it had some aftermarket Amco wiper arms installed. The driver side took the replacement arms just fine, but the passenger side wiper blade barely touches the windshield. After getting Zip to send me another set of wiper arms and blades, I found out why. The shaft that the wiper arm attaches to is bent. After unsuccessfully trying to straighten it out, the knurled end cap is now in need of replacement. The end caps that are installed on the car do not look to attach the same way as the ones in Zip's photos http://www.zip-corvette.com/catalog/...rled-end-caps/

There is no set screw in the side of my end caps. There is just a (previously rounded off) bolt that won't budge. I haven't been able to find any other parts to replace other than those end caps that don't look like the ones I have. Can anyone point me in the right direction for how to get this straightened out? Thanks in advance.

Here is a picture of the piece showing that it is bent. I can include more detailed photos if needed.

Frankie the Fink

I thought the original knurled wiper arm transmission caps were peened onto the shaft ?
I think my '61's are. If so, I'm not sure what you can do. Might try seeing if the knurled part is loose or maybe put a scrap wiper arm on there and try to force it back into position and re-peen and/or JB-Weld the connection. Other than that you would have to get the shaft out (a royal PITA) via pulling the transmission and deal with it.

Here is how mine are.

dmruschell

Frank, that looks like what mine look like. As you can see from the photo, the knurled end now has a tear in it (I did that as I was trying to straighten the thing out), so I need to replace it.

Forgive my ignorance, but what does it mean that they were "peened" on?

The parts from Zip appear to have a set screw. Part of me is wondering if I can get the knurled end off if I mangle the head of that shaft enough, and then install a new knurled end using the set screw. While the end is off, I can straighten it out with a pair of vice grips.

I've never had to tear into the wiper transmission on a car before, so don't feel like you're talking down to me by pointing out things that may seem obvious

Frankie the Fink

The term "peened" couldn't be simpler. It means that something is attached to something else through the expedient of just beating the crap out of the protruding end of the first thing until it is flat against the second thing. The bottom of the wiper arm shafts are also peened into place to hold the lower pawl wheel. The Zip repros may have a set screw and if the head of the shaft is threaded or YOU could thread it and attach a new knurled cap then that would be wonderful.

HOWEVER, looking at your picture I'm not 100% sure the shaft isn't bent (which would be really hard to do as they are pretty beefy); if you can determine if that is the case then you may as well pull the transmission.

See if you can determine that...

dmruschell

I had already assumed that the shaft is bent. The knurled end was collateral damage while trying to straighten out the shaft. I figured they were more of one piece than it turns out they are.

As I mentioned before, I'm thinking of just trying to get the knurled end off and then bend the shaft back into place as it sits. Either way, getting the knurled end off will need to happen, but I'd like to avoid removing the transmission if possible (though I will if necessary). What would you recommend as the best way to remove the knurled end?

Thanks for your help!

Frankie the Fink

If you can determine if it is, in fact, peened on; then a Dremel grinder should work through that and get the knurled cap off. Work around the edges of the peened area from the outside in and try to save some material so a new cap can be peened back on if needed. Remove just enough at the edges to get the cap loose.

I have to tell you though, IMO if that shaft is bent you're almost certainly into a wiper transmission pull. Those shafts are not flimsy and I can't even imagine how it could have gotten bent in any sort of normal use. Trying to straighten it while its in the car will prob screw something else up but there is prob no downside to it at this point.

If you luck out and straighten it out on the car - so be it; if not, or something else gets broken, you were going to have to pull the tranny anyway.

HOWEVER ! Perhaps the shaft just looks bent; I'd roll under the passenger side of the cockpit and make sure that tranny is mounted up tight and straight to the dash and not crooked or loose. Also take a strong flashlight and make sure the tranny housing says "58 R" on it as you may have the wrong one (see red circle in my picture). Earlier cars than 58 had a different tranny/bracket arrangement.

If either of those are the case you might luck out by tightening a few bolts or swapping a part.

dmruschell

I checked under the dash. The 58R is there and the transmission is firmly in place.

I managed the get the knurled end off of the peened shaft. Just the very end of the shaft was bent (possibly from peening), so I started bending it to be straight. It was almost there when it snapped off.

So, now I need to figure out a way to get an end back on to the shaft. I can't really weld (and don't know if I'd want to that close to the paint), but I'm thinking that drilling a hole in the shaft, threading the hole and putting a stud/bolt in might work. I just need to find something that is thin enough to not require a huge hole and will fit in the new knurled ends, yet thick enough that it won't snap off during normal use.

I'm not really concerned about it being "correct," as this part will be covered by the wiper arm anyways.

Frankie the Fink

I sort of thought that might happen -- those wiper arm shafts are pretty brittle; which is why I'm amazed it got bent in the first place without snapping off.

Ya know my friend - I admire your hutzpah in trying to engineer a fix but I think it'll be more trouble than its worth. Worst case your fix lets go and you have a wiper arm gone ballistic against your windshield and scratching the snot out of it.

You could call Tom Maxwell out of Maryland and see what he'd charge for a rebuild (or maybe just a serviceable shaft) - he is THE guru on these things: 301-948-9481 or 9482.

dmruschell

You do have a good point. I just haven't seen the wiper transmission parts available from any reproduction parts places. I will give him a call and see what he says. Thank you for the info! MD seems to be full of car gurus. With the nice weather these days, I could probably drive the car out to him if need be (Even if it's raining, the driver's side wiper still works :P).

This car is going to be featured in my wedding in just under 3 months, so hopefully I can get the whole thing taken care of before then.

dmruschell

I just got off the phone with Tom. He's got a few weeks of work ahead of him, but he's going to rebuild a transmission for me and let me know when he has it ready. Thanks again for the help!

Frankie the Fink

Tom and his brother Jay are out of Gaithersburg and there just ain't nobody better on these old C1 systems...you won't be disappointed !
And congrats on the upcoming wedding !

dmruschell

The thread is 2 months old now, but I wanted to post the conclusion. I got a rebuilt transmission from Tom, got it installed, and everything works how it should now! Thanks again for the help, Frank!

Frankie the Fink

Nooooo problem !!

62corvette

I'm not sure how thrilled Tom's son Jay would be about being known as Tom's brother.

Frankie the Fink

My bad.