72 wiper door
Thread Starter
Instructor
Joined: Apr 2013
Posts: 130
Likes: 1
72 wiper door
Guys,
I need a little help. Ok a lot of help. I bought a 72 basket case and just got it back from paint. It was already disassembled when I bought it so the wiper door was not in it or working. The linkage looks really good, but I have no idea what's missing or where to start.
I do have the assembly manual.
Can you guys point me to a comprehensive process? I will need to locate all the components and test the electrical parts. Test procedures needed as well.
Thanks
Kevin
I need a little help. Ok a lot of help. I bought a 72 basket case and just got it back from paint. It was already disassembled when I bought it so the wiper door was not in it or working. The linkage looks really good, but I have no idea what's missing or where to start.
I do have the assembly manual.
Can you guys point me to a comprehensive process? I will need to locate all the components and test the electrical parts. Test procedures needed as well.
Thanks
Kevin
Race Director
Joined: Apr 2011
Posts: 11,183
Likes: 3,335
From: North of Toronto - Ontario
I've never seen an actual set of instructions on setting the door and grill but after spending way too long on mine (Can't imagine how many hours someone like Alan must have spent) here's a few things I'll just put out there.
Stuff rags down both sides leading to the kick-panel vents because your going to drop several things several times
Tape all the edges with blue painters tape, maybe several layers,
you need some way of activating the door via the same rod the vac-actuator will used, I found a pair of long-nosed vice-grips worked OK.
There is very little side to side adjustment anywhere, try to get that close first.
Shimming the door mechanism backwards is the worst part of the job since you've pretty much got to remove the mechanism to sneak the shims onto the studs
Don't forget to also shim the mount for the actuator, any more than about a 1/16" missing there causes quite a lot of binding on the rods, they still work but I don't think they're real happy about it.
The door stop screws at the windshield / firewall should be only to fine tune affect the door park location up/down but will also affect the fore/aft some at the same time. You need to consider both at the same time and not just concentrate on one.
If you can't achieve even gaps all the way up (front / hood / grill / door / windshield) consider shimming the mechanism to align the fender and wiper door trim to look nice, forget the door/windshield gap and try to even out the hood front and side gap, then split the hood/grill /wiper door gaps using the slots in the vent
The rubber seals on the mechanism/firewall connection allow for a certain amount of creep up/down that affect the vent but not the wiper door, it may be hard to match the vent to hood curve using the 2 studs in each mount (since they move around while tightening) if it's not working well, consider getting them close and placing some shim/spacers between the vent bar and the mounts and save some frustration.
Install the vac-actuator last and set the rod and the door electrical limit switch rod as per the aim
Just some thoughts
Stuff rags down both sides leading to the kick-panel vents because your going to drop several things several times
Tape all the edges with blue painters tape, maybe several layers,
you need some way of activating the door via the same rod the vac-actuator will used, I found a pair of long-nosed vice-grips worked OK.
There is very little side to side adjustment anywhere, try to get that close first.
Shimming the door mechanism backwards is the worst part of the job since you've pretty much got to remove the mechanism to sneak the shims onto the studs
Don't forget to also shim the mount for the actuator, any more than about a 1/16" missing there causes quite a lot of binding on the rods, they still work but I don't think they're real happy about it.
The door stop screws at the windshield / firewall should be only to fine tune affect the door park location up/down but will also affect the fore/aft some at the same time. You need to consider both at the same time and not just concentrate on one.
If you can't achieve even gaps all the way up (front / hood / grill / door / windshield) consider shimming the mechanism to align the fender and wiper door trim to look nice, forget the door/windshield gap and try to even out the hood front and side gap, then split the hood/grill /wiper door gaps using the slots in the vent
The rubber seals on the mechanism/firewall connection allow for a certain amount of creep up/down that affect the vent but not the wiper door, it may be hard to match the vent to hood curve using the 2 studs in each mount (since they move around while tightening) if it's not working well, consider getting them close and placing some shim/spacers between the vent bar and the mounts and save some frustration.
Install the vac-actuator last and set the rod and the door electrical limit switch rod as per the aim
Just some thoughts
Thread Starter
Instructor
Joined: Apr 2013
Posts: 130
Likes: 1
I've never seen an actual set of instructions on setting the door and grill but after spending way too long on mine (Can't imagine how many hours someone like Alan must have spent) here's a few things I'll just put out there.
Stuff rags down both sides leading to the kick-panel vents because your going to drop several things several times
Tape all the edges with blue painters tape, maybe several layers,
you need some way of activating the door via the same rod the vac-actuator will used, I found a pair of long-nosed vice-grips worked OK.
There is very little side to side adjustment anywhere, try to get that close first.
Shimming the door mechanism backwards is the worst part of the job since you've pretty much got to remove the mechanism to sneak the shims onto the studs
Don't forget to also shim the mount for the actuator, any more than about a 1/16" missing there causes quite a lot of binding on the rods, they still work but I don't think they're real happy about it.
The door stop screws at the windshield / firewall should be only to fine tune affect the door park location up/down but will also affect the fore/aft some at the same time. You need to consider both at the same time and not just concentrate on one.
If you can't achieve even gaps all the way up (front / hood / grill / door / windshield) consider shimming the mechanism to align the fender and wiper door trim to look nice, forget the door/windshield gap and try to even out the hood front and side gap, then split the hood/grill /wiper door gaps using the slots in the vent
The rubber seals on the mechanism/firewall connection allow for a certain amount of creep up/down that affect the vent but not the wiper door, it may be hard to match the vent to hood curve using the 2 studs in each mount (since they move around while tightening) if it's not working well, consider getting them close and placing some shim/spacers between the vent bar and the mounts and save some frustration.
Install the vac-actuator last and set the rod and the door electrical limit switch rod as per the aim
Just some thoughts
Stuff rags down both sides leading to the kick-panel vents because your going to drop several things several times
Tape all the edges with blue painters tape, maybe several layers,
you need some way of activating the door via the same rod the vac-actuator will used, I found a pair of long-nosed vice-grips worked OK.
There is very little side to side adjustment anywhere, try to get that close first.
Shimming the door mechanism backwards is the worst part of the job since you've pretty much got to remove the mechanism to sneak the shims onto the studs
Don't forget to also shim the mount for the actuator, any more than about a 1/16" missing there causes quite a lot of binding on the rods, they still work but I don't think they're real happy about it.
The door stop screws at the windshield / firewall should be only to fine tune affect the door park location up/down but will also affect the fore/aft some at the same time. You need to consider both at the same time and not just concentrate on one.
If you can't achieve even gaps all the way up (front / hood / grill / door / windshield) consider shimming the mechanism to align the fender and wiper door trim to look nice, forget the door/windshield gap and try to even out the hood front and side gap, then split the hood/grill /wiper door gaps using the slots in the vent
The rubber seals on the mechanism/firewall connection allow for a certain amount of creep up/down that affect the vent but not the wiper door, it may be hard to match the vent to hood curve using the 2 studs in each mount (since they move around while tightening) if it's not working well, consider getting them close and placing some shim/spacers between the vent bar and the mounts and save some frustration.
Install the vac-actuator last and set the rod and the door electrical limit switch rod as per the aim
Just some thoughts
Team Owner
Joined: Sep 2006
Posts: 31,218
Likes: 4,303
From: Westminster Maryland
Hi,
I'll only add that I made 2 rubber 'shims/spacers' to put on each end of the wiper grill to hold the wiper grill, mechanism, and door centered between the 2 fenders.
I ended up doing that because I continued to have problems with the whole thing moving one way or the other as I tightened it in place.
I found the biggest challenger was that there's just enough 'play' in the mechanism that when you finish tightening everything and cycle the door for the first time it closes at a slightly less aligned condition than you had it. VERY frustrating!
You can't hurry it… you have to be willing to spend the time to get it 'just right'.
Also be SURE to plug the bottomless pits on each side of the cowl as m said!
Regards,
Alan
3M black squeegees with layers of painter's tape on them to give an even gap on each side.
I'll only add that I made 2 rubber 'shims/spacers' to put on each end of the wiper grill to hold the wiper grill, mechanism, and door centered between the 2 fenders.
I ended up doing that because I continued to have problems with the whole thing moving one way or the other as I tightened it in place.
I found the biggest challenger was that there's just enough 'play' in the mechanism that when you finish tightening everything and cycle the door for the first time it closes at a slightly less aligned condition than you had it. VERY frustrating!
You can't hurry it… you have to be willing to spend the time to get it 'just right'.
Also be SURE to plug the bottomless pits on each side of the cowl as m said!
Regards,
Alan
3M black squeegees with layers of painter's tape on them to give an even gap on each side.
Former Vendor
Joined: Aug 2006
Posts: 76,656
Likes: 1,851
From: Jeffersonville Indiana 812-288-7103
St. Jude Donor '08-'09-'10-'11-'12-'13-'14-'15
and what a pain in the rear.... Patience is your friend for sure.
