The hand vacuum pump is great until you have to test the whole system. Harbor Freight has an air operated ( Venturi off your air conpressor ) pump which can be hooked on to the main vacuum line and will give about 45 pounds of vacuum which will allow you to test the entire system . It costs less than 10 bucks. Jeff

 

Do what I said in my post. This is the quickest way to check the actuator. I work on Corvettes everyday at my job.

 

ok. Will try these tests. One complication is that one of the actuator mounting bracket nuts is stripped and 'Bubba' replaced with a sawed off bolt and a nylon locknut. So, I'll also ensure that I don't tighten this bolt/nut as well as the one good actuator bolt.

 

The actuator works. Found that once I loosened the two mounting bolts that it was not able to rotate sufficiently to drive the linkage. I haven't re-attached the wiper door as I need to have the four mounting holes machined for brass inserts. I've found a local machine/tool shop that may be able to do the work; going to contact them this week.

As for the actuator, one of the mounting nuts is stripped out and a prior owner fashined a shoulder bolt from a sawed off bolt and a nylon lock nut. I am going to see if I can get the actuator mounting sorted out while the door is machined this week. That was good news as I didn't relish spending $200+ to replace the actuator.

Still need to order the nylon washers and 4 shoulder bolts for the wiper door but alot less than $200. Will advise once it is all sorted out.

 

I didn't read the whole thread, but if you have one or more of the wiper door bolts binding up, the door won't open well {or at all}. If bolt was broken off or thread was stripped, you can fix the hole..but you have to do it a certain way. The key is to use the counterbore at the outside of the threaded area as a "pilot" for a drill bushing to get the new threads lined up correctly....otherwise, the bolt will be out of alignment and bind up. Use the shanks of several drill in a drill set to find a size that will just fit (without having to force it) into the counterbore--that will be the outer diameter of the drill bushing. Look up the size for the drill in creating a new thread (I think it is a #10-24 thread, if I remember right; but I don't recall what drill size it is). The bore in the bushing needs to be a couple of thousands larger than that drill size so the drill can enter and not bind up in the bushing. Then, use JBWeld to fill just the threaded area of the damaged hole [do NOT get epoxy into the counterbored area]. Let it harden, then use the drill bushing and a hand drill to create a new pilot hole in the epoxy. Carefully use the correct tap to put a new thread in the epoxy; use tap cutting oil, go slowly, and keep the tap straight as you go. If it starts to get hard to turn, back out 1/2 turn to clear the chips, then go some more. Once done, blow out the chips and assemble to your car. It should work fine {AND you didn't have to buy a new door}.

 

Good info and good idea for a solution on the JB Weld; I had not considered using that. Three of my wiper door bolt holes are stripped out. A prior owner (PO) just re-threaded the two rear bolt holes for larger bolts but his solution for shoulder bolts for those holes were two (larger) regular bolts with short sections of vacuum hose to create shoulders. The front hole that is stripped was a 10-24 shoulder bolt. Will get some JB Weld this week. I have a hand tap-die set and will check to see that I have (or buy) a 10-24 tap.

One of the two nuts on the actuator are also stripped and have a similar 'repair'. Will be repairing that also using the solution described above. May use that as a first test of the repair procedure.

 

If you have a local source for a drill bushing, that would be ideal. If you don't [and I didn't, when I worked on mine], you can make one out of a brass plumbing fitting you can find at Lowe's hardware. Find the area in Plumbing section with the little drawers full of brass hose fittings. You will find some straight "barbed" unions (about 2" long and 1/4" diameter) that have a thru-hole just the right size for the pre-tapping drill [for a #10-24 thread]. {Take the drill with you to test the fit.}The outer diameter [with the barbs] is slightly larger than the counterbores in the wiper door. I just put the brass fitting in a hand drill and used a file to shave the O.D. down to where it would just fit into the counterbores. Once you get [make] the bushing, your thread repair is a "piece of cake".

 

I really appreciate the info and will use it in procuring and making the bushing.

 

I was searching for a hand drill and found on the sears website that a #25 drill bit is offered in a set with the 10-24 tap. Question: As the drill bit numbers increase, does the bit size decrease? Am asking since the #27 bit that I do have is very loose in the one hole in the wiper door that has good thread.

When you recommend a hand drill, are you recommending the manual style drill over using a powered drill? I am looking at several smaller hand drills and the limiting factor appears to be the chuck size. Ex, one says "... the chuck has three jaws with a capacity up to 1/4"..." Large enough for this task?

 

I'm not sure about the drill numbering system, so I can't help there. I used a 3/8" chuck electric, variable speed drill [Sears]. I believe that a 1/4" drill would work, too. Once you set the drill bushing into the wiper door counterbore, just place the drill & bit into the bushing, try to hold it so that there isn't a lot of "side loading" on the bushing, and drill through the epoxy. Drilling slowly and will a few drops of cutting oil will help to not overheat/melt and ball-up the epoxy. That is why I chose a variable speed drill. But if you don't have one, just drill a little at a time and add a couple drops of cutting oil before you restart. Remove drill/bit, remove bushing, remove chips, clean up and tap away.

 

Yes.

 

Ok. For that #25 bit, I'm looking at a brass barbed splicer having a 1/4" ID; probably a 5/16" OD splicer. A 3/16" OD barb-to-barb splicer has too small an ID as I have one of those out in my garage. My local Lowes or Ace Hardware should have it. Made my list and heading out to the store(s) this evening... WITH my #25 bit purchased last night with a small Craftsman tap/bit set.

JB Weld
5/16" OD brass barb-to-barb splicer (will measure with the #25 bit)
flat file (I've never had a need for one until now)

I have a good variable speed electric drill and bench vise. I'll probably fix the wiper door in it (wrapped in a heavy towel to avoid marking the paint); securely, but not too tight. Just enough to keep it from moving around while I'm focused on the drilling and tapping.

Question: I note there is JB Weld in two tubes as well as a 'JB Stick' putty that is 'hand kneadable'... (I assume gloves are recommended?). Which is best for this repair and what method is best for applying the JB Weld to the stripped hole? Sorry for being a simpleton on this but I've not made such a repair before.

NOTE: Been a while since I made a vette repair that justified purchase of a few specialty tools (flat file, small bit/tap set, etc.). Not that I have to justify it to anybody now that I'm on my own but nice to add a few more things to the toolbox

 

I've used the epoxy that you cut off and knead. It sets up quick and cures hard as a rock. It's probably better that you use gloves...but I never have -- just washed my hands well after kneading.

By the way, to keep the epoxy from getting into the wiper door counterbore, you can stuff the "tightest" drill shank (opposite end of drill) into the counterbore while you stuff the epoxy in from the other direction. You can also use the shank of that #25 drill to help pack the epoxy in well so there are no voids.

Sounds like you are ready to go. Work on one hole to begin with; then transfer any "new knowledge" and improvement in your process to the others.

 

From your earlier post, where you refer to 'counterbore', I gather that is the point in the threaded hole where the threads start (on the side where the bolt enters the wiper door).

 

The counterbore is the area ahead of the threads (that is drilled larger than the threads..to the outside edge of the wiper door). That bore is what the drill bushing needs to fit snuggly into, so that the tap drill is properly aligned for the tap.