I am putting my front clip back together on my 72 and I am trying to decide if it is worth all the headache to make the wiper door line up and be functional on my 72. For those of you that deleted yours are you happy with the decision or do you miss it? For those that kept it, is it a never ending headache to keep it working right?

 

mine has never been a problem. Now, my left headlight

 

Depends on what you consider a bigger headache....the fit of the fender chrome on each side needs be altered to line up with the later hoods....maybe even change shape/style...I forget....

I found the change over to a linear motor....mini screw jack setup with my own relay controll setup was mucho better/more reliable than that old vac thing....

 

Keep it!

 

KEEP IT! It's a very unique and cool mechinisum that raises eyebrows when opperated. It is NOT hard to keep working properly when you understand it's opperation. Take some time to study and understand it. Once set up with newer working components it will work great for many many years.
Eddie

 

 

It's a cool factor thing. What other car has a wiper door? It's really an easy system if you look at the vacuum and electrical drawings. I vote keep it.

 

keep it. Cool factor or not, it just looks better. Nice clean lines which was what GM's intent was in the first place.

Bullshark

 

Another vote for keeping it.

 

Speaking of clean lines, and this isn't intended to offend ANYONE, but how in the name of all that is slick, do people think that removing the popup headlight assemblies on these cars only to replace them with some type of recessed retangular headlight bucket type thing and consider it an improvement is beyond me.

Rant over

 

Keep it! The vacuum stuff isn't really bad at all if you just study it for a bit. You may have to replace an actuator, but then it will last, and continue to be an interesting and good looking feature.

 

Keep it! It (among other things) makes an early C3...well, an early C3!!!!

 

I binned mine, bought the AIR (American International Racing) wiper door from Frank Greg, it has more of a gap between the windshield and the wiperdoor..so it doesnt have to move....wipers come from underneath.
Saved weight, binned the vacuum worked out good for me

 

 

2 things in my '71 I will NEVER delete, the wipers door and the clever (at the time) fiber optics monitoring system.

These two things are very unique even at our days.

 

VERY SIMPLE.....they WORK!!!.....in the first 3 years of ownership, I replaced both witches hats, and redid the entire vac hose rerouting thing no less then twice, the vacuum canister was a squareed off mini gas tank looking thing on the driver's fender liner, it had fractured from metal fatiguw and so was unfixable and full of leaks....none to be found, run the system without it...fine, worked ok....did ALL the typical parts, as well as every damn part in the vacuum operated wiper door....it's a '72......

so finally when hitting a small florida deer, about the size of a Great Dane or so....it took out both headlights....so in went the Ecklers sugar scoops, since altered with lo profile camaro bulbs....

the total lack of reliable replacement parts is what made the vac system inoperable/unreliable so many times, if it wasn't the vac switch it was the vac solenoid, if not that it was someother damn thing, if not that it was yet another witches hat.....then a canister would stick closed...blew it open with air jet...that type crap....the canister were allready NEW when I got the car....nice bright shiney metal anyway...

69myway, Chris, gave me a linear actuator...mini screw jack, I had to fix it, and then installed with my own relay controller to operate with my intermittant WSW control system....works like factor intended now...

I blame all the vac unreliability on basically crappy aftermarket parts....

some of which are not available....like that WSW vac solenoid to open the door up under the behind the tach....

besides, it looks better, more modern rendition of a classis design that has been mimicked around the world....trend setting car, that now is a bit updated, not longer having those stupid looking bug eyes opening one at a time, sometimes not at all....

or worse yet....about 1/2 way open....

was'nt any problem FIXING it.....problem was fixing every damn problem in succession, and then having to do it yet again just for grins....a couple years later....

too boot those assys are worth maybe 40 lbs each....chop easy 60 lbs off front end for the change....

 

That's your opinion and you're welcome to it.
But it will never be mine

 

The biggest "issue" with the wiper door on the early C3's isn't really the work to get them to operate properly...it's the lack of knowledge on how they are supposed to operate and what to do to get them operational. I know this was a major hurdle for me before digging in and fixing it. It is a unique system, and the vacuum schematic [alone] isn't enough to get you started. See if you can find a write-up on how the wiper system is designed and what the various components in the system are supposed to do. Once you have that knowledge, you can probably make the repairs you need.

Maybe you can tell us what does not work correctly (we need specifics in order to diagnose it) and we could offer insight and repair advice.

 

It seems pretty clear to me from reading everyone else's responses. Keep it. If you know how it works and how to work on it, it will work. It's cool. It's original and unique. So many others changed theirs over in the past that it's becoming more and more difficult to find wiper door assemblies and parts. None of the big stuff is being reproduced and possibly never will be. I vote keep it. Even if I thought you should get rid of it, the overwhelming opinion would have changed my mind.

 

Not to be misinterpreted, yes, keep the WSW door, but update it to Chris' design or similar....so much better than wimpy vacuum operated crap....seems that everything from distributor advance to HVAC controlls/doors to headlights, to wiper doors.....anything on an older car operated by vacuum is a super maintenance headache....so time to update to something that works.....for instance, Chris' application of MODERN TECH to open and close those clunky headlight doors....just like a new car snap up there like GOD intended not some damn unreliable excuse prone/ridden system you gotta fix forever....

GM guys did what they could cheep as possible for the times....but times change, and so I see NO excuse modern tech can't be done to improve old cars.....for to do so would make a T bucket start with a crank.....