On my "new" 70 LT1, the wiper door didn't work, car sat for 29 years, so I removed the door and tried to move the mechanism manually. Wouldn't move. I applied vacuum to the canister, no go. I removed the vacuum canister and still couldn't move it. I lubed all the pivot points I could fine and using a long bolt I was able to move the actuating rod. It is very hard to move the bolt in and out. Should it be the stiff?All the bushing are there. And what does the large spring for?
Thanks, Joe

 

When I bought my 69 it needed a lot of work. It had sat under an apple tree for 2 1/2 years. The wiper door was frozen, and I removed the vacuum canister and then used WD-40 on all the pivot points and kept moving it and more WD-40 until it finally loosened up. It took a while to get it to work. The pivot points "rivets" were rusty but back then replacements were not available. My work loosened up the rust in the joint, but I knew that eventually I would have to do something. I think that I waited better than 40 years before I saw that a rivet kit was available and then decided to replace all of them. Not an easy task and you really need two people to handle the assembly and to drill out the old and insert new rivets. Luckily, I took good pictures of the original assembly ends so that I reassembled them correctly. It is very easy to turn a link over, but then the assembly will not work.

If you keep lubing all the rivets and working the assembly, it will eventually loosen up and will probably last for years before you need to replace the rivets.

 

Hello,
The wiper door mechanism is very complicated... as you've discovered.
You MIGHT consider removing all the parts of the mechanism so you can verify which are moving freely and which are 'binding'. That's difficult to do when it's all assembled but may be worth the effort.
Good Luck!
Regards......

 

I just tried to move it and it is still very stiff. After taking a good look I believe I can take the whole assembly out and work on it on the bench. I will keep you posted.
Thanks for the advice.
Joe

 

When you take it out there will probably be shim plates between the unit and the firewall. They used these to get the correct distance from the cover to the windshield. If you have them, make sure that you mark down how many on each side so that when you put it back together you can reinstall them. Here is a picture of one of the sides. When replacing the rivets it is possible to swap the curved pieces or flip one of the over and then after it is riveted back together it won't work. I replaced the rivets by myself, but you really want two people to do this as it would make the job much easier. If you take it out keep working it and adding penetrating oil until it feels loose.

If you take it out and put it back in it is a good idea to have some rags to close up the holes in the fender wells. It is easy to drop things, and they fall way down in the hole. I had to put a magnet on a string to fish parts back out after I dropped them.

I think that the spring is there to allow the two ends of the mechanism to be slightly independent. The shaft is actually two shafts meeting towards the middle. If it was only one shaft it could happen that you could adjust one side correctly and the other side might not be aligned correctly. With two shafts each side can be adjusted slightly different to allow for manufacturing tolerances. We know these cars were basically handmade and there are some very large tolerances between one car and another.

 

I removed the unit and and found the center bracket nylon bushing was frozen to the shaft. I have it soaking over night and see if it frees up. I also oiled all the other ones and they are now free.

 

Hello,
WELL DONE!!!
Regards.....

 

I was able to free up the three pivots and with a friend, we installed it and it woks smoothly.
Thanks for every ones help.
Now onto my next project. reinstalling the vacuum relays and doing the adjustments.
Happy Holidays!!