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'69 wiper door & grill question

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Old Oct 26, 2004 | 07:33 PM
  #1  
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Default '69 wiper door & grill question

I've finally got my wiper door working, yeah! But, the vent/grill that goes next to it seems to have been Bubba'd by way of how it's attached. Someone has put a nut under each screw attachment hole in the grill to bring it up to the same level as the wiper door. Not sure why, maybe the original screws that held the vent/grill in place were stripped out long ago and the nuts were there to give the screws something to attach to.


Is the grill supposed to sit even with the wiper door or does it sit doen a bit?

Any help or pix appreciated

Thanks, Mark
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Old Oct 26, 2004 | 07:40 PM
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Mark, they are supposed to set evenly. I have yet to finish mine and my wiper door sets a little off. Last weekend, there was an original 70 LT-1 that went on our club cruis and I checked his out real close for the same reasons you ask. I need to do a little work on mine. The rear edge of my hood is up too much and my wiper door needs to come down just a touch to make it all even. I will be working on this one in the next week or so.
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Old Oct 26, 2004 | 10:46 PM
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My '69 wiper grill is the same way. The brackets where the grill attaches strip out easily. I may have to put nuts on the bottom of mine to keep them in place. You have such little space to work with in the grill, and a larger screw doesn't seem possible.

The brackets that the grill attache s to are adjustable up and down a bit. Look at the firewall side of each bracket and you will see two nuts. The firewall is slotted so you can move the bracket up and down. This may help your problem.
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Old Oct 26, 2004 | 11:33 PM
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Gentlemen:

Read Dave McLellans biography of his years with C3’s and their fit in finish. He essentially says quality control and fitment were very poor on chrome bumper models and gradually improved. Those wiper doors all seem to have a different arc than the hood and require shimming to be even.

Geoffrey Coenen
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Old Oct 27, 2004 | 12:00 AM
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Thanks to all who replied.

I guess I'm not alone.

I did not know about the adjustments. Thats worth a shot! It is very tight in there.

We had to remove the entire mechanism to heli-coil the connection that went to the actuator arm as there was no place to screw the shouldered bolt into. Lots of time and $ but for the first time since I've owned it the wiper door does open and the wipers do work. Just a little on the rough side it seems (grill and wiper door interference). Now I just need to fine tune it a bit I guess. Next will be the washer pump.

Many thanks, Mark
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Old Oct 27, 2004 | 08:14 AM
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Originally Posted by marky mark
I've finally got my wiper door working, yeah! But, the vent/grill that goes next to it seems to have been Bubba'd by way of how it's attached. Someone has put a nut under each screw attachment hole in the grill to bring it up to the same level as the wiper door. Not sure why, maybe the original screws that held the vent/grill in place were stripped out long ago and the nuts were there to give the screws something to attach to.


Is the grill supposed to sit even with the wiper door or does it sit doen a bit?

Any help or pix appreciated

Thanks, Mark
There are 4 nuts/washer-plates inside the engine bay that hold both sides of the bracketry to the firewall. The holes that the studs go through are very large and afford a great deal of adjustment - up/down/side to side. I originally was using shims until I discovered how much adjustment was available. Now there are no shims and everything (hood, grille, doors in relation to each other and fenders) is even.
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Old Oct 27, 2004 | 12:02 PM
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Default Careful!

Be careful when you adjust the mounts in the engine compartment as they control the whole door assembly. Mine has two problems: the door itself has been bubba'ed by having the mounting holes filled and re-drilled by a blind man, and the grille is just plain c**p in its quality.

My door is tilted back slightly, and the grille is low in the middle for now...

Hans
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Old Oct 27, 2004 | 12:03 PM
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Thanks pws, I'll look at those connections. Good explanation also!

Thanks, Mark
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