68 vs. 69 Wiper Door

[Brandon K.]

Can anyone tell me what the differences are between the 68 and later (69-72) wiper doors and the trim pieces? I just bought a couple pieces to replace my MIA ones, and the door doesnt look like it mates with the trim piece. Supposedly both are from 69's but I don't believe it. Anyone know the correct part # for the door? At least then I'll know if I have the right door.

thanks!
Brandon

[Warren F.]

Re: 68 vs. 69 Wiper Door

Brandon:

For sure there was a slight design change to the stainless metal fender trim pieces, however the difference seems to be the shape at the opposite end, and not where it butts up to the stainless trim attached to the wiper door.

A lot of corvettes have misaligned fender trim to wiper door trim, on my '71 it is quite horrible for a factory alignment job.

[Brandon K.]

Re: 68 vs. 69 Wiper Door

Thanks Warren. Does the trim attach differently on the ends for the 68 vs. 69? The pieces that I've got don't have holes that line up.

Thanks in advance.

Brandon

[Warren F.]

Re: 68 vs. 69 Wiper Door

Brandon:

The metal trim pieces that attach to the fender use two attachment points, one is a metal clip that hugs the bottom portion of the trim snug against the fiberglass edge of the front top surround panel (near windshield pillar trim moulding), the other attachment point is a small flat phillips screw that holds the edge tight against the inside top surround panel that butts up against the wiper door end.

I believe the early design used a brad for this attachment instead of a phillips flat head screw. It's position may have been slightly relocated causing the alignment issue you speak of.

[Brandon K.]

Re: 68 vs. 69 Wiper Door

Warren, thanks once again, but I did not say anything about an alignment problem on the trim. The trim and the wiper door do not have mating/ matching holes.... thus I need to figure out if one is from an earlier vs later car.

Brandon

[Warren F.]

Re: 68 vs. 69 Wiper Door

Brandon:

You are entirely correct. That is what you have.

[Brandon K.]

Re: 68 vs. 69 Wiper Door

Yes sir, thank you. But the whole point of my initial message was to try and determine WHICH ONE was incorrect for a 69. Can anyone help me out?

thanks, Brandon

[Terry F.]

Re: 68 vs. 69 Wiper Door

The 68 and 69 wiper door are the basic same piece. Sometime in later 68 they corrected a vibration problem by putting fasteners into each end of the stainless trim piece that attaches to the edge of the wiper door. This is explained in a tech service bulletin in 1968. They also added more attaching clips to the underside of the trim. At first they used a push in fastener and later used a small philips screw on each end of the wiper door. Then, at the time that they started using wiper arms with squirters on them (1969), they no longer needed the squirters attached to the wiper door. So, you will see some doors with holes in them for this purpose but not tapped by self tapping screws and even later doors didn't even have the holes for the screws. So, there are some ways to tell the difference. So, if your door has the holes drilled for the washer squirters and they are not tapped, or doesn't have the holes at all, I suspect it is 69 or later. It should also have the holes on each end of the door to attch the stainless trim piece. Hope this doesn't add to your confussion. Good luck, Terry