68 wiper over ride knob? What did it look like?

[Terry F.]

Hey, what did the 68 wiper over ride knob look like? Does anyone think they were different than the later knobs. Opinions please. Thanks, Terry

[Jim B.]

Re: 68 wiper over ride knob? What did it look like

This is a subject I thought I would never see. This is an old question of mine.

I am an original owner of a 68 convertible and mine was delivered to me without any knob on the wiper override. When I questioned the dealer on this I was told that no knobs were provided from Chevy and since this override switch was not meant to be used often none was required. I bought the car late in 68 and the 69's were on the lot as well and they had a knob (which is what cause me to ask the question). The dealer told me he had no explanation for the lack of a knob on the 68's but none of the ones they had delivered had one installed. He offered to order a 69 knob but I really didn't think of it as more than a curiosity. It wasn't something I used very often if ever.

Over the years I have seen other 68's with the 69 knob installed but have never resolved the question in my mind. The dealer could have been fitting me on, but he was straight in all other respects and was a well known corvette and high performance dealer even selling COPO cars. I don't know if this helps or just keepd the questions going, but Chevy was an interesting company to deal with when it came to the low production corvettes.

Jim Boudreaux
#38390

[Roger Legge]

Re: 68 wiper over ride knob? What did it look like

For whatever it's worth, my late-build '68 does not have one. I'm not the original owner, but it is an original, unmolested car.

Roger

[Terry F.]

Re: 68 wiper over ride knob? What did it look like

That is interesting. I will have to check my assembly and see what it shows. I have gotten similar feedback from one other person that owned their cars from new and said it was delivered without one to the dealership. Oh well!? Its a conundrum. Terry

[Mark F.]

Re: 68 wiper over ride knob? What did it look like

My late 68 (built Aug. 5, 1968) has a chrome knob with grooves on the edge. The NCRS judging manual says it should be a large black plastic grooved edge knob. I purchased a used left side dash panel that had the over ride assembly attached it it did not have a knob. It was an early 1968 dash panel, as it was mounted on the side. I recently saw a over ride assembly on ebay and it had the exact chrome knob that mine has. Is the chrome knob an aftermarket? I agree, we need to get to the bottom of this. Anyone have the black plastic one?

Mark Franken - 39215

[Terry F.]

Re: 68 wiper over ride knob? What did it look like

That would be too close to impossible for them both to be identical replacement knobs. I was that item also. I think the best thing that could happen would be for the 68 owners to comment on what they have on there cars. I think it is reasonable to say that the black knob with the stainless top button is not correct (replacement or reproduction). I sort of think that it is possible early cars didn't have it. Later cars started to have the all silver one's and then the cheap black one showed up. Who knows!? I have a black one that I collected. My car either didn't have one or it was missing. I assume they were easy to knock off with your leg getting in and out of the car. Hmmmm. Terry

[Bryan M.]

Re: 68 wiper over ride knob? What did it look like

In with my box of parts 68 project came two of the 68 underdash controls. One mounted under the steering column and one mounted off to the side. I know they are 68's because of the single terminal over ride switch. Neither of them had a knob. I wound up buying one from a vender. Bryan

[Reba Whittington]

Re: 68 wiper over ride knob? What did it look like

Wow!! Very interesting. We never quit learning about these cars, do we? I have judged 1968-72s for over fifteen years, operated a restoration shop and parts business for twelve, helped revise the last edition of the JG, and I have never seen a chrome knob used for the wiper override. The rear defroster knob is chrome and does look like what was on EBay. If in fact the cars were delived without a knob, is it possible that those were used by the dealer when one was needed and not present?

No one has ever reported that what is described in the JG is wrong. We do believe the knob with the stainless insert was a service replacement as these have been seen for sale in GM boxes. All known originals are solid black with no insert.

I don't understand why GM would not put a knob on the switch or wait until 1969 to do so. Wiper blades cannot be serviced without it. Let us know what the owner's manual shows.

[Terry F.]

Re: 68 wiper over ride knob? What did it look like

I looked in my original first addition and my original second addition operators manuals. The first addition shows a knob that is unlike any knob I have seen. The second addition clearly shows no knob and only points to the shaft to the switch.

I am not certain what the judging manual says exactly but I suspect it is somewhat wrong. Terry

[Rich G.]

Re: 68 wiper over ride knob? What did it look like

Terry and Reba

I have an original second edition owner's manual (Jan 68) which shows no knob, as Terry describes. It also shows the override to be to the left of both of the vacuum switches (wiper door and headlights). My July 68 built 68 which has never been restored has NO knob on the wiper override. I thought it was just missing. My car also has the override between the 2 vacuum switches which I understand was a running change during the year.

Rich Giannotti

[Joe L.]

Re: 68 wiper over ride knob? What did it look like

Reba-----

The 1968 through 1972 AIM's all show the same part number for the knob and that number is GM #1991063. However, the sheet in the 1968 AIM shows that the sheet was "redrawn and redesigned" as of July 5, 1967. So, it's possible that the earlier "design" actually entered production and this "new design" caught up some time afterwards. Of course, we have no way of knowing what the original design was.

Interestingly, the part sold in SERVICE from the very outset (and the only part ever available in SERVICE) had a different part number. It's number was GM #1991064, one digit higher.

I can say that the known-original knob on my late 1969 is black plastic with no stainless or aluminum insert on the face of the knob. I have seen some with the stainless or aluminum insert, though.

One other thing of interest: the earliest edition of the 1968 P&A Catalog, dated 10-1-67, makes no reference to the availability of any knob for the 1968 Corvette wiper override switch. So, that might be a "clue" that a knob was not available at the outset.

This does seem very strange. Why provide a switch if there was no knob to turn it with? However, the initial thinking might have been that this switch would get used so infrequently that the shaft could be turned with an open end or adjustable wrench when it needed to be used. In certain ways, this might actually be a better approach which made more sense than the knob. It would provide one less thing under the dash to strike one's leg on and there would be far less chance that it would get "inadvertantly" turned, rendering the wipers "stationary". The latter condition could cause significant problems for some drivers who couldn't figure out the source of their "non-working" windshield wiper problem in the middle of a "down-pour".

[Terry F.]

Re: 68 wiper over ride knob? What did it look like

I have some magazines with pictures of 68 corvettes also some corvette news articles. I will try to glance through them. I think it is safe to say that some cars were delivered without them. What the relative cut offs and start up dates were is hard to tell. I think I can locate a knob like the first addition ops manual shows. I have an original black knob and a replacement knob. They are similar but easy to tell apart. If we figure this out everyone will either be throwing their knobs or looking for the ealier version knob or running to find an original all black knob. I need to look for it in my assembly manual next. Terry

[Dave F.]

Re: 68 wiper over ride knob? What did it look like

My '68 original Owner's Manual, printed in 1967, does show a knob for the wiper override switch on page 20. However, it is a b&w picture, so I can only say that "appears" to be plain black with no stainless insert. I will look at mine tomorrow (my '68 is an early June car) and let you know what it is (I can't remember if I even have one)

[Mark F.]

Re: 68 wiper over ride knob? What did it look like

I have a first edition (August 1967) owners manual and it shows three pictures of the knob. Two are fairly close up. Not knowing that a black knob existed, I always thought the picture looked like a chrome knob, but looking it over very close, I'm pretty sure the knob in the manual is black, so it looks like I've got to ditch my chrome one and locate a black one. Anyone know where to get one?

Mark Franken 39215

[Jim B.]

Re: 68 wiper over ride knob? What did it look like

I also have the first edition manual that was given to me when I bought my car new. It does show a knob in several of the pictures but the pictures are wrong for my car. It shows the knob to the left of the two vacuum controls but in my car it had the override shaft between the two vacuum override shafts. I discounted the picture because it is so obviously wrong.

It could be that the knob did not fit between the two vacuum controls which caused them to delete it until they came up with a new one.

Anyway, another mystery.

Jim Boudreaux