Need help with question on 1971 corvette visor install

[Michael V.]

I recently bought a pair of sun visors from a well known corvette interior supplier along with new support pins. I attempted to install yesterday and ran into the following problem - the visors simply "spin" on the support pins... I tried the original pins and had the same issue, so I know it's not the pins. Am I missing something? Maybe some other part that was not on the originals? The originals did stay up or down correctly, but one of the visors was broken internally, so that's why I was replacing. I'm a novice and have owned the car now for about 8 months. Any help would be appreciated, thanks, Mike.

[Joe L.]

Re: Need help with question on 1971 corvette visor install

I recently bought a pair of sun visors from a well known corvette interior supplier along with new support pins. I attempted to install yesterday and ran into the following problem - the visors simply "spin" on the support pins... I tried the original pins and had the same issue, so I know it's not the pins. Am I missing something? Maybe some other part that was not on the originals? The originals did stay up or down correctly, but one of the visors was broken internally, so that's why I was replacing. I'm a novice and have owned the car now for about 8 months. Any help would be appreciated, thanks, Mike.

Michael------


The problem you describe on the originals is a common one. For some reason, the visor pivoting action gets harder and harder as time goes on and, eventually, the effort to lower the visor causes internal breakage.

I would say that the replacements you've obtained are defective or improperly designed. There were no other parts of the original visor system other than the visors and the support pins.

[Michael V.]

Re: Need help with question on 1971 corvette visor install

Thank you. I called the supplier of the visors and am waiting for a return call from technical support. I think there is a problem with the visors, and you helped me confirm that. Mike.

[Larry M.]

Re: Need help with question on 1971 corvette visor install

GM cars in perhaps the late 1970's to late 1980's used a thin white plastic bushing or sleeve pressed inside the visor to reduce the overall inner diameter of the pivot hole, to provide a bit more resistance as the visor rotated on the support rod. I have no idea of the part number; I have no idea if it's still available; and I have no idea if it will work in your application (although I'm fairly certain one was not originally used on your year car). If some GM dealer does have one in stock, it can't cost more than $0.50, and might be worth a try.
Larry

[Joe L.]

Re: Need help with question on 1971 corvette visor install

GM cars in perhaps the late 1970's to late 1980's used a thin white plastic bushing or sleeve pressed inside the visor to reduce the overall inner diameter of the pivot hole, to provide a bit more resistance as the visor rotated on the support rod. I have no idea of the part number; I have no idea if it's still available; and I have no idea if it will work in your application (although I'm fairly certain one was not originally used on your year car). If some GM dealer does have one in stock, it can't cost more than $0.50, and might be worth a try.
Larry

Larry------


Any parts internal to the 1972 and earlier visor and originally part of the visor assembly were never available separately from GM. At least, they were never parts cataloged for the application. Is it possible that such parts were actually in the GM parts system but used for some other application? Yes, that's possible.

[Larry M.]

Re: Need help with question on 1971 corvette visor install

I found the sleeve I was speaking of:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/e-NOS-69-75-Camaro-Impala-Chevelle-Sunvisor-Sunshade-Support-Sleeves-4-8740843-/221766525909?hash=item33a250a3d5&vxp=mtr

In this illustration, it's item #1: http://gmpartswiki.com/getpage?pageid=167808

At one time it was part # 8740843, later superceded by 12337899. It looks like it's been discontinued for a few years; although a google search of the later number turns up a number of vendors that may have stock available. As far as pricing, the ebay item above (of which I have no interest) looks to be far away from my earlier $0.50 guesstimate.

As an alternative to that, or any, sleeve, wrapping a layer or two of some tape around your support rod would increase it's diameter, and possibly add enough resistance to keep your visor in place.

Larry

[Joe L.]

Re: Need help with question on 1971 corvette visor install

I found the sleeve I was speaking of:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/e-NOS-69-75-Camaro-Impala-Chevelle-Sunvisor-Sunshade-Support-Sleeves-4-8740843-/221766525909?hash=item33a250a3d5&vxp=mtr

In this illustration, it's item #1: http://gmpartswiki.com/getpage?pageid=167808

At one time it was part # 8740843, later superceded by 12337899. It looks like it's been discontinued for a few years; although a google search of the later number turns up a number of vendors that may have stock available. As far as pricing, the ebay item above (of which I have no interest) looks to be far away from my earlier $0.50 guesstimate.

As an alternative to that, or any, sleeve, wrapping a layer or two of some tape around your support rod would increase it's diameter, and possibly add enough resistance to keep your visor in place.

Larry

Larry-------


This sleeve was never cataloged for a Corvette application although it's possible it might work for a Corvette application. The design of the 68-72+ Corvette sun visors was different than that used for other Chevrolet cars. In the case of the Corvette sun visors, even if this sleeve would work, I don't see how it could be installed without removing the vinyl cover of the sun visor. In addition, if the internal frame of the sun visor is broken, as it apparently is in this (and most) cases, that presents an additional repair problem.