Wiper Blades vs Wiper Blade Refills?
 

The wiper blades on my '66 star chief are falling apart, so I went to PepBoys and looked thru their parts book, found the part number for my car, and bought a pair.

Brought them home, and boom, I have no idea how to get them off. They appear to be riveted to the arm. After fooling with them for a few minutes, I realize it is just the actual rubber blade("refill") that comes out to be replaced.

Well Ive already got these new wipers, I figure I might as well use them, and I bet they will wipe better than just replacing the "refill". But how do I attach them? Or are the parts books wrong and they wont actually fit?

http://www.rockauto.com/catalog/moreinfo.php?pk=532584

thanks

I'm in the same predicament
 

I can't get blade refills anywhere around me, just the entire blade assembly.

Here's a picture of the arm & blade joint:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/10737617@N00/7988807433/

Anybody? Anybody? What do you all use for wiper blade refills on your big cars?

I buy NORS on E-Bay when I can find them. I have not tried to retro-fit any yet, but I thought that the last ones I bought for my '01 GMC that you had to break the Stainless to fit looked like they could be modified to fit. The issues I had before were getting ones that were 18", but now the break to fit look long enough.

Plus, I use Rain-X so I never have to have good wipers anyway. The slope on my '66 is such that everything blows right off and the '63 is fine too, but I stole good wipers off another car for the '63.

Napa 18" are 601847

i got those slide in refills from napa,but that was 10 yrs. ago. that was for my 63 bonne. in the near future i will need them for my 63 GP when it is finished

I think that they are supposed to be 17.5". You have to use refills on these cars.

Amazon. Anco U-18R Wiper Blade Refill. Fit perfectly on my 66.

Ken,

Do you have the Trico arms?

If so, I am going to order a set. I have some NOS ones, but I need some on my driver too.

Thanks

Yep, they are Trico. I believe they are stock - the previous owner never changed anything about the car...

There are Anco and Trico styles in use, but the "refill" (rubber w/ the slotted stainless strip) /should/ work in either...I stocked up on 18" refills from NAPA but an eBay buy should also work fine.

Of course, this is assuming you have the center-park wipers, vs the single-speed type that park to one side (which are 16" long, IIRC).

Mine will be here in a day or so. I am looking forward to slapping them in right away. I was just getting ready to use the snap to fit size when this thread popped up.

The saving grace for all of us is the popularity of trucks & SUVs that have beeg wipers.

It's best if you try to get the wiper blade. Having to change the whole arm part is a pain and more costly. Just measure the legnth of the rubber and go get that legnth. I know that it's getting hard to find them but if you want the orignal arms and pieces to stay on your car you have to do some looking.

If you think it is hard now, It was really hard before E-Bay etc. I have a set that I drilled the rivets out of and replaced the whole assembly so I could replace regularly. Fortunately, I have enough parts cars to rectify that now, but when it was my driver & I had to have them there was really no other choice.

I totally agree that it is better to adapt blades whatever way possible vs. the whole assembly.

Just purchased a pair. looks like on ebay this guy has the best deal. Looks to be the only person selling them in pairs as well.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/230884743784

Looks like he also discounts shipping for multiple purchases (-3.99 for each addl set)

Thanks for the info guys!!

$7.10 on Amazon with free shipping if anyone is Ebayphobic.

One thing nobody mentioned (probably out of kindness) is how lame it is that the wiper arms do not swing out on these cars. It sucks to work on them, leaning over the fender. This is one of a very few design flaws I have found.

I shut the ignition off when the wiper reaches the edge of the windshield.

Put them on today, but not sure they are going to work under duress. The clips on the end are different than the others. They can slide back & forth 1/4"+- and may come loose at one end of the arm. Will have to try them in the rain before I am convinced. One thing I know is that everything has to be perfect with a wiper blade or the result is not good.

As I suspected, the clip on the end of these is wrong. It will fit and hold the blade in until it makes repeated cycles.

What happens is, since it is reversed, when the force of the wiper moves toward the outboard side, it compresses the spring action of the clip, making it narrower than the opening in the arm. Eventually it slips out, and the blade moves toward the outboard side. I am going to try it reversed in the arm, but I don't think that will work. Might try to use the old clip in this blade, but the slot & holes are configured differently. Maybe I can just change out the rubber. The assembly is slightly longer with shorter amount of rubber on the one I took out.

The one that functions right is on top. The end of the clip acts as a stop for the blade in the arm when it pushes to the outboard side. If you look at it closely, you can see the scratches where the arm moves on the clip and stops at the end. The # on the top one is USA 5 8A17C.

Compressing the tangs in the end of the arm is not recommended since these are fragile & difficult to replace when you go too far.

http://i300.photobucket.com/albums/n...e/DSCF0209.jpg