'71 Electra - Wiper Blade Question

[ninjagin]

Hiho,

So I'm working my way through the piddly little details on my Electra, and I've come to the point where the car needs replacement wiper blades. It sports ANCOs, and the blade spreaders have a silver-ish finish. The blades themselves are the kind that have the strip of steel on the back edge.

It seems like every auto parts place I go to has "replacement blades", but what they really mean is the whole kit -- blades on all-new spreaders, and they're all flat black. The spreaders on the car are held to the wiper arms by those little pins, and I know that I can buy all new blades and spreaders to fit. I'm hesitant, though, because I'd rather keep things as original as possible. I suppose I could just buy new ones and paint the spreaders silver, but what I really want are refills.

I know that you can still get refills for the more common newer spreaders (Bosch, etc.), but is there any place that sells the replacement ANCO blades refills with the steel strip? I look online, here and there, and you can rarely find a decent picture to tell if they'll work.

Please pardon the dopey question, and if I'm giving too much thought to something ridiculously unimportant, that's good feedback to have. Advice appreciated.

Many thanks,

-- Randy

[old-tank]

Nothing at all dopey or unimportant. I'd like know the answer too. I put the flat black ones on my 76 Delta (probably same wiper) and they will not park completely (too big)....so in addition to looking wrong they work wrong too.

Willie

[Guest 2manyprojects]

I don't know of the refills but the bare aluminum wiper themselves, complete with rubber you can get on ebay for around $30 shipped. Just look for the correct size, I'm not sure what the Electra has. Here is a link to some, I've bought these in the past for my cars:

18" Trico wiper blade 70-77 Chevy Camaro w/ dbl arm | eBay

[NTX5467]

I concur, NOT a flaky question at all! GM used that design/brand of wiper blades for years after your car was built.

As for what you'll find online, it's probably the same stuff you can find locally. Many of the "universal fit" blades are TALLER than the blades you have, too, as Old-Tank alludes to. For clearance of the rear of the hood, yours need to be the same height to park properly.

What I've ended up using is just the refills of the proper length. Usually, these are somewhat inexpensive AND are plastic where they slide into the wiper host assy. The end clip is a "snap-in" piece on the lh end of the wiper blade.

A few years ago, I found some (very similar) wiper blades at Pep Boys, with the brand name of "Exact Fit" on them. I thought I bought one to see how they'd work on my '77 Camaro, but I couldn't find it just now when I looked in the trunk. Key thing was that it was not a universal fit/adapter required situation for the pin style wiper arms, but had the ONE center hole that snapped directly onto the GM wiper arm. Chrysler also had similar blades up into the earlier 1980s!

Trico's website has the "Exact Fit" product, but they're generally the taller design bridge, which is too tall. On RockAuto.com, one of the pictures for the "Exact Fit" is the one like's in the eBay reference . . . for the same part number.

In the world of GM Parts, I tried to order some blades 15 years ago, for various '60s cars for customers and also for my Camaro. Even if the part number was not changed, the blades they shipped were NOT correct for the vehicles they were ordered for, but "updated" versions that were not anywhere close to being correct.

In many cases, the two stainless steel pieces were somewhat problematic. Having to coordinate getting them engaged in their particular slots, then sliding the whole "thing" sequentially into the blade tabs, then getting the tangs to compress and clilck-in at the end, sometimes added many new words to a person's vocabulary . . . or brought them out of hiding. The refills I've been using, the stiff plastic spine, with grooves on each side, and the snap-on clip, work pretty good, are much easier to install, and have decent durability for the price.

Funny thing is that when I went to the ANCO Wiper Blades website, then clicked on FAQs, the illustrations they use are the rubber blade with the stainless steel reinforcement, but NONE of their current products seems to use that configuration. Looks like their new Contour blade has a side pin fitting closest to the blade, but it's not a blade like you've now got.

Looks like you'll be either search for "new" wiper blades in the salvage yard and then use the refills (as I mentioned). I'm not sure what the restoration vendors are selling, now, as in Corvette, Chevelle, Camaro, etc for "correct" wiper blades. The ones Shawn ref'd are accurate for my '77 Camaro and your Electra (same length).

Just some thoughts . . .

NTX5467

[ninjagin]

Just wanted to follow up on this.

I ordered 2 of these, at Amazon:

Amazon.com: ACDelco 8-5184 All Season Wiper Blade Refill, 18" (Pack of 1): Automotive

"ACDelco 8-5184 All Season Wiper Blade Refill, 18" (Pack of 1)"

They say "Pack of 1", but there are 2 blades in there.

Getting the old ones off was a bit of a task, but with a little "encouragement" to get the little nubs out of the way, they came out. New ones snapped into place with relative ease. They seem to be on there pretty firmly, and they fit quite well. I -=did not=- replace the whole blade assembly. The original spreaders are still there, but now with new blades. They park like they should, with no rubbing, and there are no more streaks!

Anyhoo, I hope this helps other folks who are looking for replacement blades.

Thanks again to everyone for helping me along the way.

-- Randy

[NTX5467]

Thanks for the update!

NTX5467