Wiper door screws

[Rich G.]

Does anyone know what size screws hold on the trim on the side of the wiper door on a 72. The assembly manual calls for part #3995050. I could not get them out at all and had to drill them out to get the trim off and have no clue what the are. For a little screw it sure is kicking my butt!

[Edward J.]

Re: Wiper door screws

Rich, I Had Those Screws Out When I Painted My 72 ,there Very Small Self Tapping Phillips With A Flat Head, Black Phos, Finish, I Would Bet You Might Be Able To Find Something Close At A Home Depot.

[Jack C.]

Re: Wiper door screws

Paragon has the kit 2298-K-8. $3.00

[Jeff G.]

Re: Wiper door screws

It's a shame that it came to a point of drilling them out. I saw a set of original unrestored wiper door screws go for $74 on Ebay last week. Ouch!

[Dick W.]

Re: Wiper door screws

Not self tapping screw. Machine screw thread with fillister head. Believe thread is 10-32

[Erv M.]

Re: Wiper door screws

With all this said and the old screws drilled out won't the original screws be too small now? If this is correct then the holes must be filled, drilled and tapped to receive the original screws.

Is this a correct statement?

[Jeff G.]

Re: Wiper door screws

Erv,
The wiper door is pot-metal that is painted body color and the metal brackets underneath that mate the screws might now need to be replaced. The thought of drilling out screws anytime / anywhere gives me a case of indigestion. I always first try some penetrating oil and let it sit over night.
Jeff

[Dick W.]

Re: Wiper door screws

There are several methods to repair damaged threads. Helicoils are my choice, others have products that work for them. The key is to do minimal damage when drilling the old screws out. Another product that I have used is Loctite Thread Repair. It is a two part epoxy. You fill the hole, coat the threads on the screw/bolt with a release agent, let the epoxy cure, then you can remove your screws. Wiper grills not needing a tight clamping action, this product would also work well here.

[Tom L.]

Re: Wiper door screws

I had a similar problem with thi=ose screws and did look into helicoils. Because of the small, odd size the tools and coils were very expensive.

[Erv M.]

Re: Wiper door screws

Dick,

You make a great point concerning the lack of clamping pressure required to hold ther grille onto the brackets. Someone mentioned using JB weld, drill out and retap to original size which would probably work for this application.

However, I like your suggestion as the repair appears to be simple and quick. Just the way I like it.

[Rich G.]

Re: Wiper door screws

Actually I soaked them for about a week and still couldn't budge them. Then I heated the area around the screws and they still wouldn't move. I even used an impact driver with no luck.Then I proceeded to go for the drill before I snapped the corners off. These mothers were so tough a regular drill bit wouldn't even scratch them. I then bought a cobalt drill bit and got through them. Right now I only used a 1/16 bit that's why I asked what the screw was so I can figure out my nest move. The screws from paragon do look like a regular sheet metal screw and not a machine screw.