Windshield wipers

[TWO LANE BLACK TOP]

I've been trying to find replacement windshield wipers for my 1997 Firebird.....

Have checked every Auto parts store in the area...To no avail...Everyplace says they are not in stock anywhere in their network....And they can't  get them...The 1998 to 2002  wipers are readily available but not 1993 to 1997..The 98 to 02 are standard 24 inch wipers whereas the 93 to 97 are 24 inch with a reverse J hook design which is exactly opposite of the 98 to 02....And they will not work on either of my cars..(96 and 97 ) Any ideas on where to source a couple of sets..

Have thought about just getting the 98 to 02s and swapping the blades..(refills)..but I really don't want too do that if I can avoid it...

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated...

Thanks..TLBT

Edited February 6, 2020 by TWO LANE BLACK TOP

[Ringo64]

Have you tried Rock Auto or other large online retailers? Hopefully just a shortage in your region. 

[TWO LANE BLACK TOP]

12 minutes ago, Ringo64 said:

Have you tried Rock Auto or other large online retailers? Hopefully just a shortage in your region. 

Yes tried Rock Auto....They swore they were the right ones...So I ordered them...The ones that I received were for 98 to 02..with the standard J hook setup......Of course they basically said that I was a dumb ass And didn't know what I was talking about and they assured me again that they were the right ones.....I was kinda pissed after that.....So I said the hell with it and sent them back....

Edited February 6, 2020 by TWO LANE BLACK TOP

[Ringo64]

1 minute ago, TWO LANE BLACK TOP said:

Yes tried Rock Auto....They swore they were the right ones...So I ordered them...The ones that I received were for 98 to 02..with the standard J hook setup......Of course they basically said that I was a dumb ass And didn't know what I was talking about and they assured me again that they were the right ones.....

Ouch, that’s rough of them. They used to be a partner here years ago. See if I have a contact for them still. 

[TWO LANE BLACK TOP]

1 minute ago, Ringo64 said:

Ouch, that’s rough of them. They used to be a partner here years ago. See if I have a contact for them still. 

Thanks....

[JUSTA6]

All this cheap plastic crap that breaks when you look at it wrong. HUGE pet peeve of mine esp when they charge ya $20.00 ea.  

[JUSTA6]

4 minutes ago, JUSTA6 said:

All this cheap plastic crap that breaks when you look at it wrong. HUGE pet peeve of mine esp when they charge ya $20.00 ea.  

Good Ol Anco's will always be a favorite.  Real metal and you can get refills for your originals or their replacements.

https://ancowipers.com/

Good luck.

[notallthere]

Forgive the stupid question but if you cannot find windshield wipers can you get a set of wiper arms from a wrecking yard for the newer car the install them on your car to ensure that you have a consistent supply?

[Ringo64]

12 hours ago, Ringo64 said:

Ouch, that’s rough of them. They used to be a partner here years ago. See if I have a contact for them still. 

 

12 hours ago, TWO LANE BLACK TOP said:

Thanks....

Found a general contact email we had for them. Reached out. Hopefully something comes of it  . 

[Last Indian]

16 hours ago, TWO LANE BLACK TOP said:

I've been trying to find replacement windshield wipers for my 1997 Firebird.....

Have checked every Auto parts store in the area...To no avail...Everyplace says they are not in stock anywhere in their network....And they can't  get them...The 1998 to 2002  wipers are readily available but not 1993 to 1997..The 98 to 02 are standard 24 inch wipers whereas the 93 to 97 are 24 inch with a reverse J hook design which is exactly opposite of the 98 to 02....And they will not work on either of my cars..(96 and 97 ) Any ideas on where to source a couple of sets..

Have thought about just getting the 98 to 02s and swapping the blades..(refills)..but I really don't want too do that if I can avoid it...

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated...

Thanks..TLBT

Two lane, several things here. First can you show pictures of the wiper arm, the wiper insert and the wiper blade? As that might help.

Additionally these things come to mind. Replacement blades are quite easy to put in, so are the wiper inserts bad, this is the part the actual rubber blade installs into? Are the wiper arms bad? If not I would tend to take that path. If not that and the wiper inserts are bad than there are a couple of other ways to go. One if you wish to keep the bird original than see if you can find what you need at a bone yard, make it as new as possible than store it. You should be able to use the parts from a Camaro of the same year if you can’t find a bird. If you can get more than one set to make new you’ll have one to use and one to store. 

 

If you can only find one than this other thought I have may work. See if the wiper spline on the other year birds are the same as your year, most likely they are. If so change out the whole assembly, arm, wiper insert and blade. Then keep the the OEM rebuilt units as backups for when you want them.

[TWO LANE BLACK TOP]

Sorry I've taken so long to respond...Have been dealing with weather related issues...(Downed trees and flooding)..

I found an old school hole in the wall parts store here in my area and they had exactly what I needed....

The main issue is the wiper arms on the early 4th gen F bodies are a reverse J hook design whereas the later model F cars..98 to 02 are a standard J hook design....The actual blades ( rubber part )themselves are the same....24 inch...and will interchange with each other....So in the future I can just get the later model ones and just swap out the blades....from the new ones to the old ones....

The first photo shows the reverse J hook design which the J part is up instead of facing the other way..J part down like the newer models..The next two photos are the blades for the earlier models...The last 2 photos are blades from the later models...and will not work on the earlier models..

Thanks for all the timely responses and they are appreciated....

TLBT..

[TWO LANE BLACK TOP]

On 2/5/2020 at 9:08 PM, Ringo64 said:

Ouch, that’s rough of them. They used to be a partner here years ago. See if I have a contact for them still. 

Thanks Ringo..

They contacted me and We are good to go...Found the blades somewhere else,but if anything pops up I will consider using them in the future.....

[Ringo64]

15 minutes ago, TWO LANE BLACK TOP said:

Thanks Ringo..

They contacted me and We are good to go...Found the blades somewhere else,but if anything pops up I will consider using them in the future.....

Anytime! Glad you guys were able to work out what happened