VCCA Home Forums GENERAL DISCUSSION General Discussions Wiper arms and blades

At one time wiper blades and arms were polished stainless steel- shiny. At some time the federal government mandated that all of these must be brushed or satin finished to help reduce the glare to the occupants. My '51 has all shiny parts. Does anyone know when that gov't mandate came to be? Thanks for your help.
Jeff

as far as corvettes go, the satin wipers were installed on mid-66 production corvettes. early 66 vets , built before 10-1-65, had polished stainless pieces.i doubt the passenger cars and trucks followed similar dates. mike mccagh

I was not aware that the conversion to stain and ultimately black wiper components was government mandated. I thought it was just styling.

That was one of the goverrrments ideas to prevent sun glare on cars built from the year 1966 nd up.Covered such things as back-up lamps,out side mirror, etc.

When the wiper arms were exposed they were brushed silver and and hidden wipers were dull black.

Rusty,
You may be right but I was told that it was government mandated for safety. If it was just for styling, does anyone know when the full size cars switched?
Mike,
I didn't realize that the switch was so late. I thought it was sometime in the late 50's. Original Trico replacements from the 50's (Rainbow with the raised dots on the rubber) came polished and satin.
Jeff

Alll makes of 1966 cars had this requirement.

ChevNut,
Thank you for the info. From your response it appears that is was requirement and not a styling choice. Coupling this with Mike's posting, maybe the requirement went into effect on Jun.1, 1966.
Jeff

I doubt it was a clear-cut date as far as change over. It was probably one of those deals where a date was set, but if manufacturers still had stock of parts to use, some cars came one way and some another until stock ran out.
My 67 Cougar (built Nov 1 of 1966) has polished arms on it, and lots of other nice shiny stuff that causes glare.
David

t was very clear cut with the federal government. All cars assemblled after Jam. 1 1966 were required to have the long list of things required by the government for saftey reasons.
I suspect some automobile companies used up or reduced thr pre 1966 inventory to use them up, especially on lower production models.

That’s basically what I meant. The actual implementation date on various lines was inconsistent.

I did find a reference to the regulation: J942 196511 issued 11-1-65. I think that the above posts are correct that the manufacturer was allowed to deplete existing inventory first. There is no way that a regulation changing manufacturing standards issued on Nov. 1 could be completely implemented in 60 days. On low volume like Corvette maybe close but on high volume like full size Chevrolets or Fords, those parts might be in the pipeline for 4 months.
Jeff

This is interesting. I have an 1987 Monte Carlo LS with what I believe are the original wiper arms. They are polished and not black or satin. On this car they do retract below the hood when not in use. The back side of them (facing the driver) is not chromed. The blades themselves are standard replaceable black ones. Best picture I have showing any part of the wipers is attached. There is an issue that they do not always fully retract. I wonder if there was an exception if the wipers retracted below the hood.