A dumb guy's guide to vacuum headlight's/ wiperdoor's

[RalleyRed]

I need one.




My brothers 69 has been off the road since about 1984.

We've had a hell of a time figuring out the dreaded headlight/ wiperdoor setup.

I know this has been gone over a hundred different times and ways.
I need to throw a different twist at ya.
I need to know how many inches of vacuum it takes to operate this system. He's got about 10 inches of vacuum while my 68 has a good 15 inches vacuum
Is there a guide to help a guy route the hoses.
I realize that there were colored dots at one time ( not any more).

I took the complete dash out minus the top dash so getting to everything will be easy.

Of course my 68 is different than the 69 or I'd take my working one apart and write the dumb guy's guide myself

I was able to open his headlights and operate the wiper door canister by hooking my cars vacuum to his.

The only switch that worked in his car was the headlight doors override switch.

If possible I'd like a point to point, port to port guide.
;help ;
;stupid

Rick

 

[Scott81]

Rick,

Do a search on Yhaoo or other place for "Vette Vaccum." There's a guy named Chris I believe who wrote a guide for Corvette vacuum problems, but for the life of me I can't remember the link and I'm too lazy to search for it

OK, I couldn't sleep so I went looking, here's the main page Vette Vacuum Page and the 68-82 Headlight/Wiper door page the guide sells for $12.50

You may also order one by credit card (see below), PayPal, E-Gold, or send a check or money order for $12.50 to me (the author, and I'll autograph it for you). If you tell me what year Vette you own when you order, I'll include a diagram tailored to your Vette, free of extra charge.

 

[Fred's Vettes]

Rick, ZIP products has the Vacuum Trouble shooting Guide on sale for less than $9. Just ordered one yesterday.
Fred

 

[topless82vette]

heres a question on a vehicle that suffers low engine vacuum couldn't you simply add what buick did to there grand national a vacuum pump or would it be a complicated thing to do, and do they draw only a certain amount of vacuum, my headlights are super slow to

 

[Fred's Vettes]

I just checked the vacuum on my 74 and it was at a steady 20 on the vacuum gage. ( Mighty Vac gage ). If your vette is reading a low vacuum maybe a check on intake leaks or carb base might be a problem. If you check directly from the intake port and it is higher than checking through your headlight lines you may have a leak in one of those lines. If you want to know what the variation of readings means I'll be happy to get them from the manual and let you know after the fireworks today.
A good vacuum should be from 15 to 22 and steady from the manifold. Fred

 

[JohnZ]

Probably needs most all new vacuum hoses, maybe some filters, check valves and relays too. Forget Zip for this - Dr. Rebuild has absolutely the best diagrams (different for every year, not one generic diagram for all years like most of the others are), and his replacement hose kits are the ONLY ones that are correct (colors, hose diameter, wall thickness, etc.). Nobody ever expected all those vacuum hoses to last 30 years, and it only takes one leaky hose to cripple the whole system.

 

[RalleyRed]

Thanks to all of you.

Unfortunately I've got all new Dr. Rebuild hoses on it.

If you reread my post you'll see that hooking my cars vacuum to his shows that the hoses, relays,check vavle, and filters are okay.
I turn my lights on and his lights open, I turn on my wipers and his canister works. All my car is doing is supplying the vaccum source,that proves to me that the problem is inside the cockpit.

My problem is the fact that the hoses going into the cockpit were distrubed and there are no colored dots to tell us which hose goes where. I'm talking about the headlight switch, the vacuum selaniod (sp)?, the override switches.

All the diagrams I've seen so far just show the hoses going from point A to point B assuming that the dots are still there and /or you just taking a hose off and putting a new one on.

Believe me when I get this fixed your going to see the easiest to follow guide ever.

I'll check out all the guides you've mentioned

Right now with the dash out so I can follow every hose and draw it out so that even a novice like me can figure it out.

Thanks again guys,

Rick

 

[gary b.]

another dumb guy,s question:


what is a wiperdoor?

 

[Scott81]

another dumb guy,s question:


what is a wiperdoor?

Earlier model C3's had a shorter hood and a vacuum activated wiper cover that pops up when you turn on the switch, just something else to fix