zreplacing Window Squeegees

[SLEEK Z]

A "Wood???????" window guide roller inside a S30 door? Now, that's a "good one". Whoever came up with that one should also show us all a photo or stop smok'in whatever he is smoking while working on his car.

I've parted out over 300 S30 bodies and all rollers I have salvaged from the early model doors is made of black rubber and are attached to a spring steel clip support. Still looking for my first "wood" find.

btw, it is quite common for the spring steel and roller to cease serving it's function due to loss of it's tensil strength or break in two at a manufaturing crease in the metal and fall down inside the door. Many new Z owners take advantage of the low cost inspection service I offer here in the SF Bay Area in which I look for all the typically hidden damage and aging problems not obvious to a new Z car owner. One of the first areas of the car that I zero in on looking for problems is that of the doors. Broken window roller clips, dovetails, foreward welded seams and deteriorated fuzz rubber frame channels are the most commonly found problems.

Sleek Z

[GunnerRob]

Originally posted by SLEEK Z

A "Wood???????" window guide roller inside a S30 door? Now, that's a "good one". Whoever came up with that one should also show us all a photo or stop smok'in whatever he is smoking while working on his car. Sleek Z

I could be very wrong. The roller I had was broken as you described and had 30+ years of crud on it that made it appear to be made of wood. I thought it was kind of weird to be made of wood, but I've seen some pretty strange things used for the sake of cutting costs. Thanks for the correction.

[SLEEK Z]

Rob,

I hope you understood that I was only meaning to poke some good natured fun at your "wood" part analysis comment. Its understandable that anyone that is new to poking around the insides of a newly acquired "OLD" car may mistake some materials used for good reasons you mention. I see those rubber rollers frequently covered with aged, hard paint overspray from cheap paint jobs or coated in aged crude formed while car sat under a tree in a pasture for several years before again being resurected for use.

Now, if you really want to hear a story about "Wood Parts" everywhere, some time ask me about the 33 chevy Pick Up I purchased just after I got out of the Navy in the 70's. This vehicle really was half metal and half rotting oak wood. For instance, all the cab sheet metal was literally attached to a complexly crafted oak wood skeleton made with craftsman techniques that would have required me to become a master wood worker just to restore the thing for the road again. I had a huge kitchen and breakfast room in in a duplex that I then rented in San Jose while going to San Jose State. So huge in fact that I hauled virtually the whole partially disassembled chevy truck cab sections and fenders inside and worked on further disassembly in the evenings after classes trying to carefully salvage as much of the rotten and disentergrating wood skeleton as I could for purposes of trying to recreate these pieces some how later on.

Never did finish that project before I sold it, but me and a retired 80 year old mechanic buddy of mine did manage to fire the engine on the first try by pouring gas into the opening of the one barrel carb and using the hand crank to manually hand crank the engine to fire. We were friggin shocked and dismayed when it started on the 2nd crank! Surprised and scared us both nearly to death when it fired after sitting out in a pasture for nearly 10 years prior! The RPMs just kept increasing and we had to think fast as to how to shut the wild thing down before it blew up or threw a rod. Great memories related to "wooden" cars.

Sleek Z

[GunnerRob]

No offense taken. Clarification on things like this is one of the reasons I appreciate the members of this club. One can never be TOO informed.

Now I know to be suspicious if someone tries to sell me a "wooden" window roller!

[TomoHawk]

how about a set of aluminum window squeegees? Mine are so hard they tink and chip/crack like metal when you tap them.

[SLEEK Z]

Gheez, over the years, several times I have looked with disgust at stacks of non dinged stainless steel door strips with decent conditiion rubber squeegee pieces intact, and just tossed them in the metal scrap bin out of annoyance with how difficult it is to store them without damaging them over a period of time. Now I regret it because I am already seeing the increasing amount of demand hitting me for non bent or dinged ones with soft rubber still intact.

The good news is that I probably do have a few decent ones still in stock that have decent rubber attached. Not perfect nor like-new, mind you, but way better than average. Biggest worry I have about selling them is how to package and ship them economically so they will not get bent up during transit. Any suggestions?

Sleek Z

[GunnerRob]

Originally posted by SLEEK Z

Gheez, over the years, several times I have looked with disgust at stacks of non dinged stainless steel door strips with decent conditiion rubber squeegee pieces intact, and just tossed them in the metal scrap bin out of annoyance with how difficult it is to store them without damaging them over a period of time. Now I regret it because I am already seeing the increasing amount of demand hitting me for non bent or dinged ones with soft rubber still intact.

The good news is that I probably do have a few decent ones still in stock that have decent rubber attached. Not perfect nor like-new, mind you, but way better than average. Biggest worry I have about selling them is how to package and ship them economically so they will not get bent up during transit. Any suggestions?

Sleek Z

Try mailing tubes purchased at a blueprint reproduction shop. They are usually inexpensive, and are made of somewhat thick cardboard and include plastic end caps. You could secure them at the ends with wadded up newspaper so that they wouldn't slide or wabble inside. They shouldn't weight more than a half pound, so the cost of shipping should be reasonable.

[SLEEK Z]

Gheez, over the years, several times I have looked with disgust at stacks of non dinged stainless steel door strips with decent conditiion rubber squeegee pieces intact, and just tossed them in the metal scrap bin out of annoyance with how difficult it is to store them without damaging them over a period of time. Now I regret it because I am already seeing the increasing amount of demand hitting me for non bent or dinged ones with soft rubber still intact.

The good news is that I probably do have a few decent ones still in stock that have decent rubber attached. Not perfect nor like-new, mind you, but way better than average. Biggest worry I have about selling them is how to package and ship them economically so they will not get bent up during transit. Any suggestions?

Sleek Z

[TomoHawk]

We still need to figure out what rubber piece will replace the original one. If I ever need to do it again, I would rather just replace the rubber. We need he exact part & #, not just "something similar, from the auto parts store."

Or, if somebody knows already, I might send back the new mouldings I just ordered. and save $$$$

[SLEEK Z]

Not sure how long you've owned a Z car nor how long you have been looking, so you may not know the drill when it comes to Nissan's non published attitudes toward owners of Classic Datsun vehicles over 10 years old, but I am pretty certain that Nissan will never sell the rubber squeege piece by itself to you. I doubt that they even list a part # for it in the final parts fiche, but I have not yet checked. I did check my Z Car Parts Interchange Guide and it is not listed in there either.

On the other hand, I suspect you might be able to find something close by looking through catalogs like JC Whitney and special automotive supply catalogs to the general industry.

[TomoHawk]

Isn't that what I was just saying?

[St.stephen]

Just recently going through this, the chrome piece is just pinched onto the top of the door and are available through VB for 59.99 a piece. This includes the rubber "Squeegee" as well as the chrome strip.