North American Turbocoupe Organization



88 Inside window dew wipe replacement options?
boboli Offline
Member
#1
While I'm fixing my window motor, I thought I might see if there is a way to replace the inner dew wipes on my bird. The outside ones are still nice and soft. The inner ones are rock hard, have cracks in them, and when the window goes up and down, the dew wipes leave smudges/ streaks on the glass.
Any one come up with a replacement for these? I'm not interested in used ones,but hopefully a source for some new dew wipes that will work (and with not too much Mac Guyver'ing)
thanks
1988 turbo tbird, 5spd, 140k, all stock except boost control valve.
1986 dodge omni glh turbo, 111k, my money pit.
1989 mustang Lx 5.0 convertible, tropical yellow/ tan interior, 1of only 144 made, 164k, aod, all stock including overheating TFI!
89 Jaguar XJS convertible, LT1 conversion, now fighting the prince of darkness (aka Lucas electronics)
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Scott Mabe Offline
Member
#2
I wonder if the ones from Fox mustangs would work?
1987 Turbo Coupe
1988 Thunderbird parts car/ possibly street/strip car
1990 F-250HD 460ci
2001 Pontiac Montana (wife's ride)

-PLEASE FORGIVE TYPOS, I USE SWYPE ON MY PHONE-
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vinnietbird Offline
Senior Member
#3
No, Mustang pieces will not work.
1988 Thunderbird. No details will be given or spoken of.
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boboli Offline
Member
#4

Ive been meaning to write this for a few months now. Finally, after 6 yrs of off and on again searching I did find aftermarket replacements for the inner dew wipes. It's funny how Ford dew wipes seem to wear completely different depending on the car. Mustang exterior tend to dry up but my tbird's outer wipes are still soft (ish). My inner we're hard as rock. I couldn't find anything similar on sites like metro and others. A few months ago I finally broke a chunk out of the inner dew wipes and I had to find a replacement. I found a place called convertible top specialists. They have a weather stripping that is a perfect match to our inner wipes.
http://www.topsdown.com/Window-sweep-mat...p1159.html
The website says they are for gm cars but I ordered them and they are exactly the same. The thing is they are exactly the same for the dew wipes only, you have to attach them to the originals. The tbird dew wipes are actually a separate u channel shaped piece that fits over the top edge of the door. This new wipe is exactly the same as the dew wipe section on the original. Since my originals we're hard as rock, I broke the away from the u shaped part of the original wipe trim piece. I then used a sanding wheel to make everything even. Then I aligned the new piece along were I had removed the old dew wipe rubber. Now you need to secure the new piece to the old. There's probably all sorts of ways that work, but I drilled holes and then used wire that I twisted tight to hold them. I used this method on another car and it's still good, 8 yrs later. One thing to take into consideration is that the rubber of the dew wipes angle into the corners of the window frame so don't cut the dew wipe rubber to be equal to the metal or you won't get complete coverage of the glass by the wipe.
Here's the original wipe
https://goo.gl/photos/jWtCX4f9zFhtrp8KA

Here's the new one
https://goo.gl/photos/CVsjEQC8zdvky3159

This is the new one laying on the old. It covers everything pretty well once you remove the old rubber
https://goo.gl/photos/N75pen74Chnji5dDA

How I attached them
https://goo.gl/photos/UQsuZRgoUDdwT1zg7

Installed on the original wipes
https://goo.gl/photos/Wq2phF8XhwEvAk6G6
https://goo.gl/photos/T8zjPBh4QMrX4dME6

Installed
https://goo.gl/photos/cSy7nbtstzXVhC2X8
This shows how the rubber needs to be cut to fit properly on one part of the door
https://goo.gl/photos/hjMjpq7JAs6Jk8EM7
I did find I needed to adjust the wipe on the driver's side by tweeking it a bit so it would actually wipe the glass.

You need the 4ft sections so they are $40. Shipping from FL to Az was another $17, but if you're closer it maybe cheaper. They package them very securely.
It wasn't a hard job and I completed it in an afternoon. My work wasn't concourse grade, but the wipes are now soft and aren't scratching the windows anymore. I had tint reinstalled today because I know the wipes won't be destroying it. I hope this will help you. If you have any ?'s just ask and I'll try to answer them
1988 turbo tbird, 5spd, 140k, all stock except boost control valve.
1986 dodge omni glh turbo, 111k, my money pit.
1989 mustang Lx 5.0 convertible, tropical yellow/ tan interior, 1of only 144 made, 164k, aod, all stock including overheating TFI!
89 Jaguar XJS convertible, LT1 conversion, now fighting the prince of darkness (aka Lucas electronics)
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Pete D Offline
Administrator
#5
Good article Matt. We have been needing something like this! Thanks.
Pete Dunham


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