Hi Everyone,
So My wipers need rebuild kits for my 1979 MCI MC9. However, the front is made to look similar to a 96A3. The black band to get to the actual motors on the outside is one solid piece of fiberglass. I am assuming that it was made at R&M fiberglass which unfortunately is no longer in business. My problem is that with all this heavy caulking/sealant around this solid band, she started to crack trying to remove it. Could I replace that black band with actual 96A3 parts? I'll attach a picture here to see what you all think. Please note it is the black fiberglass band around the wipers. I greatly appreciate your thoughts and help.
Warm Regards,
WildRoutes
Make sure the wiper motors aren't removed from inside of coach. Mine are, although it is a GMC.
Those false fronts... all bets are off, they were the coach business equivalent to putting lipstick on a pig...
Quick and dirty "facelift" to fool the customer that it was a newer coach.
They were typically slapped on over the existing body panels, with as little removal of what's underneath. The more you removed, the more work, the more cost, the less point to doing it in the first place.
The large amount of caulk is a sign. As you have discovered, no facility to do any maintenance on the wipers...
I'd finish removing, see what you've got, measure a bit, and then whether you re-build your own part, or get some 96A bits will be easier to decide.
Happy coaching!
Buswarrior
This the front of my 1989 MCI 96A3.
The trim pieces you are talking about across the front are made from Fiberglas.
Three pieces that screw on, The center piece with the MCI on it is held on by 4 screws.
Under that are screws for the two side pieces, the 2 remaining screws on each side are around the side of the bus and those pieces come off.
The wiper arms need to be removed to get them off.
Underneath the trim pieces on each side the wipers and wiper motors are mounted on rectangular panels that screw on and are accessed from outside.
From the looks of your bus, if you could find them, these trim pieces could work, the wiper placement would be key.
The same pieces from a 102A3 would work as well, the 96A3 and 102A3 are the same size across the front, the 102 grows the extra 6 inches over the length of the door.
(https://busconversionmagazine.com/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.peterbylt.com%2Fmci96a3%2Ffront.jpg&hash=332822b2060a33549b594e3ca1728af6926aa4ca)
Peter
Hey Chessie and BusWarrior
Thank you I certainly double check. MCI's usually built two detachable plates that mount over the wipers for easy access and repair. However, mine doesn't have that due to this weird modification. I am going to do what BusWarrior said and see for myself what is underneath. It would be a real shame if the original SS panels are still under there. My wife really likes the modern look of her. So I will certainly take measurements and see if I can get some 96A bits to modify her back since the 96A is the same width as the MC9. Thank you all for your input I would not have thought about BusWarriors statement, but the more I look at it they really did do a bad job to her facelift. I think I'll send pics to the TV show "Botched" ;D
Thank you Peterbylt for using your bus as an example!
Looking at mine she definitely has the 4 screws around the MCI logo and the bolts next to the wiper are there but massive amounts of sealant caked on it. I would almost guess that it could fit with minor modifications. My only concern is the where the MCI logo and wipers are. My plastic piece is a consistent width, whereas the 96A3 and 102A3 have that little extra width. I'm wondering if that would cause problems to the lower panel of my white piece.