It’s been nearly 20 years since the last of our cars rolled off the assembly line, so some of the variations that weren't that common even when new have long since slipped by the wayside. This will be a refresher for those that have been around these cars for a while, and a history lesson for those that are fairly new to them. This particular feature was used on the '91-'92 Caprice European export models and would be seen concurrently with the T84 headlights. Note there was no equivalent headlight washer option offered for domestic production. Here is the system diagram as seen in the parts catalog:
If you go the online catalogs you will find that everything shows as discontinued except the hose clamps. In fact, nearly everything has been unavailable for some time now, as the reservoir and washer nozzle mounting shims had already transferred to Vintage Parts Inc. back in 2001. (Do a search on the ISSF if you're interested to see some of the previous discussions on the subject.)
Back in the '01-'02 time frame , when everything was still showing as available - or at least as limited availability - in the parts diagrams, I started accumulating the pieces to assemble a system. (This was even before I was able to locate a set of the export headlights, as one side had already been depleted.) Knowing that there were only a few remaining of certain pieces - VPI part searches show quantities in their inventory - I ordered 2 of the reservoirs and 2 pairs of the Caprice-specific nozzle mounting washers & spacers. (Since I had to pay shipping on the parts as well as full list price, it made sense to get a second set of those items while I still could.) The remaining parts were still available from my local dealership, so I ordered those pieces needed to complete one system for the time being.
Reservoir:
Nozzle Mounting Parts:
Recently I decided that I should inventory what was on hand, to see if I could put together a second system for a friend that already has a set of the T84's on his wagon. After spending a couple evenings digging through parts boxes, I rounded up everything I could remember accumulating over the years. I hoped that I might have collected enough miscellaneous headlamp washer components from other cars to make something work, but as it turned out what was there was either missing the one piece needed to make a full set, or the parts were so specialized that they wouldn't work anyway.
What I came up with was the aforementioned 2 reservoirs and the 2 sets of washers & spacers. A pair of nozzles and their retaining nuts, the proper reservoir cap, a combination tee fitting / anti-drainback valve, and lastly the washer pump rounded out the pieces for the first system. Meaning that another pair of nozzles and retaining nuts, a reservoir cap and a combination valve were going to be needed to complete the Caprice-specific hard parts. The mounting bolts and J-nuts, hose, clamps and washer pump were either generic GM hardware and/or used on other platforms, so they should be less difficult – and less expensive - to locate. So we'd work to obtain those pieces once he decided to install the system.
Nozzles:
Retaining nuts:
Combination valve:
Original headlight washer cap:
So I did the obligatory search of various websites to verify that everything I was looking for was truly not available – and as expected they weren't. I did locate an NOS cap that would match the windshield washer cap already on the car, but a better solution presented itself by purchasing 2 of the most recent design caps with the universal ISO-type symbols used instead of text. The thought being that if we couldn't obtain the correct headlight washer cap, at least the headlight & windshield reservoir caps would be both matching & new.
Original windshield washer cap:
New design windshield washer cap:
The nozzles, nuts and combination valve were going to be an issue. After some time on eBay searching for late model headlight washer parts that might work as substitutes for the discontinued originals, an unexpected solution presented itself when I noticed a combination valve listed for a BMW application that appeared to be the same as the Caprice unit. Well that was interesting - perhaps our washer components are not so esoteric after all.
Finding that piece of the puzzle implied that GM had either sent the design out for bid to a European manufacturer, or they had utilized an existing vendor already supplying the washer systems for their export models. In this instance, Hella was the OEM supplier for at least the combination valve, which would make sense as they would already have the necessary MOT / TUV certifications on their existing systems, thus easing the myriad regulatory approval processes.
Time to start looking at older European car parts. After some amount of searching, the washer nozzles for a Porsche 911 were noted to have a remarkable resemblance to the ones already on hand. Looking for that specific part number on Google images brought up enough close up photos to confirm that they almost had to be the same. Some rummaging around on eBay found the same combination valve as the BMW referenced above, but listed for a Porsche application instead. And with just a bit more creative searching, a vendor was found that had the nozzles, nozzle retaining nuts, and the correct combination valve for sale in their current listings. One stop shopping and combined shipping to boot!
Porsche sourced nozzles:
Retaining nuts:
Porsche sourced combination valve:
Once everything was in hand, comparing the assorted GM & Porsche parts confirmed that the parts were indeed the same pieces. The Porsche retaining nuts are a plastic material vs. the original chromed brass, but no matter as they remain interchangeable.
The parts collection was recently handed off to its new owner and he is already looking forward to making use of them. Stay tuned for more photos of the installation once it begins and some additional details of the completed system.
- J
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Thu Feb 04, 2016 7:52 am
