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My car is missing the wires that connect the rear screen defroster. The car is an early ‘79, which I hear has a different set up than the later cars. Since I can’t find any photos of the wires for early or late cars, I don’t know what I am even looking for. I imagine there is some sort of coiled wire which plugs into the lead on the glass and to the lead on the car. There are likely clips that connect to the struts to guide the wire. Would it be black or color coordinated to the car?
if you have any photos of either the early or late configuration that would be very helpful. If you have the parts, well that would be awesome.
They are black coiled wire on my tan interior 83. There's one on each side next to the hinge for the hatch.
Is it possible that you have a replacement glass hatch that includes the rear defroster, perhaps not all cars had the rear defroster?
My car has both the dash switch and the connectors on both sides of the hatch. Pretty sure the glass is correct for the car as it does not have a rear wiper as is found on the later FB’s. Mine is a May of ‘78 build date, so pretty early. I’d love to find pictures of what should be there.
I have a 1979 with a March 1978 build date. I'll get some pictures.
The wires that plug into the glass are part of the rear glass struts. Someone could have replaced the struts and not replaced the wires from the original struts. The strut itself acts like a switch. When open, the connection of not made.
This is from the 1979 parts manual. You can kind of see the wires at the top and bottom of the strut in the center.
Last edited by KansasCityREPU; Mar 19, 2025 at 09:17 PM.
The wires that plug into the glass are part of the rear glass struts. Someone could have replaced the struts and not replaced the wires from the original struts.
KC is most likely correct. All 79's have the same setup. Right around where the strut attaches to the body you will find a small opening in the plastic with an electrical spade connector inside. This is where a wire was attached. The wire is/was attached to the strut body by a long piece of heat shrink. It terminated in a washer like "contact" where piston rod of the strut goes into the strut body.
From here there is a 2nd contact that is a part of the strut that anchors to the glass. A wire is also attached to that contact and connects to the heating grid on the glass. It's designed so that it only makes a connection when the hatch is closed and the strut is fully compressed. When you open and lift the glass, the strut extends and breaks the connection. Here is a pic of a 79 and where the wire attaches to the glass.
If someone replaced the strut with an aftermarket one, it most likely did not have the contacts or wires at each end to connect to the body or glass.
In 1980 they changed the design, The wire was connected under the head liner and came out of the plastic interior trim panel in a lager, coiled wire. This wire plugged directly into the heating grid, but up by where the strut connects to the body. The circuit was not attached to or a part of the strut. Not the best shot, but is a 1980 strut and coiled wire.
80 and later wires could be used, however you would also need the hatch off an 80 because the heating grid has connection points at the hinged end of the glass, where as the 79's have connection points at the rear end of the glass.
Or, if you can find a pair of OEM 79 struts with the wires still attached, there is a place in Canada that rebuilds them. I've sent 4 or 5 pairs to them over the years.
You guys are amazing! Exactly the information I was looking for.
OK, mission accepted. I am now on the hunt for a pair of 1979 struts. Please share the contact information for the rebuilder, as I hope to need that soon.
I used new StrongArm 4709 struts and was able to transfer the wiring over.
Certainly might be the cheaper option. So the mounting clevis on the strong arm units unthread from the shaft, allowing the contacts/wires to be installed? If memory serves the OEM ones are not threaded. Did you need to cut the shaft on the OEM units to get the wires/contacts off intact?
Certainly might be the cheaper option. So the mounting clevis on the strong arm units unthread from the shaft, allowing the contacts/wires to be installed? If memory serves the OEM ones are not threaded. Did you need to cut the shaft on the OEM units to get the wires/contacts off intact?
The clevis is threaded on the new StrongArm one. I did have to cut the clevis off the old one to get the "cup" that holds the wires on the top off. Also had to use the lower electrical contact from the lower portion. I did keep the old struct. I never throw any original parts from the 1979 away. My need them for a reference sometime.
