Wiper help

[zbad55]

Hope someone an help me out here, currently running vacumn wipers but they don't work so good and I want to switch to a Newport electric wiper motor. First problem is I have an overlap between the blades which I measured to be 12“ long. Not sure what wiper arms are on the car either as its been a long time since I put them on. They are a bayonet style and not the hook style. The 2nd problem is the wiper sweep isn't very good and the vacumn system can be erratic. Here are a couple of pics attached, thanks,

[JT56]

I know my electric wipers dont work that well on mine. Sorry cant help you

[5Clint7]

Do you have a double action fuel pump? That keeps the wipers going when engine vacuum is low. If the blades are 12 inches, one of the arms or both are too long. Some of the after market arms were adjustable in length.

[Rick_L]

You need to research what blades will work with the arms you have. I think that Danchuk or Ecklers probably has the info you need to get that part right.

Someone probably got the best they could do at the auto supply. A 55-57 parts supplier should be able to fix you up. Part of your problem is the wiper blades are too big and that drags down what's left of your vacuum motor.

The vacuum system is a POS, but you can rebuild the motor with parts from a 55-57 parts supplier. It will always slow down the wiper motion when manifold vacuum is low. If you have a big cam, you may only have enough vacuum to operate the wipers correctly when you are decelerating.

Used to be you could find a decent stock electric wiper motor on Ebay for a reasonable price. I have no idea if that's still true.

The Newport Engineering electric wiper motor is a direct replacement for the OEM electric motor. Either one will bolt right up to your firewall's wiper drive and use the same cable from the knob on the dash as your vacuum motor. Easy swap.

The other half of the stock wiper setup is the linkage. You can adjust the slop out of the cables. The procedure is in the shop manual. The adjuster is in the wiper drive at the windshield. Sometimes it's frozen up. Sometimes some lube can unstick it. Otherwise you may need to replace it. Also the wiper drive where the motor bolts up can have thrust bearing wear. When this happens, the motor's drive jumps out of the drive channel on the firewall and the wiper blades usually stick in the up position.

You can avoid all this with an aftermarket wiper drive setup. Raingear is the industry standard. It uses a wiper motor mounted behind the dash rather than on the firewall. It also has solid links instead of cables. There are a couple of other aftermarket wiper setups, Specialty Power Windows is one. Don't know much about it but it's probably fine.

The aftermarket setups are almost impossible to install on a car with a/c without removing the a/c. Do the wipers prior to the a/c installation if you're doing a build. But repairing the stock stuff is the same.

[zbad55]

Rick, thank for the detailed response. It does look like its cobbled together, and not sure if the arms are to long or the blades are to long. But as you can see something isn't right. I also didn't realize the the drag could pull down the vacumn motor also so that may be part of my problem with the amount of sweep that I get. I'm familiar with the adjustment procedure by pushing in the wiper post and will try that when I get the first problem fixed. Still weighing my options on the motor aspect whether to go with rain gear or Newport system. I rarely drive in the rain so I just need something that's adequate and cost effective. Thanks again,

[markm]

When I converted my 56 to electric in the early 70s, I bolted on a factory electric moter, hooked the cable to switch and ran power off resistor, about 15 minutes start to finish.

[chevynut]

Looks like wiper motors are going for $200 unrestored to $350 restored on eBay. If it was me and I didn't care about originality, I'd go with the Raingear at $400 or so (it's gone up!!). I really don't see why putting the AC in last is necessary based on my installation. You can access the area pretty easily by removing the speedo, speaker grill, and glove box. The Raingear sits above the A/C box.

[JT56]

I guess it depends on the area you live in or what your plans are for your car. It doesn't even come out if there is a great chance of rain in the forecast.

[chevynut]

Some states require working wipers and if they stop you for a safety check you could get a ticket. I've driven my truck a lot in the rain with just Rain-X and it works amazingly well. You can buy a lot of Rain-X for $400. ;)

[Rick_L]

Plenty of rain around here that's not forecasted by either looking out the window or consulting the weather forecast. So I'll have wipers.

[markm]

[I] really doubt rain-ex works on dew so in addition to Ricks reasons I will go with wipers. Word of advice on Raingear on stock applications you must move fuse box on 55/56.

[chevynut]

"Dew"? What's that? LOL! :)

Rarely do we see dew in the summer which is when most of us drive our cars. I don't know how it affects dew, but I wouldn't be surprised if it beads up and rolls off the windshield. Have you ever tried Rain-X? You should. It's pretty amazing stuff.

[markm]

Cnut does obviously does not live in Kansas, I have had issues with dew in July and August at night at the drags strip. Not to mention the occasional downpour. More than once I have questioned the decision to remove defrost/ wipers from the old racecar. Yes, you will find a bottle of rain-ex in the trunk of my 56.

[chevynut]

Cnut does obviously does not live in Kansas,

No, it's really dry here. ;)

[Rick_L]

And, Kansas is not really known as a "wet" place either.

I've had dew on the windows on the house the last few days. A little on truck but not as much. The dew point at sunrise is higher than the temperature in the house - and I turn the thermostat up a little for the overnight hours.