Friday 7 June 2013

Wipers

ECU out temporarily so I could re-install the wiper motor and wiper gearboxes - straight foward - but awkward and fiddly to get everything re-assembled. The wiper motor plug on the loom was loose so a little tweak on its pins to make a good connection then re-install of the ECU in front:

Originally I was thinking the wipers should park on the nearside as per standard practice, however the scuttle holes are positioned centrally so they need to park drivers side for maximum sweep/clearing in front of the driver.

I made up a cardboard template to work out the arc - the limiting point is at park the wiper blade must sit on the bottom edge and at 90ยบ it must miss the top of the windscreen. I lined up the top edge of the wiper with the top of the frame - hindsight - I should have probably lined up the middle with the middle to end up cutting the same length of each end of the arm:

Then offered up the wiper arm and worked out the bend & cut points. The arm will bend, masked up to avoid marking the surface then applied a little brute force with the help of the vice & my large adjustable spanner:

I temporarily took the springs out of the blades before any fitting up to minimise the chance of inadvertently scratching the glass. The arm also takes a slight twist to try and get the wiper blade square against the glass. Then ran the wiper motor and marked where the blade needed a little trimming at either end:

Similar process on the nearside wiper & we pretty much have a matching set. Its not perfect, I may re-visit if it bugs me too much. The wiper blades slide on the arms and positively locate with a 'nub/lug' however shortening the arms removes this lug - I decided for now to glue them in place with a little Sikaflex/black panel glue - again possibly another one to re-visit - the other option is to drill a hole and either rivet or self tapping screw in place:

Update Jun 2014 - Re worked the wiper arms and blades to join/pivot centrally here

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