Question: [BO] "1/2" holes drilled but the shafts to go through those holes are .625 or 5/8". Am I missing something or drill them 5/8"?

Where do the conical spring washers/shims go? What about the flat one?

Most important question; the long cable that drives the wipers is way too long. Can it simply be cut with a hacksaw or will it "unravel"?"

Answers and Comments:

[RT] "It's best to start with a smaller hole since what you need to end up with is an oval. And remember the wiper shafts come up thru the body and point towards the nose of the car. I used a rat tail file to get a good fit.
It's been awhile on the washers, but that was answered a short time ago on another post. Goes in with the drive gear I believe.

The drive cable can be cut, I would cut it a bit long and flair a short length of tube for the out side of the driver side wiper box. You need to make sure the cable stays in the wiper box as it rides back and forth.

I also had to thin down the phanolic spacers so I could get the tightening nut on the wiper bezels."

[RB] "I left mine extending out the end tube about 6 inches. When you assemble it all I greased the cable also. Make sure you cut the aluminum tubing to fit tight. If you really do use those wipers much the movement of the cable will tend to loosen the aluminum tubes if you cut them short. Once the tubes come unhooked the wipers do very strange things right when you need them most!

If I remember right the spring and washers go inside the gear mechanism where you hook the cable into."

Question: [HK] "I worked on my wipers over the weekend and have nearly completed the installation, but I'm not sure which way to make the wipers run (right to left or left to right. It appears that the wipers might function better on the drivers side if they go from left to right (viewed from inside the car). I looked in old Kit Car and Kit Car Illustrated magazines and saw cars with wipers installed both ways. What seems to work best for FFR's with FFR supplied parts?

One last question. Is there a way to adjust the sweep to make it larger or smaller?"

Answers:

[RB] "I had my wipers park to the left and sweep water to the right. The idea is to sweep the water away from me. I see lots of others with the wipers parking on the right and sweep to the left but I think that is the British right hand drive concept."

MARINE-SPEC WINDSHIELD WIPER SETUP FAQ
By John Phillips FFR #3422 and #1152

A lot of people have contacted me for information about my marine-spec windshield wiper setup. I thought it’d be better to post all the information here for future reference. At one time I installed Lucas wipers in my Roadster but hated the whole system, so tore it out and replaced it on the driver’s side with this marine motor, arm, and blade sourced by my buddy Richard Bailey, a boat parts master. All of the parts are available at West Marine, and I have seen them at other boat supply shops in this area. This is what you need:

MOTOR: MRV 110 degree sweep, 2 1/2 inch shaft, 12 volt part number 34010, by AFI Inc. About $150 or so, I think. The phone number for AFI is 707-226-9600 and the fax number is 707-226-9670. They have other motors, but this one has the biggest sweep, so get it. 

NOV. 2002 UPDATE: I bought a new motor identical to this one from a local marine shop for about $130. Didn’t write down the name or part #, sorry. Just get one with 110 degree sweep, 2-speed, self-parking. Here’s a pic of it:   Motor Pic

WIPER ARM: Stainless Steel adjustable-angle 12” by AFI. About $20, I think.

WIPER BLADE: I used a 10” MG blade bayonet mount which fits perfectly onto the AFI wiper arm. Available from Victoria British, part # 9-9705 for $8.95. AFI also sells an 11” blade I think would work fine. In fact, since my MG blade is worn out, I’ll try one this weekend and report how it works.

NOV. 2002 UPDATE: I got a gross-looking plastic arm to use until I can get a pretty S.S. one for my new car…and have used it 4,000+ miles now! Cost $8. Be sure it fits your wiper arm bayonet end.

TRIM: You need an angled chrome bezel and nut for the top of the cowl, which holds the motor shaft tight at the proper angle. These are available from a junk yard from almost any old British car, like an MG or Triumph. Or, buy new trim pieces from Victoria British (get “bezel kit” [nut, angled bezel, and gasket] part # 9-613 for $9.95) You must also put some kind of angled spacer on the motor shaft UNDER the cowl to position the motor and to meet up with the underside of the cowl at the same angle as the outer bezel will be. I don’t know where to find these, except at a junk yard, or just make one to fit your installation. Use a thick hard rubber tube, 1 1/2” long with an angle cut on the end meeting the cowl leaving the tube 1” long on the opposite side of the cut. OR…buy an extra angled trim ring. Make sense?!

NOV. 2002 UPDATE: Buy two trim bezels from Victoria British or Moss Motors (Moss part # 145-260 $4.95 ea.) and a rubber gasket (Moss part # 282-820 $1.25 ea.). Use one outside the cowl and the other upside down under the cowl, works perfect.

SWITCH: I have no electrical knowledge, lots of switches would probably work great. Mine came from the marine store, has three positions (park/off-slow-fast), is round and has a spring-loaded center to trigger a windshield washer if I ever install one. Ask one of the electrical gurus about a toggle setup if interested.

NOV.2002 UPDATE: On FFR #3422, I used an FFR-type toggle switch I got from Radio Shack “ON-OFF-ON”, wired one way for high speed, the other way for low speed. WIRING  goes pretty easy, just use the wiring diagram that comes with the motor, mock everything up on the workbench or near your car, with wires running from the battery to the motor and switch, etc. to check everything out. When it works right, you’re ready to install the whole thing.

INSTALLATION: For the driver’s side wiper, drill a hole in the cowl for the motor shaft to stick through. The center of mine is 3” aft of the hood opening, and 11” left of the center line of my car. Don’t get all anal about this, because the length of the wiper arm is adjustable! You’ll be able to reach the windshield easily, and set the angle you like for parking the wiper blade. I park the blade toward the center of the car; if you want to park it toward the outside, you may need to figure out a different place to drill. Then, file the hole so it allows the motor shaft to stick through at the proper angle to match the trim bezel and the rubber tube you made for under the cowl.
Trial-fit everything and reassure yourself the wiper arm and blade fit properly. Next, run your wires for the motor and dash switch per the instructions that are furnished with the motor, it is totally easy even for the electrically impaired like me! I used a nylon pull-apart joint for the wires, so I can just unplug the electrical connections at the motor if necessary. Then do the final install of the motor, connect the wires, and anchor the end of the motor to the top of the footbox. I bolted an aluminum tab to the flange at the end of the motor, then screwed this tab to the footbox, but I have an old-style footbox. John Hannaford just ran a long small-diameter bolt or screw through the motor flange and into the top of his new-style footbox and it works fine. The point is just to brace the motor and keep it from rotating at the place where the shaft goes through the cowl. Install the GREAT wiper arm (compared to the crappy British arms I tried to use) but don’t tighten the arm’s set screw yet. Put on your wiper arm, spray some water or windex on the windshield, then turn the motor on to see how/where the arm rotates. Take it off the shaft and position it where you want to for the movement you like, then tighten it down. Set the angle of the arm, then tighten that. Then go looking for rain!

PASSENGER-SIDE WIPER? Well, I don’t have one, but no reason you can’t. Put an identical setup on that side, just drill the cowl hole in a different place depending on where you want the blade to travel and park, and run some kind of brace from the motor’s tail flange to the firewall or someplace else you like. FWIW, the hole on the passenger side of my car from when I installed the Lucas stuff is 3” aft of the hood opening and 4 ½” to the right f the car’s center line (right in the middle of my passenger-side white stripe). Remember: the motors are independent, and cannot by synchronized. My feeling is: “who cares?” Nobody will ever see them working while you’re sitting still, ‘cause they’ll be beautifully parked. The only person who will ever see them operating is you and your passenger when you’re driving and it’s pouring, and all you’ll care about is whether they work perfectly, and they will. Just adjust the travel of both arms to avoid hitting if they should run out of sequence. My plan if I ever install a passenger wiper is to have the wipers meet in the center of the windshield vertically when operating, and park each arm pointing outboard. Or try something else if that doesn’t work right. I really don’t think I’ll put in a passenger wiper, as I can see great for all driving purposes with only the driver wiper operating.

That’s all I know about this subject, all else is personal-testimonial about how great it works. I’ve been snowed and sleeted on at Pikes Peak and all over Colorado, goosed by highwind-driven rain in Missouri and Tennessee coming home from the Stooges tour, rained on like Noah’s flood in Florida and other Eastern states, and have always relied on this setup. Through about 45,000 miles in FFR #1152 it never failed to work, never needed maintenance, and was always almost totally silent…try to match that record with the Lucas monkey-motion Rube Goldberg setup! Let me know if any questions. Here are some pics if you’d like to see my setup: John's FFR Pics (go to the "Parts on my Roadster" album, or “Phoenix Part II” album

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