Although this one's from a Nash, many are similar. I've seen these adapted to tilt-out windshield cars as well. Most are pretty durable, and are just caked up with dried grease, and if you've never had one apart before, you may wonder "How the heck do they work?" I have two of them, so I kept one intact so I could see how it goes together.
I took the one apart, fairly straightforward, and had assumed the cable rotated like in a speedometer. WRONG! It moves back and forth with reciprocating action provided by the motor gears
Dismantle and set aside for cleaning. It's really straight forward. 2 small screws hold the back cover on. The cable housing is held in place at each component with a strap. The cable housing sets the wiper spacing, and could be modified if you're crafty enough. Pull the cable through the assembly, it's all one piece. Clean everything, and set aside. Notice on mine, there were no wiper arm shaft seals originally.
Here's what you'll end up with: a clean cable, clean housings and clean gears. Notice the shafts run in bushings and seem fine. Inspect everything and you're ready to assemble.
I used wheel bearing grease on mine, it's what I had already. You assemble in reverse order of dismantling.
Thread all the sections on the cable, starting at the final end piece, then the first gear section, the intermediate housing piece, then the second gear section, then the last housing piece. Stop there.... These little end straps screw on and secure the cable housing to the gear shaft housing.
In this picture, you'll see how the reciprocating linkage operates. When yours is cleaned and lubed, attach it to the cable assy.... Secure the cover plate so everything stays intact. There is no timing with this setup. You really can't put it together out of time, or the housings won't fit. I cleaned up this rotted one, it was easier to see in the pics....
The other part of this is a traditional electric motor with 2 brushes on a commutator. I would be surprised if anyone had a wiper motor actually wear out, so be careful and clean the brushes and keep them free of oil and grease. Clean and lube as you would any electric motor unit (sparingly and carefully). Notice the picture of the bushing is from the extra unit, and was rotted pot metal.
After assembling the motor together, and getting it anchored to the shaft, I cleaned and lubed this end cover plate.
I bench tested the unit with 12volt negative ground, and it worked real well! I'm sure my directions here missed a couple basic things, but it's common sense, straight ahead stuff. What's nice about these style units is they flex, so underdash mounting is much easier. They're also strong, and more durable than I expected. You can adjust the arm spacing somewhat either by having a gentle bend in the cable, or cut and refit cable housing ends if you're good. Hope all this makes sense, ask away if any questions!
good stuff! do you know of any other vehicles that came with cable wipers?more modern perhaps? thanks!
Not offhand, probably small British stuff, etc... They're available new thru hot rod places, I don't know who makes them.
British cars indeed used this system from the 50's right on up almost to modern cars....everything from MG's to Triumphs to Jaguars used 'em....but if you're going to use British stuff, especially from the 50's and early 60's you have to watch out for positive ground motors.
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