Technical WINDSHIELD WIPERS - VACUUM OR ELECTRIC?

Beano,Rain-X is amazing and does a fantastic job in the rain...Fog your up Shinola Creek,it's useless. HRP

 

I would have to fathom a guess and say that no wipers in the rain would be a distinct liability. Although in Missouri you may get around a headlight law if you didn't have any wipers. The law reads that if your wipers are on your headlights have to be on.

 

Same here. HRP

 

I bought a car against my fathers wishes when I was in the Navy (I think he thought my reputation was at stake)....he wasn't pleased, because I had to ''park'' the car at his house while I was in the Phillipines for a period....but, ....it was a green 1962 Nash Station wagon, and it didn't have any windshield wiper motor on the car at all....I rigged a suh-weeeet & nifty ''string'' from one wing window to the other, connected to the outside wipers on each side with a recently-learned Navy crochet knot....so, when it rained...I merely swiped my hand back and forth across the dash to get the wipers to work...back and forth, usually in tune to the Fleetwood Mac on the radio! Thought I was pretty darn cool figuring that out ''all by myself''...........my dad had to drive it one time due to his car being in the repair shop, and found out he had to use ''the string'' in the rain....he sold the car that week for $200, finally getting "my" car outta his yard once and for all....................I can see using a good electric motor!!!.....................now!

 

Electric wipers SUCK. Maybe 3 speeds and a delay at most. Always need an in between speed. With my vacuum set up you have 3, 30 or even 300 speeds; from launching a blade like a javelin to one swipe per mile. Just go to a pick a part yard and get a $20 12v vacuum motor off an old Mercedes diesel and mount it anywhere in your car. One simple hose to the vacuum motor (rebuilt by Ficken) instead of to the engine and your good to go. Pulling a loaded trailer uphill in high gear with the foot feed to the floor and the wipers run at the exact same speed as coasting down hill. I guess in an indirect way my wipers are also electric.

 

Danny, same with all the old Buicks I have owned in the past. It would be a bitch going up a hill or mountain in a pouring rain.I got lucky with the 56 Chrysler they are 2 speed electric and I just put new blades i ordered for them on. Bruce.

 

I was able to get thru the NJ vehicle inspection 50 years ago with the hand operated wiper in my '29. Inspector had his nose in the clipboard and said "wipers". So I started wiping. He looked up in disbelief, shook his head, and marked my sheet "OK". Good memories.

 

I adapted a unit from a 1960s VW beetle into my '37 Ford sedan. It fit under the stock header. Designing a mounting bracket and linkage was the kind of challenge I enjoy. I also used the VW wiper shafts, too. Because the shaft holes were up on the curved part of the roof, I had to make beveled spacers to make the shafts perpendicular to the glass. I was able to figure out the circuit that enables "parking" so I included a linkage bell crank on the right side so when I turn off wipers they continue to park at the outer edges.

 

What wiper's ? Closed up the hole in the firewall and never have pursued getting a cable driven unit where the motor can be tucked away in the kick panel. So, is Rain X that good ? Could have used it this past Sunday on the return trip from Big 3 Swap.

 

I've tried Rain X a few times 'cause I keep hearing how well it works. So far, I'm not impressed. Read about a product called Aquapel, supposed to be better than Rain X, so I tried it. It is better than Rain X, but it's still nothing to write home about. I do like their glass cleaner, though. That stuff works great.


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Having had both versions I can honestly say I like the electronic version best. I used the original vacuum for a long time and had mixed results. Since installing the electric version I have been very pleased with the results.


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I've used Rain X for years on all my cars, even my newer cars with wipers. Absolutely amazing stuff. I put it on before winter every year and frost doesn't even stick as bad. I apply it about 3 times a year. Lasts quite a while until using the wipers when needed wear it off.
I love driving in the rain with no wipers on and the rain just runs up and over the roof while the other cars on the road are running their wipers full speed.
I have yet to see how it works on our 29 sedan, as I wonder how the water will run off a flat windshield. I'm afraid the water will swirl instead of running off because of flat windshield and visor. We will see I guess.

 

I've used RainX on semi trucks with varied results. Older ones with flat side glass it worked pretty good. Truck I have now is so damn aerodynamic it doesn't blow the water off the glass, it just beads up and sits there. Same on windsheilds, old flat glass angled to the sides it worked great, curved glass, not so good.

Really surprising to me was on my 47 Lincoln. It has a one piece flat windsheild, angled back at the top. Put RainX on it, the water just beaded up, never ran off no matter how fast I drove. The airflow over that long hood must not hit the windsheild squarely, must go more over the top. I have never hooked up the vacuum wiper motor, I figure the seals are hard as a rock, and I don't have any wiper arms anyway. From all the good reports on the Newport stuff, I'll probably go that route when I figure out what wiper arms will fit and where I can find some at a reasonable price. I've found some original arms on eBay from time to time, but I'm not going to pay $150 for a set of arms. I don't get caught in the rain that much anyway.

 

Exactly! On every 55-57 Pontiac I ever owned [all of them in Oregon except a few] I swapped the old Poncho vacuum motor for a 55-57 chevy electric motor...a bolt-in including the control cable. Nothing to change except adding a wire..

 

In Kentucky if you buy a car from out of state you must have it inspected by the local Sheriff prior to registration. One of the items on the Sheriffs list is wipers. No wipers no registration. No room for interpretation.

Gary

 

All my cars have vacume wipers (or hand operated in my 42 ford gpw and 23 t). If rebuilt they work great and I have no issues with them at all even in heavy snow. I tried an electric kit in my green f1 once and it worked in rain but the first snowstorm it stripped and left me with no wipers when I needed them the most....took me a long time to drive home from work that night, put the stocker back in that night when I finally got home, put the expensive conversion in the trash and haven't looked back!!!!!

 

Yeah, I had the same problem with Mighty Wipe product for my 46 chevy pickup...then one of the wiper motors [had one on each side] burned out...not impressed.

 

I've noticed most of the aftermarket wipers are pretty pricey. HRP

 

Who would have thunk, Mercedes windshield wiper motor on a hot rod? HRP

 

I like the vacuum wipers. I have them I'm my '37 Chevy coupe with a dual action fuel pump that provides continuous action. I drove across S. Dakota in a hell of a rain storm a few years ago and had no problem with the vacuum wipers. To each their own, I guess....................

 

I have a Newport wiper in my 54. No problems at all. Fit right in.


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Newport is the only way to go. Bolts in nice and tidy and if you want you can get delay switch. They work great on mommas 58.

 

I took my 1st Model A vacuum wiper apart many years ago and cleaned out all the hardened crap/grease and made a new cork seal and use a little grease and it worked,not great but it did work. HRP

 

In my 46, I put a motorcycle petcock and a tee in the line, with a silent dog whistle on the end. By the time I got home from work my Dobermann was waiting at the gate.
And I could hound all the other hounds around Berkeley.

 

You totally lost me? HRP

 

Well, I could reach under the dash and turn on the petcock, the whistle would alert every dog for miles... I could make it louder or quieter too.
My dog got it, for sure.

 

Uh Ok,but what about the windshield wipers?,do they whistle? HRP

 

How do you know when a silent dog whistle is working? Kind of like knowing when you are out of invisible ink! I doubt it was working as they are made to be blown into, not sucked like with the vacuum from the engine.

 

Still have the vacuum wiper motor in my 55. For having a homebuilt Chevy 302, (283 bored to 301), they work pretty well. Rebuilt the vacuum motor, years ago with an article in Street Rodder.

Always thought that it was fun, when it was raining, to run it hard through the gears and have the wipers cut out. Any passengers who did not know vacuum wipers would really freak out. LOL.