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Electric RockStar wipers for cheap skates

Discussion in 'The Hokey Ass Message Board' started by Thommyknocker, Oct 5, 2008.

  1. My first tech week post WHOOOHO!
    That's right, Electric wipers for my '50 chevy sedan, really cheap. This might work on other cars.

    To start off I used the Vacc motor to measure how much throw it had so I could source an electric motor with about the same amount of movement. In my case it was 140 deg total. (90 +50)
    [​IMG]

    I then went to my local u-pull-it and browsed around looking at motors. I didn't find a front motor that would work, almost everything I saw actually parked the wipers lower than their normal wiping position, and didn't give me the same motion the vacc motor did. However the rear wiper motor off a s-10 blazer does have about the same amount of motion. :D
    There is only 1 drawback, it's a single speed motor (but 1 speed electric is better than NO speed vacc :cool:) It is nice and small, and cancels correctly (not lower than it's normal motion).
    I paid $12 for this one. This motor was missing the large splined coller where the wiper arm mounts, looks like the shaft broke but that actually saved me from having to cut it off.

    [​IMG]

    My wife wasn't to thrilled about this next step. I took apart her truck to understand the wiring;)
    Here is the connector pin letter and wire color codes.
    A (Brown/orange) is +12v with the ignition on (so it will cancel correctly)
    B (black) Ground
    C (orange) switched +12 volts

    I wanted the arm off the vacc motor. With a little grinding where the shaft was staked, I was able to wiggle the arm off.

    [​IMG]

    With that in hand, I drilled and tapped the new wiper motor shaft with a #8-32 to hold it on. The motor shaft is soft, so it's easy to drill.

    [​IMG]

    Now we need to whip up a quick bracket! I used a chunk of generic pre-bunched angle, and it worked out really well.
    Here you can see it mounted up and the motor "parked" or in it's home position

    [​IMG]

    Here it is at the end of it's travel.

    [​IMG]

    That little screw is never going to hold the arm on! It alway loosened up when returning to home. After playing around with it till I was happy with the arm location, I marked the arm orientation to the shaft and pulled it back out.

    To keep the arm from rotating on the shaft I filed 2 flats on the shaft, and a matching hole in the arm. This is where little files come in handy.

    [​IMG]

    And here is what it will look like, just take your time filing and test fit every so often, and you should get a nice tight fit. (and yes, I couldn't hit the center of the shaft with the drill bit. really doesn't matter though)

    [​IMG]

    Everything goes back in for a final fitting. I found that the stops built in to the wiper end of the linkage were hitting. A little more filing fixed that. Also, having a little wiggle room on the mounting bracket helped me fine tune the motor placement so the linkage didn't bind or clunk on the stops. That should help the linkage live another 50 years.

    Money Shot!
    Here is the arms at their maximum travel. It appears that I have plenty of room for wiper blades on my cut down windshield. I borrowed the blades off my '68 jeepster (11" long) and test fitted them. I hope I can find 9" long blades eventually cause the 11" ones will hit the windshield gasket.

    [​IMG]

    Oh, speaking of wiper arms.
    Here is a pic of the adjustable ones I had. They came off another late 60's jeep and have Tricor stamped on them. The length is adjustable, as well as the angle of the blade. I took them appart and choped off about 3" of the arm so they would go shorter. I think these are an aftermarket replacement arm, but I doubt you could find them new.

    [​IMG]

    Now you can put down that bottle of rainx and drive your toy all year long! Good luck!
    Thom
     

    Attached Files:

  2. 49ratfink
    Joined: Feb 8, 2004
    Posts: 18,828

    49ratfink
    Member
    from California

    thanks for posting that. sure beats the hell out of paying $150.00 bucks for an aftermarket electric motor.
     
  3. Very nice stab at something most use their credit card to solve!

    Imagine actually going to salvage yards and using parts from another car...........whodathunkit? ;)
     
  4. Solidaxel
    Joined: Feb 21, 2007
    Posts: 233

    Solidaxel
    Member

    Thank You, Thank You, Thank You, I have a rear wiper motor on the bench that I was planning on trying to fab up a system and this sure helps with the engineering. You have answered some important questions thanks for your time
     

  5. Kustom7777
    Joined: Mar 3, 2001
    Posts: 5,184

    Kustom7777
    Member
    from Austin, TX

    great idea!,,,,,,,,,,,,thanks for the tech along with the easy to understand instructions and pics
     
  6. belair
    Joined: Jul 10, 2006
    Posts: 9,013

    belair
    Member

    Hope this works on my 48. Thanks.
     
  7. ttarver
    Joined: Oct 8, 2007
    Posts: 406

    ttarver
    Member
    from austin

    BADASS!!! I'm doin this for sure!!!!!
     
  8. 60 Belair
    Joined: Feb 19, 2006
    Posts: 747

    60 Belair
    Member

    Hey nice tech and yes one speed is better than none ! later Andy
     
  9. Slide
    Joined: May 11, 2004
    Posts: 3,021

    Slide
    Member

    Nice! I think my wife's 04 Explorer has a 2-speed rear wiper... might hafta see if it's got a similar sweep....
     
  10. Solidaxel
    Joined: Feb 21, 2007
    Posts: 233

    Solidaxel
    Member

    I just checked my electric motor and it only has a 90* movement and I need 140*. How do I make up this difference, by lengthing the the arm on the shaft??
     
  11. Sweet, I'm glad you guys found it helpful.

    Slide, a 2 speed would be even better! Especially if the throw is about the same.

    I measured my wife's S-15 jimmyjunk. I used that angle finder and a piece of tape. I ran the wiper and marked the end of it's travel, then measured the angles.



    Solidaxle, I'm not sure that would be the best motor to use. To increase the throw that much (almost double) the arm on the motor would be longer and/or make the outboard ones shorter. Yea that sounds right.

    You could always make a longer arm for the motor and use a couple of screws for the pivots to test exactly how much longer the shaft would have to be. My gut feeling is it's going to be quite a bit longer, and you might run out of room under the dash for that much stuff swinging around.


    I wanted to keep it nice and simple (KISS) that's why I spent the time looking for a close match for the motor motion.

    Good luck.
    Thom
     
  12. Solidaxel
    Joined: Feb 21, 2007
    Posts: 233

    Solidaxel
    Member

    Good advice, thanks.
     
  13. atomickustom
    Joined: Aug 30, 2005
    Posts: 3,409

    atomickustom
    Member

    You magnificent bastard! I shall copy you shamelessly on my '51.
    Where'd you get the linkage and arms?
     
  14. flynbrian48
    Joined: Mar 10, 2008
    Posts: 8,220

    flynbrian48
    Member

    Excellent job! You just made my day and saved my the $$ for the wiper, as I'm just getting to swapping out the vac motor from my '51 Pontiac wagon. 2 years of Rain-X is enough...

    Thanks for the post and the GREAT photos. Very clear and concise.

    Brian
     
  15. vexner
    Joined: Dec 11, 2006
    Posts: 126

    vexner
    Member

    Great Thread , good pics ,now thats using your brain!Thanks for sharing
     
  16. Grunion
    Joined: Apr 13, 2007
    Posts: 171

    Grunion
    Member

    Nice read good job
     
  17. LOL Knock you self out!

    Um, all that linkage came with the vacc wipers on the car.

    I've heard that there are some that use a cable and pully system. I would think this should work for those also, but I've never actually seen one.
     
  18. atomickustom
    Joined: Aug 30, 2005
    Posts: 3,409

    atomickustom
    Member

    Oh. My '53 210 has the cables and pulleys, and so did my '51 coupe (the one that I plan to use your setup for) and it is corroded beyond use. Are the solid arms something that came on Chevies in certain areas only? Anyone know?
     
    Last edited: Oct 7, 2008
  19. Bummer, no super easy fix for you :p

    What's corroded? just the cable?
    I would think picture hanging wire would work. Something nice and small and flexable.

    Shoot some pics of the parts, I might be able to help. Sorry, but I really haven't seen the pully system at all. I decoded by body tag and it was a low option base model (no radio or ash tray, minimal trim ect.) might be why mine has arms?

    Thom
     
  20. Slide
    Joined: May 11, 2004
    Posts: 3,021

    Slide
    Member

    Both of my 52's were Deluxe models, and they both had/still have the stamped steel linkage like Thommy pictured. Probably just came down to which parts supplier showed up with a delivery at the GM plant that day.
     
  21. CJ Steak
    Joined: Sep 23, 2008
    Posts: 1,377

    CJ Steak
    Member
    from Texas

    Man! I'm going to find a way to do this to my Willys pickup. This is a GREAT idea... I just need to find a way to do it under the dash. My vac motor is bolted to the firewall (engine side) and is the first thing you see when you pop the hood. I need to come up with a way to conceal it.

    Thanks for the write up.
     
  22. Thanks for posting this one Thommyknocker!

    I've had the wiper motor from a mid 80's Nissan hatchback sitting under the workbench for a couple of years and had the same thought about one speed electric being better than no speed vac.

    You gave me the kick up the bum I needed to get it happening.

    Spent about 4 hours dicking around with it today,and now...electric wipers!

    The Nissan motor only has about 120* of travel in it's arc,but seems to cover enough area to work.

    Cheers,PJ
     
  23. shinysideup
    Joined: Sep 1, 2008
    Posts: 1,627

    shinysideup
    BANNED
    from ruskin, fl

    I need some help identifying this electric motor being sold for many applications to swap from vac to electric wipers. My application is 47-53 chevy truck but the same motor is used with a different bracket for many cars. I assume its stock on some car,which model?
    [​IMG]
    Another view
    [​IMG]
     
  24. oilslinger53
    Joined: Apr 17, 2007
    Posts: 2,500

    oilslinger53
    Member
    from covina CA

    im gonnasteal youridea verbatum
     
  25. oilslinger53
    Joined: Apr 17, 2007
    Posts: 2,500

    oilslinger53
    Member
    from covina CA

    nah, not stock on anything, universal aftermarket
     
  26. I was going to try something like that & now that you did it I thank you for the Info.
    Tommyknocker!
    for my Mercury
     
  27. I used a rear wiper motor off a Mitsubishi hatchback, about 2000 vintage, on my '38 Ford pickup. This unit is ideal for a vehicle that has a single wiper on the driver's side. The old Ford wiper arm even fits the shaft perfectly. The motor itself is about the size of a pack of 100's cigarettes and mounts at a 90 degree angle to the shaft so it fits up behind the header panel easily. It's single speed but still beats the vacuum wipers. The motor is made by Nippondenso, which supplies many different Asian automakers with electrical stuff, so the same or similar rear wiper motor may be found on other rice rockets.
     
  28. 50dodge4x4
    Joined: Aug 7, 2004
    Posts: 3,534

    50dodge4x4
    Member

    Do you know what your electric motor came from with the 90 degree sweep? The one from the rear of a Mopar mini van is almost 180 degrees sweep! I've tried everything I could think of, nothing seems to change the degrees of sweep unless you changed something inside. Gene
     
  29. junkyardgenius
    Joined: Dec 29, 2005
    Posts: 886

    junkyardgenius
    Member
    from Kernow

    I did a similar thing on my wife,s 54 Chevy using a 6 volt wiper motor intended for a boat.Total investment was about $50 which included postage to the U.K.
     
  30. richie rebel
    Joined: Oct 8, 2007
    Posts: 1,184

    richie rebel
    Member

    hey knocker,how about welding the arm on the shaft,after you find the right travel on the wiper arms? richie............
     

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