Not Very "Cal Look": Improving Wipers' Effectiveness?

[Jim Ratto]

Hello all,

Sorry for the mundane topic, but I'm on a mission to make my wipers work as well as they can. They've always been lackluster, as far as I am concerned. They are slow, they streak, they leave patches of drops, the arms freewheel on the shafts.
What I have:

stock '67 wiper motor, orig from 10/1966
stock original VW wiper arms, again from 10/66
Bosch 10" Micro Edge blades
Orig VW windshield, from dealer, circa 1988

What I see are the biggest issues are slowness of wiper speed, and that the driver's side blade does not "hug" the glass at all. It just kind of glides over it, there is very little preload. I've tried tweaking the arm slightly, to preload blade into glass, but no improvement. Any ideas?

I'm also in process of setting the car up with a simple electric washer pump/check valve, care of an older W116 M-Benz. Anybody else ever retro fit an electric washer pump in? Any tips?

Thank you, Jim

[Donny B.]

Jim, you drive in the rain???  LOL.  I bought a '67 wiper mechanism from a friend that had gone completely through it with new parts.  The pivot shafts were worn out so he replaced them with NOS ones.  That helps a lot.  I found new NOS wiper arms at CE here in town and just replaced the blades.  I have driven in the rain all over the country, but the worst was in Michigan.  I drove for over an hour in the rain on the way to Kelly Park one year.  They work well for me, but I also applied Rain-X and that helped a lot.  I usually buy blades that don't fit and cut them to size.  On the way back from Denver one year I had to get out of the car and tighten the driver side wiper in the rain.  You can get wiper arms that are split with a pinch bolt.  I would think they would hold better than a set screw.  I have been toying with the idea of an electric washer as well.  I haven't done anything with that yet, however I will be doing it.  I got the photos below from another guy in the hobby, sorry I don't remember who, but it looks simple and you can use the stock switch.

[TexasTom]

You need to retension your wiper arms!
Remove the springs on the underside and the wire 'bridge' that connects them between the base and spring. Carefully bend the wire 'bridge' to have more angle to it, effectively shortening it. The spring will pull harder on the arm increasing down-pressure on the windshield.
I'm hoping your shafts are in excellent condition ...
Oftentimes even NOS arms need this mod to work better.
Don't bend the shafts of the arms themselves, causes misalignment of the blades. Straighten as best you can and recheck for perpindicular alignment of blade to glass.

TxT

[Jim Ratto]

Thanks Don and Tom. Yes of course I drive my car in the rain. 
I will look at bending the tab on underside of arm (that holds spring, correct, nearest shaft?). I'm also toying with idea of installing sleeves over existing shafts to "build up" OD. Wouldn't knurled OD sleeves be trick?
The washer pump I am installing is from W116 Benz, designed to draw washer solvent from a tank remotely, via washer hose, unlike most modern pumps that mount directly in tank. Just need to know, check valve wise, to keep fluid in line between pump and jet? OR in line between pump and reservoir. I'm thinking I can use stock VW cap, and connect the pump to the snorkel on cap, in place of line to stock wiper switch.
That's a nice solution to the pump switch Donny, but too complicated for my brain to figure out. I already have a toggle doing nothing right now on my cluster, was for driving lights.

thanks again

[Rick Meredith]

RAINX!

Started using it on the '67 in the early 80s. Above 40 the rain would come right off. I never liked wipers anyway the motion is distracting. To this day, I rarely use wipers.

[Jim Ratto]

I like effects of Rain X too, but with the wipers not performing to their best, I feel like I've given up. I'm a stubborn son of a bitch, and don't like my car telling me what works and what doesn't.

[Nico86]

You need wipers in So-cal ?

[Brandon Sinclair]

I drive a Thing for a daily driver so I need decent wipers.

Good blades are important as well as tension on the wipers as stated above.  My wiper motor is right there on the windshield so it is easy to get to, but there was old grease in mine by the gears which I removed and replaced.  Also, I check then bearing in the windshield (passenger side) and relubed.  Most importantly is that I sprayed all the electrical contacts and the inside of the wiper motor with De-oxit.  Here is the web site and they have the product available on Ebay as well as at Frys Electronics if you have one down by you:

http://www.caig.com/

It is basically a contact cleaner, but is suppose to improve the electrical connections.  I figured what the hell $10 is worth a try.  It worked for me.  Now my wipers work!  It is nice have a real 2 speed wiper motor!  I do this before every winter now-just spray down the electrical contacts on the wiper and I have piece of mind when the rain arrives.

I have used Rain-x in the past too, but also check out Aquapel (you can get it on Amazon for a decent price).  Basically it is one application that will last you all season-make sure you clean your windshield well first with something like a dilluted rubbing alcohol solution so you remove all the grime before applying.

[danny gabbard]

RAINX!

Started using it on the '67 in the early 80s. Above 40 the rain would come right off. I never liked wipers anyway the motion is distracting. To this day, I rarely use wipers.

Your car has not run is why you do not use wipers !!! LOL

[Sam K]

I put a set of the aftemarket wiper arms with the "pinch bolt" setup on my 67 a long time ago and have been very happy with them. I drove it through several winters without any trouble. On my '63, I installed a wiper motor out of a '69 bug and found that the knurled type wiper shafts work really well. To put it in a '67 you will have to srill out the holes a little bit and use the later grommets and arms.

[Bruce]

Have you considered using the washer reservoir and pump from a late Mexican Beetle?  The reservoir is specifically designed to hug the left inside quarter panel.  By replacing one of your fender bolts with a longer one, this reservoir will bolt on.

Try upgrading to 11" blades.  Your window is the same size as a 70s Bug, and they use 11" blades.  I've even gone one more.  My right blade is 12", just because it fits.

[Chris W]

How big are those Bruce?

this right?
http://www2.cip1.com/ProductDetails.asp?ProductCode=VWC-BAA-955-449-A

[Speed-Randy]

RAINX!

Started using it on the '67 in the early 80s. Above 40 the rain would come right off. I never liked wipers anyway the motion is distracting. To this day, I rarely use wipers.

Your car has not run is why you do not use wipers !!! LOL

there's the pot calling the kettle black!

[Zach Gomulka]

RAINX!

Started using it on the '67 in the early 80s. Above 40 the rain would come right off. I never liked wipers anyway the motion is distracting. To this day, I rarely use wipers.

Agreed!

[kingsburgphil]

Sometimes a fresh windshield works wonders.....just a thought 

[stealth67vw]

In the sometimes (most times) sporadic rain here in Oregon, I wish I had an adjustable intermittent switch. The simple 2 speed switch in the 67 just doesn't cut it here.

[LuftsickTero]

I have been toying with the idea of an electric washer as well.  I haven't done anything with that yet, however I will be doing it.  I got the photos below from another guy in the hobby, sorry I don't remember who, but it looks simple and you can use the stock switch.

I did similar to my '60, sawed the air-pressure part off from NOS switch and added the microswitch for electric washer pump, got it working beautifully on the workbench, but it was too long and interfered with the wiper mechanism.. quality time well spent at garage

[Rick Meredith]

RAINX!

Started using it on the '67 in the early 80s. Above 40 the rain would come right off. I never liked wipers anyway the motion is distracting. To this day, I rarely use wipers.

Your car has not run is why you do not use wipers !!! LOL

OUCH! A direct hit to the "Feel Bads" 

[Jim Ratto]

Have you considered using the washer reservoir and pump from a late Mexican Beetle?  The reservoir is specifically designed to hug the left inside quarter panel.  By replacing one of your fender bolts with a longer one, this reservoir will bolt on.

Try upgrading to 11" blades.  Your window is the same size as a 70s Bug, and they use 11" blades.  I've even gone one more.  My right blade is 12", just because it fits.

I know CB was selling that pump/reservoir a few years back, but went back to website, and it's no longer there. I wonder if Chris in Hesperia has them.

[.]

http://www.thesamba.com/vw/classifieds/detail.php?id=841414

[Bruce]

How big are those Bruce?

this right?
http://www2.cip1.com/ProductDetails.asp?ProductCode=VWC-BAA-955-449-A

It's a bit more than a foot long.  Here's the one in my Mex.  Holds lots of juice, I've never re-filled mine!

[Jim Ratto]

thanks for info on OE washer bottle. Cheaper and simpler solution than my plan (no surprise there... )

[LuftsickTero]

thanks for info on OE washer bottle. Cheaper and simpler solution than my plan (no surprise there... )

I would have use for similar but cannot fit that to 'Vert.

[Jim Ratto]

CB does have it still:  http://www.cbperformance.com/catalog.asp?ProductID=1280

[Diederick/DVK]

perhaps i don't fully understand the topic, but the mexican washer bottle will allow you to clean the windshield better, but won't have anything to do with the functioning of the wipers, right?
i use a mexican wiper motor, works all right i think...

[kustomlarry]

I do speed and rainx.....haha

[Jim Ratto]

Hey Diederick,
yeah, in the spring and summer around my neck of the woods, and through much of the area I like to drive on the weekends in the Bug, there's tons of insects about. Just over the hills from my place are miles of citrus groves, and inevitably, within 15 min into a drive, my windshield is splattered in dead bugs, and running the wipers does nothing. I want the entire system to work, and my stock air-pressurized reservoir has a slow leak, so it never really works.

[christophe]

Well I don't know if it's what you looking for or even if it's really better(haven't try it myself) but once I found that on the net: http://www.aircooledtech.com/early_wiper_upgrade/