Windshield wiper problem

[Deleted User]

I consider my 54 Special restoration complete but I have one last thing to tweek, the wipers. I cannot get the slack out of the cables. The automatic tension adjusters aren't even close to solving the problem. I just took everything apart and reinstalled, same problem. I must be doing something wrong but I can't see it.

The pieces attached to the firewall are marked L and R so I know they are right. I have the tubes for the washer pointing toward the center. I have the shortest of the two cable sets on the driver side since the motor is off center toward the driver side.

Any ideas?

Doug

Marconi

There were a couple of different lengths of cables for the stepdowns, could be you've got the wrong ones! Bill A and I discovered this several years ago while trying to put a car together, he had bought a pair of NOS wiper transmissions and in trying to put them on the car we came up with the same problem that you're having now! We just dug around and found a pair with shorter cables and used them, however I realize that most people don't have that luxury. Are these the same ones that were on the car?

[Deleted User]

The car I restored is a 54 Hornet Special. THe car that I used for a parts car was a regular 54 Hornet. Out of this I wound up with 4 cables, two from each car. Two of the cables are about 4 to 5 inches longer than the shorter ones. Seems like the longer ones are too long an the short ones are too short. To take up the slack I tried wrapping the cable one loop around the pulley that is under the dash and now it is too short. I am screwed up on this thing but I have to believe I am doing something wrong. It doesn't make sense. I am pissed off because I am entering s show this Sunday and I will get dinged for non-working wipers. aaaargh.

Thanks for your response.
Doug

dave s

I wouldn't let wipers keep you from showing car. All of our cars sre AACA Senior cars and 52 is AACA Grand National first place car and I was never asked to operate wipers. Go for it.

[Deleted User]

Thanks Dave. Oh I am going to show it but I am expecting Murphy's Law to kick in. If the wipers were working the judges wouldn't ask to see them. But since they are not, you can bet they will ask. LOL

Doug

Geoff

simply cut the long cables and join them using an electrical connector or similar. You can do it where they are behind the bulkhead out of sight.

nick s

did you check and be sure that you haven't slipped off the pulleys on the base of the wiper transmissions?

[Deleted User]

Nick, yes I have checked that. And recehcked and rechecked.

Thanks for your response.

Doug

[Deleted User]

Geoff, I can't see how that would work. According to my manual there is supposed to be 14 lbs of tension on those cables. I would think that with the wipers moving back and forth that the connectors would eventually give way or work loose.

It has been over two years since I took them apart and I can't remember what they were like at that time.

Thanks for your response,
Doug

Unknown

Send a PM to Lance Walker ( Hudzilla) I am sure he can help you with it.

[Deleted User]

Thanks, have already done that but Lance hasn't responded yet.

Doug

SuperDave

The Special and regular Hornet wipers are the same. They should work wirth no mods. Make sure you are routing the cables to the correct pulleys on the firewall and to the wiper motor. Sounds like you have something upside down. Sorry i don't have diagram to post.Try some different configurations and i'm sure you will find the correct one. Good luck..:)

Geoff

dougc_portland wrote:

Geoff, I can't see how that would work. According to my manual there is supposed to be 14 lbs of tension on those cables. I would think that with the wipers moving back and forth that the connectors would eventually give way or work loose.

It has been over two years since I took them apart and I can't remember what they were like at that time.

Thanks for your response,
Doug

Doug, I joined the cables on my Jet, and they have been working fine for 10 years.
Geoff

[Deleted User]

Geoff, what kind of an electrical connector did you use?

Doug

lostmind

I remeber doing this repair to my wifes 1954 Hornet dayly driver.
I worked at an auto electrical shop.Used a 'Stak-on" connector and a very good crimper,it was permnent repair as long as we owned it.
you want one without the nylon cover.Still available at your local hardware store I believe.


Roy

Geoff

dougc_portland wrote:

Geoff, what kind of an electrical connector did you use?

Doug

I just used a heavy connector, used to join house wiring, hollow brass and screw in each end. They can be obtained with four screws instead of two if you want a belt and braces job, but the standard two-screw type is still holding on my Jet. I stripped the plastic outer off to make the screws easier to get at. I poked the cables right through so they overlap each other and the two screws clamping both cables. I did this to repair broken cables - replaced the section of cable that goes around the pulley, and have two of these connectors, one between the pulley and wiper motor, and one between the pulley and the windshield.
Geoff

dave s

You can also get clamps in archery department of sporting googs store that are designed for a lot more tension.

SuperDave

Doug,
I hate to be a wet blanket, but unless you get some satifaction from destroying perfectly good parts, I would not modify parts that fit on that car in the first place.Your cars dimensions didn't change and the cables didn't stretch. I had a devil of a time with the same problem on a 54 Holywood, but switching around the routing through the firewall and trying different configurations on the wiper motor fixed the problem.Once you cut those cables, you will have passed the point of no return.

SuperDave

Doug,
Sorry I don't have a 54 here to compare, but I am sure the setup is the same as 49 but the parts are not interchangeable.
Start with the wipers installed on the shafts and in the "parked' position. Wiper motor also in the "parked" position.
On the passenger side, the cable from the outboard pulley on the transmission goes through the upper slot in the firewall and wraps around the top pulley on the firewall tensioner, then on to the top connection on the motor.

On the drivers side the cable from the inboard side of the transmission goes through the top slot in the firewall and around the top pulley on the tensioner, then to the top swivel on the wiper motor.
The rest of the cables go on the empty pulleys LOL.

The tensioners are not interchangeable. There is a left and right. On mine, the passenger side upper pulley is outboard. on the drivers side, the pulley is on the inboard side.
perhaps you had those tensioners off? Got them mixed up? maybe not a proper set?
Again, this is a 49 and not a 54, but I bet you can use these ideas to get your parts to work without modifications.

[Deleted User]

Thanks Dave, I will print this out and give it a try.

Doug

[Deleted User]

Dave, I agree with you re cutting the cables. It makes no sense to cut perfectly good cables just to make it work. I have obviously done something wrong and it is a matter of figuring it out.

Doug

onerare39

Another helpful hint... Remove the windshield wipers off of the transmission posts. After you get the cables routed and the motor functioning correctly simply turn the wiper motor off, that will then allow you to put the wipers back on the transmission posts in the correctly timed park position. That way you avoid having the windshield wipers flailing around out of sync.

John Forkner