46 Power Wagon Restoration pt. 2

[Desoto61]

I found an 11 inch wiper arm mostly used on Jeep CJ vehicles up to the mid 80s that fit the adjustable arm and worked well on the windshield. From there I could determine the sweep I wanted it to have. Once I figured that out I could measure the length of the arm and do some math to determine the sweep angle, which in my case was 89.2 degrees.

The inside arm of the pivot would also need to move through this angle. Using some more trig I determined that they needed to move 1.4 inches to get that angle. The motor has an arm that rotates 360 degrees to make one sweep of the wipers. That arm needs to be 1/2 of the length of the sweep (0.7") since a full rotation will turn through a full 1.4".

Of course my first attemp at building the sweep arm I forgot about the 1/2. So I built it to be 1.4" long, the shorter length proved harder to do. It should work but it could have been cleaner. Worse case I may have to find another arm and start again as the motor side mounts using a tapered splined hole that I couldn't re-create.

I cut the stock pivot mount off the arm and welded up some 3/16" bar stock to get the needed length. That was drilled to accept a piece of round stock the same size as the rod ends which was welded into the hole. I cut a groove in the rod to hold an e-clip to retain the rod ends. I should have tried to increase the offset of the arm slightly to prevent any interference with the nut and the rod ends, but a washer acts as a spacer and does the same thing.

My second mistake was that I had mounted both pivots into the cab the same way, with the interior arm pointed downward. After looking at the sweep I decided I wanted the park position and sweep direction to be opposite each other. They will park against the outside of the window and move toward each other in the center. That meant that one side needed to be a mirror image of the other. So I had to remove one of the pivots, file a new mounting tab on the opposite side of the hole so it could be mounted with the pivot arm pointing upward. Not a huge issue since the washer hides the other slot but not perfect. I could try and weld it closed but that will probably cause more trouble then it solves.

[Desoto61]

Poor man's lathe

One little trick that I thought of that worked better then I thought it would was the notch for the e-clip. I had thought of trying to thread the end of the rod and use a nut but was concerned about how long that would make the rod. I liked the idea of the clip like on the factory pivots but how to make the slot it rides in. My neighbor has a big lathe but that seemed overkill and he has his own projects.

So I used a poor-mans lathe and chucked a piece of the rod into the drill press and put it on it's slowest setting. Then I used my little drill vice as a tool rest and used a triangular shaped file to start a groove in the rod. Once I had a groove I switched to a hacksaw blade also held flat against the vice and slowly moved back and forth against the spinning rod. Then just slowly removed material and tested till it was the right size for a clip.

It ended up working really well, and was fairly quick. I cut the piece of rod longer than I needed, then when I was don determined the needed length and cut it to size.

[Bob2]

Electric wipers

Desoto!
When you get it all complete up and running make me one for my 66 PW, or make a list of material used with dimensions, I will buy it. I would imagine other PW owners will want one to.

Bob H.

[Desoto61]

Wiper Parts list.

My goal was to provide the list if materials and measurements. I guess I should provide some of the specifics though.

The wiper pivots are from a 76-85 Jeep CJ. OMIX-ADA (PN: 19105.06)makes them though I have seen them under the Dorman name too. Cheapest I found was at Summit PN: OMX-1910506. They come with the locating washer and nut.

The pivot pin on these I thought was 5/16", which is the size of rod end I ordered, however they ended up being just slightly larger then that (by .004"-.006"). I wondered if they weren't metric as the spec was 7.81 mm by my calipers. Just didn't seem to fit based on the age. Some emry cloth and time removed the excess till I had a nice fit though.

The wiper arms are a universal adjustable arm from Anco (PN: 114-4101). A jeep arm might work but I couldn't determine the length, and the Anco arm can be adjusted from 8" to almost 12" long and fits the pivot without any adapters. I also ordered these from Summit.

An 11" wiper blade for the same Jeep CJ was the smallest and most common I could find. Advance Auto had them in Trico brand as number 11-6.

The rod ends I ordered from McMaster-Carr. Any of the versions should work as long as it has the right size opening in the ball end for the pin size (5/16" or maybe 8mm), though I used the ones with the oil impregnated bronze inserts for the extra lubrication. I chose male ends and will use tubing and nuts to make the link bars but you could easily use the female ends and use all-thread too. No welding would be required and it should be strong enough, I just thought the tubing version would be stronger and more adjustable, but it is slightly larger.

Any wiper motor should work, you probably don't want one with a special park position (i.e. it parks in a different position then the normal sweep), so you might be able to find something that will package better. The one I used was off of a Dodge Durango I had pulled because I thought the linkage might work. I also had one from a Saturn that was similar but smaller. Even though it was probably enough I went for overkill and used the larger Durango motor. You'll need the junkyard though because most use a splined tapered shaft to hold the arm to the motor and you will need that end of the arm.

[Bob2]

Wipers

Desktop,
Thank you, by far this build of yours has been the most informative, in the way you go about it.

Bob H

[Desoto61]

They work!

<iframe width="640" height="480" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/6_ysEJwQ3AM?rel=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

The swipe seems good, and there is no binding.

I finished by measuring the distance from the center hole of the motor mount to each of the wiper pivots. Then subtracted the distance of the rod ends so the connecting tube was about mid length along the threaded ends of the rod end. Then subtract the thickness of the two nuts that would be welded to each end of the tubing.

I welded up the tubing ends by threading a bolt into the nut to help locate it in the tubing. Then tack welded it in place. I'll use a second nut as a lock nut on one end to keep the tube from turning.

Now for the issues. The motor arm has to be installed after the motor has been mounted. It can be done but it's tricky. It's not something you have to do frequently so it's not a big deal but you could consider cutting the header and adding a set of flanges so the motor mounting plate can be removed with the motor. Then the unit could be installed with the arm and links installed.

Second, I would probably suggest going for the female ends and using all-thread. The tubing worked OK, but I had one failed end where there was some sort of issue after welding that damaged the bolt when I tried to remove it, and another where it wasn't quite straight and there is a hard spot when trying to thread the rod ends in.

The wiring may be a bit of a challenge if I want to keep the intermittent feature.

[Matthew Ziegler]

e or c clip groove

I used to modify cars for use by handicapped drivers, and used to have to make up all sorts of crazy linkages, one trick I got from a colleague was using a tubing cutter on small diameter steel rod to make groves for snap rings or e clips, use a little cutting oil and more pressure than you would on tubing, works great.

[Desoto61]

Overhead console 1

Got the tracking number for my seats so they should be here in the next week or so!

In the interim there's still a lot of other things to do. I managed to track down a switch assembly that is designed to work with self parking wipers and has an intermittent feature. It is a Cole Hersee switch PN 75600-4. Looks to be for commercial applications but they are available from a few different places if you do a search.

I also started building a center console to cover the wiper motor. I started with some cardboard and designed the side profile using some wire to copy some of the curves and angles from the interior to try and make it look like it belongs.

Once I had a shape I liked I cut a second out of cardboard and then wrapped that in some poster board to form the shape so I could trial fit it. When I was happy with the shape and fit I removed one of the side pieces and trimmed it down slightly so I could use it as a template to plasma cut a pair out of some metal plate. I then took the two sides and clamped them together and finished the edges so that they were identical.

I cut two pieces of metal rod I had left over as spacers and and welded those between the two plates to get my shape. Then I took some 22 ga. steel and wrapped the shape in that. I was looking to go for 18 or 20 ga. but the 22 was all I could find easily in a smaller size and seemed to be stiff enough for this use. I folded a bend in the rear end to give it some rigidity, and then slowly worked it over the sides tacking it in place as I went. It is a little tricky welding between the thicker sides and the top but it worked OK.

Once I had it wrapped completely I flipped it over and welded the inside, making sure to move around a lot. Then I could dress the corners and my spot weld sites. It will need a little smoothing with some body filler before being painted but I think it will look OK.

[Desoto61]

Overhead console 2

To mount the console to the header I cut and bent two mounting tabs, drilled some holes in them and tack welded a nut to the inside. I clamped these to the console so they were flush with the front edge and equal height and marked and drilled the holes in the console sides.

I screwed the mounts to the console and marked their top and bottom on the outside of the console. Then put the console in place and transferred those markes to the header along with marking the horizontal placement once I made sure the console was centered. Then I could take the console down and use the marks and a magnet to hold the mounting clip on the header and tack weld it in place. This worked really well. I also plan to add some supports at the back from the headliner support brackets. I left the extra metal on the front end of the console so I could mark it and cut it flush with the header panel.

[Gordon Maney]

In the 1980's I had a subscriber who put the motor under the dash and ran a push-pull cable up through the windshield pillar to transfer the motion. I am thinking it involved one motor and two cables.

[Joe Cool]

Chris Case outlines a system with the motor behind a kick panel.

http://imageevent.com/bigchriscase/p...gonwipersystem

[Desoto61]

I thought about Chris' bell crank type setup, but the trouble of trying to route the linkages down to the cowl, and mount the bell crank so that it was all secure and strong enough was (in my opinion) harder then what I have. Besides, Chris lives in San Diego, they don't see any real weather there!

I did look at the cable systems pretty hard. There are a few different versions out there which are probably all from the same manufacturer. The reviews tend to be mixed with some saying they work great and others complaining that they don't hold up. Again though the real hard part as I saw it for that system was that the cable has to run in tubing between all three points, routing that tubing from the header down to the kick panel and flaring it was not going to be fun.

This is not as well hidden, though with the right motor it probably could be (it would have to be fairly small though to sit in the bottom of the header opening), but it should be strong enough to clear rain, snow, even zombies. The weakest link in the system is probably either the wiper arm or one of the factory pieces.

The overhead console could have easily been much smaller, I have plans for some other items that will be mounted in it, like map lights, switches, and maybe a special project I'm kicking around.

[Gordon Maney]

I think its fair to say that with regard to cable systems one could wonder about frictional losses.

[Desoto61]

Seats!

Seats arrived over the weekend. I like the colors and the look, but they are huge in the cab. In hind-sight I probably should have ordered the low back version, but I think these will work.

Dry fitting them showed that they will need to be mounted further inboard than I had expected because the seats are square front to back but the cab narrows. That may mean the center console will have to go, but the final decision will have to wait till they are in. They definitely illustrate how small the cab is though. I found the seating position about right, but if I were any taller it would be a different story.

I ordered a set of universal 4" mounts, which were a little taller then I intended so I cut off an inch and re-drilled the mounting holes. To bolt the frame assembly to the truck I cut some 1/8" plate and tack welded nuts to form some re-enforcing plates. The rear ones are bent to follow the floor. Center the frame in the cab and then mark and drill the holes then bolt the mounts down using the backing plates under the floor. I cleaned off the primer around the edges of the plates and tack welded them to the floor. I can finish welding them once the cab is back off.

[Desoto61]

Got both seats mounted to the frame. I moved them both inboard two inches and they fit but are tight against the door, I may move them inboard another inch. However that meant that the center console isn't going to fit.

I did make one slight modification. By default only one of the seat adjusters is used. The second is attached to a spring that disengages it. I liked the idea of both of them working so the spring is repositioned to hold it into the track and then a piece of lock wire is wound from the release lever to the lock bracket which allows both to move together.

I started measuring for the steering column. I think a shorty column will be necessary due to the alignment of the box and column, and clearance between the peddle and housing. A piece of PVC pipe made a pretty decent analog.