Windshield wipers. Not the most exciting part of a project. They certainly won’t help your car go or stop quicker, but they’re necessary. When I built my ’46 roadster pickup I started with just the front sheetmetal, cowl, and doors, with no trim parts, door handles, or wiper mechanism. While it’s possible to buy electric wiper assemblies that hook up to the original linkages and wiper escutcheons, this was not an option for me unless I sourced those first.
So when I received a press release from EZ Wiring on their new universal wiper kits, I figured that would be perfect for the ’46, and I’d just have to source a pair of escutcheons. Rob Fortier happened to have an unidentified pair in his parts stash, and kindly donated them to the cause. A little modification with a file and they fit my cowl, and would mount the wiper shafts at 90 degrees to the windshield, which is what I wanted.
Here’s the wiper kit as supplied by EZ Wiring, with the motor and cable, wiring, drive cable tubes, gearboxes, switch, and a second pair of larger splined wiper drives.
As this is a universal kit, a little modification to the cowl rail under the dash was required in my case, though if I’d mounted the wiper gearboxes, and hence the wiper shafts, at a steeper angle, they would have bolted right in. It is possible to shorten the shafts too, though being supplied longer means they will clear most underdash components. As the kit uses a drive cable rather than direct linkages from the motor, it offers the advantage of being able to mount the motor in any position up to 2 feet from the gearboxes, inside or outside the firewall, or up high on one of the kick panels inside the car. I elected to mount mine high on the inside of the firewall, which already has sound deadener material installed, as this will help reduce noise (like I’ll hear it with no door windows anyway!).
Apart from the minimal modifications to my cowl rail and the alterations to the escutcheons, this was a simple install, and an easy weekend project. Now I can leave the Rain-X at home and see clearly through all that torrential rain we get here in California!
As mentioned, I chose the EZ wiper kit because I had absolutely none of the original mechanism for the ’46. However, I still required a pair of escutcheons. Rob Fortier dug through his garage and kindly gave up this pair, though what they’re from, neither of us know.
