Our Model A sees daily duty and thanks to the new dual wipers from New Port Engineering, it's a lot more fun to drive when the skies open up--it's much safer, too.
If you drive your street rod very often, chances are pretty good that it's going to get rained on (usually right after you've polished everything from top to bottom). And since there's no predicting exactly when Mother Nature is going to hose you down, it's best to be prepared for those occasions when the skies do open up.
Bob Galbraith thought that being prepared for downpours with working wipers was such a good idea that in 1988 his company, New Port Engineering, developed a kit to convert '39 Chevy vacuum wipers to electric. Not only was the conversion popular, the demand for more applications has been so great that today they offer over 150 different electric wiper kits.
One of the challenges when designing an electric wiper kit is fitting all the components in the space available. While that can be tough with cowl-mounted systems, cars with wipers above the windshield present an even greater challenge--and one of the toughest is the '30-31 Model A. The first problem is that the motor must mount to the header above the windshield, and there's not much room. The second problem is the outer panel above the windshield is angled, making it difficult to locate the holes for the wiper transmissions; special transmissions with angled bezels are required. New Port's new Clean Wipe system for '30-31 Fords addresses all those issues and more, such as the swing-out windshield remaining operational (something that's not always possible with some retrofit systems) and the self-parking wipers are tucked up tightly against the top of the windshield frame when not in use.
Good windshield wipers on a street rod not only make it safer, but once you have them you'll wonder how you got along without them. As the folks at New Port Engineering say, "Don't let a little rain keep your rod in the garage."
