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EFV-8 Club Forum / General Ford Discussion / 39 coupe windshield wipers

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Posted By Discussion Topic: 39 coupe windshield wipers -- page: 1 2     larryb346 12-24-2013 @ 3:35 PM reply profile send p.m. Member Posts: 27 Joined: Jan 2010 I just bought a 39 coupe street rod. It has been converted from vacuum to electric. The electric motor is mounted under the headliner on the top. The prior owner said the wipes never worked very well. He said if he tightened the wiper arm down tight the wipers would stop working and if was loosened the wiper arms would drag and slip. The post sticking through the top are very small and smooth. My 46 has a knurled knob on the end of the shaft to prevent slipping. Am I missing something or can anyone offer suggestion on how to make the wiper arm stay tight to the shaft without binding the tower shaft. Does the shaft have any serrations or tapers? Thanks Larry TomO 12-26-2013 @ 9:00 AM reply profile send p.m. Senior Posts: 7250 Joined: Oct 2009 Larry, It would help if you could post a photo of the post on the outside of the car. There are many different firms supplying the electric motors and they use different shafts. Tom larryb346 12-26-2013 @ 4:13 PM reply profile send p.m. Member Posts: 27 Joined: Jan 2010 Tom I will post a picture,however the electric motor simply replaced the vacuum motor. The wiper towers and arms are the original 39's according to the builder. That is where the issue is. The post sticking through the tower is very small and round. It appears it might have a slight taper. I will have to remove the front portion of the headliner to see the motor. I was going to replace the towers and arms,however I can't find new or reman. for the coupe, only convertible and wagons. Thanks Larry Lincoln 12-26-2013 @ 6:47 PM reply profile send p.m. Member Posts: 56 Joined: Oct 2009 If the shafts (posts) are Original Ford/TRICO, they will have a very narrow taper with very shallow serrations, which mate up with a tapered and serrated piece that is part of the wiper arm. If the shaft is worn undersize and serrations worn (as many used originals are), the arm will not stay tight and will slip on the shaft. This may be a common problem with many of this style wiper (also used in 1937 & 38) as someone on this Forum mentioned it previously. Other than replace the wiper shaft with a new one, maybe you can dress up the old shaft using a very small file to "sharpen" the existing serrations, although the shafts I have seen do not have very many, and no pronounced, serrations to begin with. Some sort of glue/cement might work if you were not planning on changing wiper arms/blades anytime soon. Hope this helps. Lincoln. 40cpe 12-26-2013 @ 8:31 PM reply profile send p.m. Member Posts: 472 Joined: Jan 2010 It could be the arm is worn, too. I know what a pain it is to lower the headliner and then get it back in place. You might have to get creative and experiment. I was thinking of using a very soft metal as a shim over the splined shaft and under the arm. Maybe pound a piece of lead such as a fishing weight to a thin sheet and apply it over the spline. larryb346 12-26-2013 @ 8:54 PM reply profile send p.m. Member Posts: 27 Joined: Jan 2010 I will look closer tomorrow I do not think there are any serrations on these shafts. I will measure to be sure they are tapered. I thought they might be suppose to have some type of groove for a key or some way to lock the wiper in position. Thanks Larry TomO 12-27-2013 @ 10:21 AM reply profile send p.m. Senior Posts: 7250 Joined: Oct 2009 On the stock 39 wiper assembly there will be a tapered shaft going through the body. On the outside there will be a chrome bezel held in place by a special nut and then the wiper arm is held on by another special nut. From your description, it sounds like the arms coming off of the wiper motor(P/N 91A-17552 and 53) are worn. Any small bind in these arms will make a vacuum motor sluggish, and may stop an electric motor also. I have attached a drawing from the 39 parts catalog with the affected parts circled in red. Tom larryb346 12-27-2013 @ 3:06 PM reply profile send p.m. Member Posts: 27 Joined: Jan 2010 Tom Your exactly correct. The wiper shafts are nearly slick. Any serrations are worn nearly smooth. Now I need to find some wiper shafts someplace. So far many places have them for a convertible and station Wagon, but I have not found any for the coupe. I am going to have to remove the headliner and would like to have the parts to fix it when I do and then be able to put it back together Any suggestions? Thanks Larry larryb346 12-27-2013 @ 8:03 PM reply profile send p.m. Member Posts: 27 Joined: Jan 2010 Tom Your exactly correct. The wiper shafts are nearly slick. Any serrations are worn nearly smooth. Now I need to find some wiper shafts someplace. So far many places have them for a convertible and station Wagon, but I have not found any for the coupe. I am going to have to remove the headliner and would like to have the parts to fix it when I do and then be able to put it back together Any suggestions? Thanks Larry TomO 12-28-2013 @ 1:15 PM reply profile send p.m. Senior Posts: 7250 Joined: Oct 2009 The 39 sedans used the same linkage as the Coupe. You should be able to find the linkage in one of the few salvage yards that specialize in older cars. I would drop the front of the headliner and examine what is behind it. The correct parts may have been changed out sometime in the past 70+ years. Tom

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