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I know the devil is in details, but this week I've seen a few pics of TRs that attracked my attention.

 

First this one:

 

photo9.jpg

The driver of the red TR has used the car's windshield wipers. Do you notice the surface area of the clean part!? On my car there are two 6 inch straws with rubber lining fighting the elements... Has anybody any idea what sort of wiper blades are used here?

 

The second question has to do with a pic of Maus Gatsonides in the lastest issue of TRAction (no one overhere refers to him as 'Maurice' : it's 'Maus' to us Dutch) There's some kind of plexi glass half high side screen on that pic. Does anybody know more about that item?

 

Menno

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The driver of the red TR has used the car's windshield wipers. Do you notice the surface area of the clean part!? On my car there are two 6 inch straws with rubber lining fighting the elements... Has anybody any idea what sort of wiper blades are used here?

Anything that will fit! You can replace the arms with extendible arms, and/or fit larger blades. I use the modern/flexible blades made by Tex available from most classic car specialists and many general motor factors (in fact I think they are actually called 'Classic blades'). Much better than the stiff/flat blades, although I use to buy Land rover blades of this type to fit my original hook-fitting wiper arms and cut them down giving a full sweep.

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Thanks Brian!

 

I've never looked at the various wiper blade solutions for a 3A. You have opened a whole new world here. I googled for 'Tex' and 'wiper' and I found what you mean. The Land Rover solution is perhaps nice too: there's a Series supplier just down the road. When he returns from his holiday, I'll pay him a visit!

 

Apart from Brian's perfect answer, I would really like to see other solutions!

 

I'm about the same size as the driver of the green TR. The small wipers are working 'too low' for me. I noticed that last Monday when driving home. That's why I started looking for larger blades.

 

Last monday I had been looking at an other possible project (more on that early next week!) and when I returned home, I faced dark thunderstorm clouds ahead... I had to put up the hood B) The last time I put up the hood was last winter when we installed it... I was passing a small village garage. Thinking about a dry place to put up the hood, I turned the car drove back and asked the guy in the garage if was possible to put up the hood inside the workshop. "No problem mate, come in!" So I did. In short, I put up the hood, waited for the thunderstorm to pass while drinking a cup of coffee. I had never visited them before! Just hospitality! Great guys!

 

Menno

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Hello Menno,

 

I modified,bent and welded some MGB arms and shortened the blades.

 

It worked but it was far from perfect, it looked like a dogs breakfast as they say.

 

The worm and wheel system used on all TR cars is not good, modern cars have mechanical linkages, operated directly from the wiper motor

 

instead of our old "worm" but so far no one has managed a better modification!

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The best solution I have found so far was pair of wiper arms that I had from US imported car that were adjustable for length and had incredibly strong springs. they also had the straight ends with the small pip so would take the more modern type of blade fittings. Unfortunately I have never seen that type of arm anywhere on this side of the pond and I didnt make a note of the manufacturer (Though the car is still around locally so next time it is here I will try and find the make). Allied to a Mini 2 speed wiper motor (similar to TR6 so needed a custom made hold down bracket) they work very well and wipe the full height and width of the screen.

Stuart.

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Menno,

I use the Tex blades and get the same sort of coverage as that on the red car. I bought mine from revington, but I would imagine that they are widely available. They work OK, but don't seem to last particularly long, although I do use the car all the time, so they get a lot of use in the winter. The only real problem is that they could do with stronger/shorter springs to hold the blade onto the screen better.

 

Dave

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Menno,

I use the Tex blades and get the same sort of coverage as that on the red car. I bought mine from revington, but I would imagine that they are widely available. They work OK, but don't seem to last particularly long, although I do use the car all the time, so they get a lot of use in the winter. The only real problem is that they could do with stronger/shorter springs to hold the blade onto the screen better.

 

Dave

 

Yes, I think the answer is not in the blades but the arms. One of my cars has what I can only describe as a leaf spring to press the wiper against the windscreen. I think it might be original - it is quite small and elegant since it does not have to be so wide to house a coil spring. It is also adjustable for length. However, its performance is best described as "moderate". The other car has a replacement arm using coil springs and exerts a greater pressure, though not that much more. These are no problem at all. I also have a series one Land Rover that uses flat blades and they are very good too. Mind you, I never expect them to clear something like tree sap from the screen as you might a modern wiper.

 

It is worth hunting about the autojumbles because there are all sorts of arms around, all slightly different but many will fit a TR.

 

Nick

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I know the devil is in details, but this week I've seen a few pics of TRs that attracked my attention.

 

First this one:

 

photo9.jpg

The driver of the red TR has used the car's windshield wipers. Do you notice the surface area of the clean part!? On my car there are two 6 inch straws with rubber lining fighting the elements... Has anybody any idea what sort of wiper blades are used here?

 

The second question has to do with a pic of Maus Gatsonides in the lastest issue of TRAction (no one overhere refers to him as 'Maurice' : it's 'Maus' to us Dutch) There's some kind of plexi glass half high side screen on that pic. Does anybody know more about that item?

 

Menno

I found that the replacement glass which I fitted to my TR2 screen is not flat or straight from top to bottom but has an uneven convex curve (there is of course a slight curve from side to side along the length) rendering the original 8inch flat type of blades useless.I have replaced these with 9inch flexible blades as used on early MG Midgets. These have the 'spoon' type or 'hook' type of fitting and are a big improvement.The arms which I have fitted are adjustable in length which helps to get the best result.

Regards, Colin.

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The second question has to do with a pic of Maus Gatsonides in the lastest issue of TRAction (no one overhere refers to him as 'Maurice' : it's 'Maus' to us Dutch) There's some kind of plexi glass half high side screen on that pic. Does anybody know more about that item?

There used to be a few similarly equipped sidescreen cars racing in the '70s, all homemade from perspex, plywood or aluminium. The modern equivalent would be these fibreglass Competition Sidescreens from Racetorations.

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Hello,

For the windscreen wipers, it's simple, just remplace them by Frogyeye (or Midget) wipers. They have a better fit to the windscreens and some of them are larger and cover exactly the TR3 windscreen; I have them on my TR3A Rallye (www.trmentvotre.com) .

Rgds

GG

 

I know the devil is in details, but this week I've seen a few pics of TRs that attracked my attention.

 

First this one:

 

photo9.jpg

The driver of the red TR has used the car's windshield wipers. Do you notice the surface area of the clean part!? On my car there are two 6 inch straws with rubber lining fighting the elements... Has anybody any idea what sort of wiper blades are used here?

 

The second question has to do with a pic of Maus Gatsonides in the lastest issue of TRAction (no one overhere refers to him as 'Maurice' : it's 'Maus' to us Dutch) There's some kind of plexi glass half high side screen on that pic. Does anybody know more about that item?

 

Menno

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Hello Menno,

 

I use MG Midget wiper arms and blades on my TR3A. They were cheap, they look good and they work very well.

 

The only thing to watch for is that they fit the serrated driving shafts on the wheelboxes as these come in different sizes. I suppose the easy answer to that problem would be to use MG wheelboxes as well!

 

Regards,

 

Willie Felger

 

1959 TR3A UDM 322

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