TR4A Wiper Wheel Boxes Refit

[TR4A1965]

When I rebuilt my 4A I should have replaced the wheel boxes but I used the existing ones. 

Anyway, today I braved the damp and cold and replaced the wheel box.

I have a tip, refit it with the backplate in place lightly held by the screws.

It has taken ages as access under the dash is a nightmare.

Imagine my dismay when the wiper box appears to go in the opposite direction to the other side????

What have I done wrong?

I have left the shed for the evening as it is dark and cold but I thought I would ask you guys for a quick pointer.

It can't be as simple as putting it in upside down? I think it works the same anyway either way up?

Any pointers welcome before I resume tomorrow.

A wiper box is eating my whole weekend??? How can this be?

Thanks 

Paul

 

[RogerH]

Hi Paul,

    I assume you took the glove box out and the speedo/tacho gauges out.  Access will then be improved considerably.

The TR6 wheel box is upside down compared to the 4A box - have you got things awry.

I don;t know if you can fit a 4A box upside down then that may be the problem.

 

I was actually thinking a short while back is it possible to have both wipers in the centre when not running and then move in opposite directions when moving 

- like some moderns.

Roger

 

[ChrisR-4A]

Hi Paul, the rack wire normally goes below the pinnion and if the box is upside down it will turn the opposite way. I would have expected that if both boxes were not the same way up then there would be a miss alignment of the rack tubes.

Chris

[TR4A1965]

Thanks Chaps.

 

The rack is below the pinion but it maybe above on the passenger side.?

[tim hunt]

I know where you're coming from Paul, changing wheel boxes is my least favourite job to date on the 4A. I don't know if you were fortunate and well heeled enough to acquire Lucas NOS items (I was quoted over £200 for a  pair nine years ago!!) but, if not, beware that there have been issues with repro wheel boxes. Before fitting reproduction parts to the car test them carefully. Fit the rack in a wheel box and then clamp the spindle carefully in a vice to avoid any damage to the splines. Next grip the drive end of the rack with a mole wrench and exert considerable force to ensure that it will not come out of engagement with the pinion at high torque. This can happen, don’t ask me how I know! Unfortunately dimensional control on some pattern parts was not what it should be. If the rack does ride over the pinion then separate the two halves of the wheel box and carefully reshape them so that the rack is held in closer contact with the pinion without binding.

Tim

[had17462]

Best ones to buy are from the eBay seller from stansted UK made superb .

Nick

[TR4A1965]

This little video should make you laugh.

It was all my fault. I had installed the wiper box upside down. Made more comical with the lolly stick.

 

All sorted now although I had to do some wok to the new wiper arm. It was too tight to go on to the wheel box shaft so I grinned down the insert a little and used a rubber mallet to secure.

It will not come off:-)

 

Thanks for your help.

 

Paul

 

[RogerH]

I think the lolly stick is marginally better than the original blade.

 

Roger

[Dic Doretti]

On Swallow Dorettis you can fit the rack on the same of the pinions to give conventional wiper operation or you can cross the rack and have "clap hands" wipers. Either seems to be acceptable.

             Cheers Richard

[peejay4A]

Paul. I think you have the arms on the wrong spindles. The cranked one should be on the passenger side. 

[RogerH]

12 hours ago, peejay4A said:

Paul. I think you have the arms on the wrong spindles. The cranked one should be on the passenger side. 

That is interesting.With the arms on the wrong sides they still give a good sweep.

One of the problems with the offside arm is that at rest the rubber blade sits for long periods on the curve of the glass and so sets in this curved  positions.

When you come to use the wipers there tends to be an unswept part of the screen due to the curved blade.

If both blades were at rest in the center of the screen and  worked in opposite directions then perhaps the blade would lay flatter on the screen.

The unswept offside edge of the screen would remain unswept.

 

Roger

 

Roger.

[peejay4A]

I wonder if two cranked arms is a solution?  

[stuart]

The left hand cranked arm is so it misses the vent flap when open. If they parked in the middle of the screen together I think that would be an MOT fail as they would be blocking your view. Some Seat cars have the wipers parked against the pillar either side.

Stuart.

[keith1948]

When I first had my 4A (a 'converted' to RHD California car) it had 2 cranked arms resting to the left of the car. That arrangement we had for a while before I changed it to RHD format with one cranked and one straight resting on drivers side. I think the LHD arrangement seemed to be better at clearing the screen than the RHD. Either way the wipers are pretty useless. As Roger says whatever you do there seems to be an unswept part of the screen. Modern cars have generally flatter  and larger screens which helps.

Just had to 'adjust' the wiper arms on a Mini One to stop them making terrible noises. Using a couple of adjustable wrenches on each wiper arm, I bent the arms so that the blade was more at right angles to the screen and solved the problem. A dollop of Rain-X cleaner also helped remove the grease from the screen.

Oh and I agree with others that the cranked arm is on the passenger side. 

Roger will remember the Colin Boother memorial run earlier this year. On the way back from that event we had a duck fly into the windscreen. Fortunately we were only going slowly so the duck flew off but one of the small rivets that hold the cranked arm onto the bottom part of the wiper arm had sheared off. After searching for a replacement rivet I eventually managed to source one. I used one from a broken guitar capo that just fitted and it is all back together now and wipers working again albeit in a different key - (musicians will get the joke!).

Keith