bobsimes
Member
You will say how could this be done?
On getting my car (early 2002 tdi without aero wiper) the wiper blade was goosed, my local motor factors wanted over £12 for a new wiper blade and stoke audi does the conversion kit for about £70.
I looked at the old a2 wiper design and saw the "hook" where the wiper hooks on is significantly larger than most other cars (i compared it to my wifes vauxhall corsa).
I looked on ebay and saw these for £5 each for a 28" blade (wiper upgrade from standard size hook to aero wiper)
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=280457618076#ht_2091wt_1165
next i went to my local scrap yard (take a hacksaw) and for £2 removed a couple of straight wiper blade arms in matt black (just the hook and 3" of arm)
see picture 1 (must get arm that is straight not with a kink or bend)
the plan was to remove the wiper arm cut off the old larger hook and replace with a normal sized hook
(to remove wiper arm operate arm and stop when arm verticle to access the bolts), the plastic part where the wiper hinges removes (unclip carefully) grip arm firmly and give it a good wobble side to side, you may need some wd 40 to help free it as it is on a cone type taper.
using my dremmel tool i cut the old hook off the a2 wiper arm, using a drill i then drilled two small holes through each of the arm i had removed from the scrap yard and the a2 arm (only thin bolts needed not sure of the size) i used locking nuts on the underside before tightening up and cutting off the remaining screw thread, i then rubbed down the arm slightly to key the paint before spraying the whole arm with matt paint x 3 coats and 3 coats of clear laquer, i then fixed the bade on to the new thinner hook, this was a bit fiddly
i then turned on the wipers to reset the motor to the rest position before popping on the newly painted wiper arm, this takes a couple of goes to get the sweep exactly right.
when adjusted right again put the arm in vertical position to tighten nuts up and replace black nut caps.
items needed
wiper arm from old car £2 (see picture 1)
aero blade (hook type upgrade 28") from ebay or similar £5
paint x 2 cans black and laquer £3 each however i had these already
2 x screws with locking nuts (the type with nylon insert) £0.50p from local hardware store
dremmel tool with cutting wheel (could use hacksaw)
sandpaper to rub rough edges down
drill with selection of drill bits
time req
couple of hours alowing time for paint to dry (would be best left overnight though if you can to let paint cure in this cold weather)
ps it is a bit fiddly to do but if you take your time i got a good finish and it looks good and cost me under £10 to do including the new wiper, from the inside and outside the new part looks fairly standard, obviously not the same as an aero wiper arm replacement but £60 cheaper!!!.
please see picture 3 and 4 for end result.
** update**
the other option is look for a wiper arm in the scrapyard from a car that has an aero wiper arm (i was looking at my local yard yesterday and found one with click fit type fitting, it was an original part and it seemed the aero part was crimped over onto a straight arm), again cut a2 arm and replace as per instructions in this post, there are plenty of click fit aero blades in 28" on ebay for a fiver each approx, its up to you what type of fitting you want.
Simon
On getting my car (early 2002 tdi without aero wiper) the wiper blade was goosed, my local motor factors wanted over £12 for a new wiper blade and stoke audi does the conversion kit for about £70.
I looked at the old a2 wiper design and saw the "hook" where the wiper hooks on is significantly larger than most other cars (i compared it to my wifes vauxhall corsa).
I looked on ebay and saw these for £5 each for a 28" blade (wiper upgrade from standard size hook to aero wiper)
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=280457618076#ht_2091wt_1165
next i went to my local scrap yard (take a hacksaw) and for £2 removed a couple of straight wiper blade arms in matt black (just the hook and 3" of arm)
see picture 1 (must get arm that is straight not with a kink or bend)
the plan was to remove the wiper arm cut off the old larger hook and replace with a normal sized hook
(to remove wiper arm operate arm and stop when arm verticle to access the bolts), the plastic part where the wiper hinges removes (unclip carefully) grip arm firmly and give it a good wobble side to side, you may need some wd 40 to help free it as it is on a cone type taper.
using my dremmel tool i cut the old hook off the a2 wiper arm, using a drill i then drilled two small holes through each of the arm i had removed from the scrap yard and the a2 arm (only thin bolts needed not sure of the size) i used locking nuts on the underside before tightening up and cutting off the remaining screw thread, i then rubbed down the arm slightly to key the paint before spraying the whole arm with matt paint x 3 coats and 3 coats of clear laquer, i then fixed the bade on to the new thinner hook, this was a bit fiddly
i then turned on the wipers to reset the motor to the rest position before popping on the newly painted wiper arm, this takes a couple of goes to get the sweep exactly right.
when adjusted right again put the arm in vertical position to tighten nuts up and replace black nut caps.
items needed
wiper arm from old car £2 (see picture 1)
aero blade (hook type upgrade 28") from ebay or similar £5
paint x 2 cans black and laquer £3 each however i had these already
2 x screws with locking nuts (the type with nylon insert) £0.50p from local hardware store
dremmel tool with cutting wheel (could use hacksaw)
sandpaper to rub rough edges down
drill with selection of drill bits
time req
couple of hours alowing time for paint to dry (would be best left overnight though if you can to let paint cure in this cold weather)
ps it is a bit fiddly to do but if you take your time i got a good finish and it looks good and cost me under £10 to do including the new wiper, from the inside and outside the new part looks fairly standard, obviously not the same as an aero wiper arm replacement but £60 cheaper!!!.
please see picture 3 and 4 for end result.
** update**
the other option is look for a wiper arm in the scrapyard from a car that has an aero wiper arm (i was looking at my local yard yesterday and found one with click fit type fitting, it was an original part and it seemed the aero part was crimped over onto a straight arm), again cut a2 arm and replace as per instructions in this post, there are plenty of click fit aero blades in 28" on ebay for a fiver each approx, its up to you what type of fitting you want.
Simon
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