non-aero wiper arm tinkering

Robin_Cox

Member
My other half's car (52 plate) still has the original hooked arm, and after everything else (suspension, throttle body etc. described elsewhere) I decided to go for the budget option for now. The riveted end is a bit worn, but I got a Bosch aero-conversion blade kit to replace the manky original perished blade for about 15 quid - which was an immediate improvement (better wiping, less juddering). Recently noticed that the lowest point on the plastic casing piece under the rivets was beginning to mark the windscreen in a couple of places on an arc due to making contact owing to play in the rivets. Looking at it, it struck me that I could get more clearance under the rivet housing to prevent it scraping the window by increasing the slight window-wards bend in the metal leading to the hook using two big pairs of locking pliers, then reversing the increased angle closer to the hook to avoid uneven pressure to the blade heel or toe. After a bit of trial and error, I managed to increase the clearance between windscreen and rivet housing by 4mm with the wiper blade still working perfectly without juddering on wet or dry screens. I'll give it a couple of weeks (assuming the weather continues to deteriorate) and come back if there are any further comments positive or negative. In the long run I'll get a new aero arm set, but for now I'm hoping this will suffice.
 
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It's quite subtle - annotated image herewith. I accept it's a bit of a crude solution, but if it stops the wiper pivot point under the rivets from scoring a big arc onto the screen before I can afford a new one, it'll be worth it.

wiper mod.jpg
 
Paul -( @depronman )- I seem to recall someone saying that you do rivet replacements or refurbs - you can see the rivets on mine are obviously rusty and if you lift the wiper up so that the spring loading isn't holding everything in place against the windscreen, the riveted part flops up and down freely several degrees against the actual wiper arms. Is what you do to replace these with better materials so that the play is eliminated - and is your service applicable on the original arm or only the aero arm set?
 
Hi Robin,
Yes I offer a refurb service on the wiper arms, I remove the original rivets/pivot pins, ream out the hole in the arms to the get a round hole again, there is a brass type material in the ends of the arm that acts as a bearing material, so minimal material needs to be removed.
I then custom make new pivot pins from stainless steel with a helical oil groove. Clean and reassemble the wiper assy, then finally rub it all down and apply primer and a few coats of matt black spray paint.
When you get it back it looks new and as no play in the ends. keep a little oil on the pivot pins and I see no reason why it would wear again. The original pins are soft mild steel and therefore rust as there is no water ingress prevention in the design.
I can do this for both the original and the latter Aero wiper arm system
The refurb is quite time consuming and therefore is £30 plus return carriage of £5 via myherms, Royal mail is a LOT more expensive

Cheers,
Paul
 
Paul - definitely something to book if I can get both cars through the winter as both have wear and it is a lot cheaper than >85€+ for a new arm set - thank you for your detailed explanation.
 
After a terribly scored windscreen that required replacing I changed the arm for an original aero arm. It was £70 well spent.
 
Paul - definitely something to book if I can get both cars through the winter as both have wear and it is a lot cheaper than >85€+ for a new arm set - thank you for your detailed explanation.
Your welcome Robin, I've done a few of both types for members including my own which is showing no signs of wear after two year of use
get in touch when you are ready
Cheers,
Paul
 
Hi Robin,
Yes I offer a refurb service on the wiper arms, I remove the original rivets/pivot pins, ream out the hole in the arms to the get a round hole again, there is a brass type material in the ends of the arm that acts as a bearing material, so minimal material needs to be removed.
I then custom make new pivot pins from stainless steel with a helical oil groove. Clean and reassemble the wiper assy, then finally rub it all down and apply primer and a few coats of matt black spray paint.
When you get it back it looks new and as no play in the ends. keep a little oil on the pivot pins and I see no reason why it would wear again. The original pins are soft mild steel and therefore rust as there is no water ingress prevention in the design.
I can do this for both the original and the latter Aero wiper arm system
The refurb is quite time consuming and therefore is £30 plus return carriage of £5 via myherms, Royal mail is a LOT more expensive

Cheers,
Paul
Hi Paul, do you still do the refurbs?
 
A full 18 months after my first post on this, and the life-hack repair in my second post, the rivets are finally beginning to succumb terminally and the plastic casing under the wiper arm is beginning to contact the windscreen again with associated small arc markings at the bottom of the windscreen. Even with the new Bosch blade that raises the mount, and my bends that lifted it up 4mm, the rivets are now pretty knackered and the hinge has a nasty angle on it.

Paul (@depronman) - I've got one spare un-restored wiper arm in the garage ready to send down - I think it is a late model. Do you have a restored early model in your stocks (overall on paper I need 2 early and one late arm although obviously will work with whatever you have and get blades to accommodate)? Happy to discuss further details offline, but thought it made sense to feed back to everyone interested in this thread how long a temporary fix can work before it absolutely needs a properly-engineered solution from St. Anne's. Obviously I was lucky it lasted this long - I imagine many will be much worse to start with.
 
Hi Robin
As per normal this time of the year wiper arms are coming in and out quickly
At the moment I have two aero wiper arms refurbished and painted ready to send out and another two aero arms refurbished but not painted yet
I have no hook arms in stock at the moment they are all out with members and once returned need refurbishing and painting so these are at least a couple of weeks away
If you have anything that you can send me I’m happy to refurb it quickly but painting is weather dependent as if it’s too cold the paint takes an age to dry and the finish is not great. Above about 7 deg c is fine
I can only off wipers on a like for like basis
Ie aero for aero or hook for hook

Cheers. Paul


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Hi Robin
As per normal this time of the year wiper arms are coming in and out quickly
At the moment I have two aero wiper arms refurbished and painted ready to send out and another two aero arms refurbished but not painted yet
I have no hook arms in stock at the moment they are all out with members and once returned need refurbishing and painting so these are at least a couple of weeks away
If you have anything that you can send me I’m happy to refurb it quickly but painting is weather dependent as if it’s too cold the paint takes an age to dry and the finish is not great. Above about 7 deg c is fine
I can only off wipers on a like for like basis
Ie aero for aero or hook for hook

Cheers. Paul


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Hi Paul,

Your current turnover completely as expected, especially given age of vehicles.

I will look at the unused 2nd-hand arm I have in the garage - I think it is the late type rather than early, but obviously I would be fitting a new blade to the arm anyway, so no issue if you can only send out a newer equivalent.

I think I will get my wiper stategy worked out this weekend and go on from there with you by PM thenceforth. Best, Robin
 
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