1951 Ford F-1 Electric Wiper Install - F-1 Electric Wiper Conversion Live In A Vacuum No More

Here are the transmissions in their home position mounted under the cowl to determine the routing of the drive cable tube that would run from the motor to the first transmission (note they cleared the cowl vent mechanism).

Before routing the drive cable tube to the first transmission, a pattern was made from a coat hanger to provide a basic guide for forming the tube. The arc wasn't as important as the two end points. Then the tube was single-flared at both ends.

The dead end of the system (in this case, the driver side) requires a 4-inch extension tube fitted into the end transmission, which is flared on both ends.

Next, it was time to mount the drive wheel to the motor assembly. The holes in the wheel are in 10-degree increments, and determine the total sweep of the wipers, from 90 degrees to 160 degrees. This is set up for a 160-degree sweep.

Then the drive cable was fed inside the tube with just the end (with the square block) sticks out into the motor. This end was connected to the link, which was connected to the wheel that goes round-and-round, causing the cable to push and pull. Note that everything is very heavily greased. The key to the wipers parking correctly is that the drive link has to be exactly horizontal, as seen here.

This is what the whole enchilada looks like assembled on the bench, with the cover on the motor. It's an extremely simple package. As the cable pushes out and pulls back with each rotation of the drive wheel, a single gear in each transmission turns one way on the extension stroke, then the other when the cable retracts. It's ingenious and simple.

The plug-in harness for the Specialty Power Windows wiper motor allows a quick disconnect. The plug was assembled in a few minutes and adapted to the '51 dash knob, as shown. When the 12 volt power source was connected and the wipers were tested for the first time it revealed the drive wheel was 180-degree out, which made the wipers park on the opposite stroke from desired. The wheel was flipped 180 degrees and the problem was corrected.