Talk Morgan Forums Morgan Sports Cars Maintenance & Servicing Alternative Wipers

Thanks for leading the way, Robbie.

I am rebuilding my 1980 Plus 8 and have always found the original wipers a bit rubbish.

I found that I didn't have to cut the blades themselves but am accepting that on full sweep the lower end rides a little onto the chrome window surround. The coverage of the screen is excellent now and very effective at clearing water. Will have to wait a bit before testing in real life.
I went for a 110 degree gear which suits fine. My main reason for writing is just to point out one aspect I hadn't expected and which puzzled me at first.

Having changed the gear, the wipers decided to park on the left side instead. It really confused me until I realised that the parking position is driven by a nylon "bump" on the underside of the gear. As the gear was supplied, the bump was on the same side as the spindle whereas the original was on the opposite side. Careful probing established that the bump is removable and can then be replaced in two holes provided on the other side. Car Builder Solutions obviously pander to European driving!

I also replaced the rather obvious cross head screws on the wiper arms with button head stainless steel

A very satisfying improvement and thanks again.

Well I have to say that having been very dissatisfied with Morgan windscreen wipers ever since I have had a Morgan I read this thread and I also bought some. I have plenty of clearance at the top so the drill holes weren't needed even though I drilled them. Yes I am a DIY retard but no damage done. I do however have a problem at the bottom where the wipers travel quite a bit across the silver at the bottom before they start they return to the resting position. They clean the screen superbly and there is no damage being done because obviously only the rubber is crossing the bottom but I would like to stop this if possible - any ideas? Adjustable wiper arms would go a long way I guess but anything more than that is beyond me.I have read Robbie Mathisen's posts but I wouldn't know where to start with new wiper motors etc etc

I fitted these as well (without drilling an additional hole ) and have the same problem with the end of the wiper going over the bottom edge of the screen. The only solutions I think there are:

Shorten the length of the wiper blade on that side (which will reduce the swept area of the blade)
Alter the wheel boxes so they have less travel (a smaller degree sweep). Again that would reduce the swept area of the blade.
Find a longer wiper arm. The risk here is that it may then hit the screen edge at the top.

The most elegant solution would be the wheel boxes. Not a huge job but a bit of a faff.

I decided to live with the 'over sweep'. It only happens when it's raining, and I can't see if from the inside

This is a good explanation of the wiper system, and shows the wiheel boxes which may help.

Wiper Systems

Hi Everyone,

Some cars seem to be ok, others overlap on drivers side screen upright, others fall off the bottom.

I’m not sure wipers are fitted in exactly the same place on every car and since we are talking geometry here a few mm out here or there exacerbates the problem.

If falling off the bottom then a change of gear from the standard 130 degrees is required. Is the answer 115 or 110, well bit of trial and error since all cars are different but I went from 130 to 105 and settled on 110. Obviously you must be happy with the reduced screen sweep.

If overlapping the screen upright then a simple snip may be the answer.

Gears are readily available and I got mine from Leacy cos they are near to me, about a tenner.

If doing the job then remove the motor which is straight forward, and for the uninitiated the gear is simply a plastic wheel with teeth on the edge fixed to a spindle and retained by a circlip. The hard part is getting the circlip back on and an extra pair of hands helps.

I have some notes somewhere and will gladly pass on if you pm me.

ps I found the bottom of the gear spindle, protruding out of the bottom of the motor, resting on the bulkhead and nicely drilling a hole every time used or going over a bump!

Some Mogs have the wipers set a little too far off the parked position, ie when switched off (parked) the wipers are not parallel to the base 'screen frame, so in affect they are already partly into the sweep.

Worth checking & can cure the lower edge 'oversweep'

I've been fiddling a bit more and ended up increasing the angle of the arms so as to get the blades parallel with the bottom of the screen. I wasn't sure how successful it would be to bend the arms "on the flat" as it were but heated them with a blowtorch at the point of bend and then they bent easily with molegrips. Any twist was then hammered out. Heat marks removed with fine wire wool.