Wiper Arms Don't Match

[Justwondering]

We've had over 4 inches of rain in 24 hours so all the grime is nice and soft on the car. While I'm out there trying to remove the first layer off the paint I notice something.

Driver side:

Passenger side:

The wiper arms are completely different where the arm (channel) connects to the strip that ultimately holds the blade assembly.

I know that the type on the passenger side looks like every other one you find at the box stores. But which is actually what came with the car? The triangle silver or the black box?

 

[Jack Meoff]

Your passenger side looks stock.
Technically the drivers side is too.
Just not for that year or car.
What I mean is it's a Mopar arm but it looks like a 70's one with the extra pivot arm on it.
I have that arm on my 78 Caravelle but not on my Fifth.

With those arms there's a collar on the pivot that's bolted to the cowl with a pin on it for the secondary arm.

 

[Aspen500]

That's the type my '78 Cordoba had the dual arm kind of thing. Worked good, wiped more of the glass than a standard type arm by the way it pivoted the blade while the arm swung.

 

[Jack Meoff]

That's the type my '78 Cordoba had the dual arm kind of thing. Worked good, wiped more of the glass than a standard type arm by the way it pivoted the blade while the arm swung.

Exactly.
I'm thinking something happened to the original and somebody threw a late 70's arm on it.

 

[Justwondering]

Thank you both for the education. I knew something looked out of whack.

 

[Jack Meoff]

As long as they work then it's all good.
If you wanted the real deal I'm sure we could find you one.

 

[Justwondering]

I'll keep that in mind.
Eventually I will need to change it. Classic problem... fix up one part and it makes another look sad. Fix that and another crops up. LOL.. I love it.

My husband nearly choked when I told him we need to consider rechroming the trim after the paint job next year.

 

[Jack Meoff]

I'll keep that in mind.
Eventually I will need to change it. Classic problem... fix up one part and it makes another look sad. Fix that and another crops up. LOL.. I love it.

My husband nearly choked when I told him we need to consider rechroming the trim after the paint job next year.

Lol....I know that one.
Rechroming? Ouch! $$$$$$$$

 

[Justwondering]

Naw -- it would be cheaper to find parts from donor cars. Most of the trim is good, just a few pieces with looks like tiny spotting on it. And of course the obligatory 'oh i'm sorry i opened my door into your chrome over the wheel' dent.

 

[Jack Meoff]

I love that.
My latest trick is to snug my car beside the really nice new car in the parking lot because they won't risk hitting their door on your car.

 

[Cordoba1]

The driver's side is CORRECT! That triangle piece is what causes the bottom of the wiper to move away from the arm as it approaches the side of the glass. Turn them on, and watch what the driver's side blade does in relation to the arm: It swings away from the arm as it approaches the side of the glass. As the wiper sweeps toward the cowl, it moves parallel to the wiper arm. The passenger side-wiper does not do this, it is always in a fixed position relative to the arm. On the driver's side, take a look at where the wiper arm attaches to the pivot. There is a second piece of metal that attaches to a fixed pin on the cowl. That piece of metal runs up the wiper arm to that triangle piece you have pictures -- and cause the wiper to pivot on the end of the wiper arm as the arm sweeps. Watch closely!

 

[Jack Meoff]

The driver's side is CORRECT! That triangle piece is what causes the bottom of the wiper to move away from the arm as it approaches the side of the glass. Turn them on, and watch what the driver's side blade does in relation to the arm: It swings away from the arm as it approaches the side of the glass. As the wiper sweeps toward the cowl, it moves parallel to the wiper arm. The passenger side-wiper does not do this, it is always in a fixed position relative to the arm. On the driver's side, take a look at where the wiper arm attaches to the pivot. There is a second piece of metal that attaches to a fixed pin on the cowl. That piece of metal runs up the wiper arm to that triangle piece you have pictures -- and cause the wiper to pivot on the end of the wiper arm as the arm sweeps. Watch closely!

Absolutely correct.
But that piece isn't on my Fifth.
Or any mid 80's M bodies as far as I know.

 

[Cordoba1]

Copy that... The design was modified to do away with the obvious pivot that can be seen in the top-most picture. It's one of those things that Mopar made better over the years. Early 70's Challengers hade a very-obvious mechanism to pivot the driver's wiper:

 

[Aspen500]

Come to think of it, my '70 Barracuda had one of those double wiper arms also...................

The aluminum trim isn't really "chrome" but bright dip anodizing. Kind of pricey to have redone. Dings and dents can be fixed fairly easy. What I did with the original trim on my car (with exception of the NOS wheel lip moldings) was strip the anodizing using oven cleaner (the real toxic stuff, not the "odor free" tree hugger type) and steel wool. Lengthy process though. Then sand it with progressively finer grit finishing up with 3000. Then,,,,,,,,,,,buffing wheel and progressively finer compounds and the proper buffing wheels. Turned out not so bad. One thing I discovered however, the quality of the aluminum used was not a-one. Too much contamination and no matter how much it was sanded, little black specks kept showing up. The anodizing filled and covered them originally. It does require an occasional going over with metal polish (I use Griot's Garage Metal Polish) to keep it looking it's best since it's bare aluminum. Not ideal, it was a LOT of work but looks pretty darn good and was something the ol' wallet could handle!

You mentioned the trim a few posts back, just an idea on how to redo it.

 

[Jack Meoff]

I posted a thread ages ago about anodized trim and got a great tutorial from one of our members on how to restore it.


http://www.forfmjbodiesonly.com/cla...php?934-Anodized-Trim&highlight=anodized+trim

 

[F body Deconstructor Jim]

Drivers side arm, 88 Diplomat I recently dismantled:

 

[Jack Meoff]

Drivers side arm, 88 Diplomat I recently dismantled:

View attachment 11969

Strange.

 

[Justwondering]

My Fifth must have been made on the same day at the same plant by the same wiper guy. lol

 

[Jack Meoff]

You'd think so. :icon_thumright:

 

[Justwondering]

Captn - did you ever try that on your trim?