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Hi
Does anyone have a photo of a 1929 open car windshield wiper motor.
There is a set of nos on ebay for almost $1600. Not sure they are correct with the arms that extend out to the side of the motor. Mine were totally gone. There are 3 holes in the windshield for each motor. Any help?
Thanks. Rick
P.s. Does anyone know how many DC phaetons were made. 3yr production?
A large number of wiper motors I have seen were Model A Ford chrome reproduction motors. They function beautifully, and cannot be told from original except to the most discriminating observers. In an attempt to restore a set of originals, I finally gave up and sold them to someone else willing to be aggravated.
The correct motor does have the arm so that you can manually operate the motor. The brackets that come out the side of the motor are threaded, so the three holes in your windshield are two for the machine screws that hold the wiper in place (and are threaded into brackets) and one center hole for the shaft, to which the wiper arm mounts.
The original machine screws that hold the wiper in place, by the way, had snaps on the outer end, to which the front top flap snaps. The rounded portion of the wiper is mounted facing up, and the wiper arms at rest are both pointed toward the middle of the car.
The problem with buying even that expensive set is that you don’t know if they’ll operate, nor do you know if they can be MADE to operate. The pot metal they’re constructed of bubbles, and too many bubbles and you can’t clean out the inside enough to make the vacuum operate. Also, getting them plated is another whole can of worms, as they need to be prepared both before and after plating if there’s any chance of them working afterwards.
I recently had a long conversation with Mr. Jaquith out west who rebuilds these things, so it’s a subject I’m now well versed in!
Richard,
The best records (Bernie Weis’ list) indicate that there were an estimated 7885, 133 cars produced in 1929.
There are 386 recorded on Bernie’s list, with 158 existing as of 2012.
As for Dual Cowl Phaeton cars, the number produced is unknown, but there are 7 shown on the list, not including 1 “Sport Phaeton” and 1 “Phaeton.”
If you extrapolate from “listed” versus “produced” the number is small, as in 142-produced (7/386 = 0.018% & 0.018 X 7885 = 141.93, ergo, 142).
I believe that my calculations are correct and that this information is somewhat useful.
If I erred in the construction of my calculation, one of the PAS Math Wiz Gents will correct me.
Peter
The body number should should be stamped in the woodwork under the drivers seat.That is the location of the number on my 133 Roadster which happens to be R-119 which denotes my car is the 119th Roadster.The car has gone only 24000 miles and was delivered by Kumpf’s of Denver late in 1929.I believe the car was built in Sept.1929.I would estimate that the Tonneau Cowl Phaetons were built in about the same number.
Rich, to get back to your original question on wipers: The $1600 dollar set would work, but are not correct. They do not have the small inside arm for the driver to hand crank the wiper. The un-restored one from the same seller on e-bay has for $250 is the correct one for the drivers side, but needs chrome plated and restored to work.(mounts half moon up) The open cars have a clearance problem with the after WWII replacements with the bigger body hitting the front top bow. The replacement ones have the body that is almost to the mounting screws and not the fragile arm like you see in the $1600 dollar set. Hope this helps. If you want to use the later bigger body, they work but have to be mounted upside down.(half moon down) Most people would never know the differance. There are lots of these that come up for sale. They do however take up more of the already short glass! Karl
Thank you all for the info. Maybe the blind spot was the reason the original owner said the hell with it and tossed the original motors. lolo
My car had 65k on the odometer when I bought it. The car has been taken down to the last nut and bolt. The engine has been totally rebuilt etc…. It should be good to go for another 80 years til someone else has a brilliant idea to restore it again. 