Windshield Wiper and Motor Install

As street rods and other project cars have improved in quality, they are now being used as daily drivers or for long-distance travel, instead of simply for sunny-day shows, club events, parades or Sunday drives. This means that less-glamorous items such as windshield wipers are especially needed. Not only that, in order to meet state registration requirements, more and more handcrafted automobiles have to be fitted with functional windshield wipers.


Several aftermarket companies offer kits for installing custom wipers. One example is the Lucas kit offered by Finish Line, Inc. The motor is a Lucas 14W two-speed wiper motor. The motor includes a "park" position so that when the switch is shut off the wipers return to their normal resting place.


The system features a separate motor (which can be mounted in any number of locations), a pair of wiper transmissions, and a worm-drive cable. Such a system is versatile for a wide variety of project cars since the wiper transmissions can be placed virtually anywhere, and the worm-drive cable and tubes can be altered to fit the individual application.

Installation Tips
The accompanying photos here show most of the installation steps. After the holes are drilled in the body, the transmissions (with angle spacer attached) are pushed through the holes from the underside and are held in place by the spacer, a bezel and a nut.


The traditional way to sleeve the worm-drive cable is with flared 5/16-inch copper tubing. We found this arrangement to be noisy, so we used 5/16-inch truck airbrake line or hose, which not only makes for quieter operation, but also is easier to install. This high-temp, Teflon-lined hose is simple to cut and fit.