Clean the Screen

So another update on progress..... yes two updates within a month wowsers!!

After Christmas i also ordered the wiper package from AK this consists of the wiper arms and blades, wheel box's/spindles and the wiper motor complete with bundy tube. On the AK in order to achieve full clearance of the screen 3 wipers are needed. This is one of the first bits to look at to identify an AK kit. This was one of the bits that i was considering changing and only fitting two wipers simply because i prefer two to three. But after chatting to a few people i have decided to follow AK's advice and stick with three, this will give sufficient clearance of the screen required for IVA and not leave the centre part of the screen unwiped. So first things first when cutting into the body is measure twice and cut once. I simply laid the tapered chrome bezels on the top scuttle just in front of the rubber windscreen seal, to give me a rough layout of the position of the wheel box spindles. They come with rubber washers to protect the paintwork between the metal and the body so these are good for using as a cutting template.

Once i was happy with the spacing and i had checked the underside for clearance etc.. i checked all measurement's again. I even held a wiper arm and blade in position with each spindle position and checked roughly screen clearance and wipe area.

So with the areas to be cut marked out. cutting could be started, simply with a good size drill bit and position the drill so that it cuts through at roughly the same angel as the spindle will be (rather than just straight down through the scuttle) Once one was done its just a simple case of opening the hole slowly using a file so that the spindle of the wheel box fits through nicely, these are then just held in place with the top bezel and nut. now  repeat the process twice more and fit the wheel box's.



When the spindles are secured i was able to offer up a wiper arm and blade, and with no gear linkage in place its free to move so i could do a good check for the sweep. I didn't want the blades to catch the top of the screen or have any contact with each other during operation or parked position.

Same again with two wipers fitted, checking clearance and movement of the arms and same again with all three on. This is actually a very enjoyable job to do in my opinion, its very simple and with basic understanding of how this all operates its great to see the wipers move and do what they are supposed to do.

So now with all three wheel box's and wipers fitted its onto the motor itself. This is located on a pre mounted bracket on the AK chassis under the scuttle just to the right of the steering column. It is held in place with the supplied clamp and rubber mounting blocks to keep the motor nice and quiet when running. If you have any experience with classic mini's the wiper setup is exactly the same, but the motor is fitted in the engine bay rather than cockpit.

The wiper motor has a long geared cable (i forget its actual name) looks like a long flexible Archimedes screw that runs from out the motor. This is simply fed through the wheel boxes in turn and provides the movement for each wiper arm. I initially put all this together and did a quick test run. This was exciting pressed the stalk down and the wipers burst into life sweeping the screen very nicely indeed... happy days.



Now was just a quick case of fitting the bundy tube. This is just a alloy tube that has to be cut to size to fit between each wheel box so the geared cable runs through it. This is cut with a pipe cutter and when you have required length you will need to put a small flare on each end. This is so that each wheel box clamps over it when fully installed it actually firms up any movement you had in the spindle when just held with the top nut. A little bit of patience here as its cut then flare and test fit... if still to long, cut again another flare and test fit.


When you have all sections cut to size and they fit well its time to get down and dirty.... The bundy tube and all the gears will work best and more importantly quietest when they are well greased up. So i set about ramming each section of tube with as much bearing grease i could get in. Also smear the geared cable with as much as you can, nice messy job this so keep some cloths to hand.

Now were starting final assembly (well final for the time being, as a full removal will be required for paint shop) with all the box's linked and clamped, and the bundy tube all secure you can cut off the excess of the geared cable. I left a good 3"- 4" overhang to account for the movement when in operation and cut back. So with all this complete only one job left to do...... test they all work.

Working well as you can see in the video. Some bending of the arms is required to give a good even clean of the screen along with some grease in the arm springs, as you can hear in the video they are a little creaky.

I also sprayed the screen with a misting bottle to see how they preform, and i was pleasantly surprised. I was dreading they would be like one of my old mini's where a took a perfect working set of black plastic blades off and fitted chrome wipers.... only to find the looked nicer, but instead of wiping the screen they just smeared the water and made visibility worse, but they looked nicer than the black plastic ones..... so they stayed on!!!

I still need to drill a couple of holes for the washer jets bit this is just a quick 2 second job, so no hurry for that. 

Another update soon. I'm hoping to get a few loose ends finished off such as the fuel filler hose and filler cap, along with little jobs like the heater air flow to the matrix and the internal foot well vents. Keep checking back for that in the next month i hope.