Broken 70s Mopar nylon wiper drive bushings. My fix.

[Carmine]

I was reading the For Sale section and saw that people wanted to pass on a beautiful '78 NYB because the wipers didn't work. It was then that I realized this horrible problem must also plague formal C-bodies (I thought it was just a late-B thing).

First I was going to suggest a telethon to help get the world's wiperless '78 C-bodies fixed.

Then I realized I could just post the photos I took when I fixed the wipers on my '79 Magnum. They work fine, park in the right spot, no weird clunks, etc. Surely a lot stronger than new, or using 40-year-old parts. I also replaced all the small links, but that's a pretty well-known and easy fix, so I didn't bother to take those pics.

See below for steps.

 

[cantflip]

nice solution... gotta hate parts without replacements available.

 

[67-Fury]

Bravo!

 

[Fratzog]

Thanks for posting this good reference for others in the same predicament.

 

[live4theking]

Thanks, a simple fix that is sure to continue to plague us in the future.

 

[1978 NYB]

 

[1978 NYB]

 

[Carmine]

View attachment 73922

Do I take this to mean the C-body doesn't use the drive arm with a larger hold as on the late B, but rather the small diameter nylon bushing that is used on the other pivots?

 

[commando1]

Hearing people reject this car for broken wipers that can be fixed for $.00 makes bunny cry.

Please see this thread I just put up...

I have never seen in the five years here in FCBO anyone ever reject a Formal solely because the WW wipers didn't work.
We all know the 74-77's is an easy 30 minute commonly avail. bushing and we all know about Bob's repair procedure for the 78 bushing.
The 79 bushing you refer to in your replacement procedure isn't applicable to any of the 74-78 Formals. Different animal.
The reason people have been walking away from Formals has usually been because of the ATC II, rust, a/o hood scoops...

 

[1978 NYB]

Do I take this to mean the C-body doesn't use the drive arm with a larger hold as on the late B, but rather the small diameter nylon bushing that is used on the other pivots?

They are different. I just checked my 78 Parts book. 78 Fury, Monaco, Charger, and Cordoba have a different part number and not the same for a C-Body. The 78 C-Body (New Yorker and Newport) were a stand alone change for that one year only. Small cam used from 74-77 and big cam for 78 only and not used at all from 79 onward. The 79 big cam is totally different and can't be modified in any way to work on a 78 C-Body. I tried.....it won't work.

 

[Carmine]

They are different. I just checked my 78 Parts book. 78 Fury, Monaco, Charger, and Cordoba have a different part number and not the same for a C-Body. The 78 C-Body (New Yorker and Newport) were a stand alone change for that one year only. Small cam used from 74-77 and big cam for 78 only and not used at all from 79 onward. The 79 big cam is totally different and can't be modified in any way to work on a 78 C-Body. I tried.....it won't work.

The welded bracket you posted has a small stud that appears to be the same as the studs used on the other wiper pivot points. That is why I said this:

"the drive arm [uses] the small diameter nylon bushing that is used on the other pivots?

What were the posted pictures representing?

I wasn't suggesting that anyone try to adapt 1979 B-body parts to a C-body. More the general concept that the nylon cam can be eliminated. It appears your welded stud is the same idea of replacing the nylon with a metal part, but in this case the C-body drive arm must use the smaller sized (and more common) nylon "female" bushing.

 

[1978 NYB]

The welded bracket you posted has a small stud that appears to be the same as the studs used on the other wiper pivot points. That is why I said this:

"the drive arm [uses] the small diameter nylon bushing that is used on the other pivots?

What were the posted pictures representing?

I wasn't suggesting that anyone try to adapt 1979 B-body parts to a C-body. More the general concept that the nylon cam can be eliminated. It appears your welded stud is the same idea of replacing the nylon with a metal part, but in this case the C-body drive arm must use the smaller sized (and more common) nylon "female" bushing.

That is the mod I fabricated to eliminate the 78 big cam and use the the 74-77 small cam. The small cam fits on top of the stud.