Time to Start Work on the Body... Wiper System Removal

With the chassis now a roller again, I moved it out of the way and rolled the body on its dolly into place.  First step was to do a more permanent repair to the broken caster support on the dolly.  It happened when pushing it over the lip of my driveway into my garage back when I did the body lift.  So just like a car, I jacked up the dolly/body assembly and put it on jack stands to do the repair.  Once that was done, I could be more comfortable working around the body.

The first thing I wanted to do on the body was to inspect the birdcage for rust, so I started the work to remove the windshield trim and windshield itself.  Eventually I realized that it would be easier if I removed the wiper assembly first, plus it needed to come out anyway, so I focused on that instead.  Unfortunately I cracked the windshield later though while trying to remove a rust-frozen screw on the LH fender corner trim... ugh!  The wiper assembly removal was enough work to be worthy of its own blog post, and for that matter documenting the process will help this noob remember how it goes back together!  So here goes....

Removal of the wiper assembly consisted of 5 general stages:

1. vent grill and access door
2. access door control arm assembly
3. wiper arm assembly
4. wiper arm vacuum switch
5. wiper motor, limit switch, and vent grill bracket on the firewall

1.  Removing the wiper vent grill and access door

The vent grill is held in place by 8 bolts visible from the top.  It should be removed 1st to be able to then access the bolts to the wiper access door, and the wiper access door needs to be up in order to access these bolts.  Took some time, but finally figured out I could manually raise the wiper door by removing the rubber plug on its actuator face and then pushing inward on the assembly inside.

Once the door is in the up position, the 4 bolts holding it can be reached although there is not much room to work.  I've read that some people find these bolts rusted in place and quite difficult to remove but fortunately mine easily came out... perhaps another benefit of the car's Arizona origins.  When removing the bolts, look for the plastic bushings that surround the hinge support too as they help the door operate smoother I suppose.  Unfortunately the bolts on my RH side did not have the bushings in place, so I'll have to get some replacements when I put it all back together.

2.  Removing the wiper access door control arm assembly

The wiper access door control arm assembly is held in place at a number of locations...

each end near the bottom of the windshield 

each end on the upper corners of the firewall

vacuum actuator assembly (1/3)

vacuum actuator assembly (2/3)

vacuum actuator assembly (3/3)

limit switch assembly (1/2)

limit switch assembly (2/2)

With that all done the control arm assembly is ready to be lifted out of the car.

3.  Removing the wiper arm assembly

The wiper arm assembly is held in place at a number of locations as well...

wiper motor rod inside wiper tub

wiper arms on each side (RH pictured)

view of detached wiper fluid hoses routing and wiper motor

4.  Removing the wiper arm vacuum switch

The job of the wiper arm vacuum switch pictured 2nd to last above and also below is to not allow the wiper access door to shut until the RH side wiper arm is parked on it.  It can easily be removed now, but taking care to document the vacuum hose routing with pics & notes before detaching them.

5.  Removing the wiper motor, limit switch, and vent grill bracket on the firewall

The wiper motor is center-top mounted on the firewall and held on by 3 nuts.  Unfortunately, one of them refused to budge and I had to cut it out... I'll have to figure out a repair later to re-mount it properly.  The limit switch is on the RH side of the wiper motor and attached to the firewall by 2 bolts.  I was careful to tag all electrical and hose connections as well as take multiple pics to document how it all goes back together.

limit switch and wiper motor

wiper motor

vent grill bracket

Finally, here's a pic of everything out of the car.  I've partially reassembled components to help me remember how it all goes back together!