what kind of grease are you guys using to rebuild your vacuum wipers? i rebuilt the stock motor on my 54 chevy with industrail vacuum grease and it works fine when its warm and sunny out but once it gets cold or humid they just about stop working all together doing me no good at all. the internals are all nice and in just about perfect shape, all the original grease just dried up. the main seal on the inside moving part (cant come up with a name for it) is a little hard but it looks like it seals right up, maybe i need a new one? please no comments about converting to 12 volt, using electric wipers, and swapping a SBC while im at it. -j
yeah what he said and if the paddle seal is dried out you could try soaking it in oil to soften it up some....
I've got the vacuum wipers on my 55 Buick... I took the motor apart and it was full of dirt and crap and the orginal grease had petrified. I cleaned it all out, including the sliding switch or port or whatever you want to call it... using brake cleaner. I used some electrical sliding contact grease because it doesn't thicken up when cold... and now the wipers work fairly well. My fuel pump is supposed to have a vacuum booster but it doesn't work and I have been unable to find a working replacement... this whole system would probably rock if the fuel pump booster worked. You will have to check with a local industrial electrical supply house to find that grease... something like Granger's.
vasoline it is! i have the fuel pump with the vacuum pump on it but it doesnt seem to help any... the fuel pump is new too... -j
I used some light grease with Teflon, It came in a 10cc hypodermick looking tube. I think I had originaly bought it to lube a SLF 35mm camera. "Five Star" on the label. Worked on A wiper motor.
WD 40 worked the best for me. (stock Model A banger and wiper) It didnt work at first so I took it apart and squirted a bunch of WD in it and worked it by hand a bit. It freed up and worked great. *Edit* BTW....I dig the Santa Cruz screaming hand.
hows the dow corning work for you? how long sice you have rebuilt your pump with it? this is for my daily driver this winter so i need it to work without fail till spring/summer. -j
Question, and this is not intended in any smart ass manner. Why would you want to mess with these when the newer 12v replacements are so much better and in my opinion safer. I like the retro stuff but in some areas newer may just be safer as well as better.
you forgot to ask why he's not putting in a small block so it'll run better.husker, if ya have to ask you wouldn't understand
I would suggest mineral oil to loosen it up. This is what is recommended for hand tire pumps. It will not harm the rubber but will keep it soft and lube it as well
thank you, i dont think i could have said it any better myself. and the secondary reason i am not replacing it with a 12v motor is i doubt my 6v electrical system will make the thing turn. thanks for all the replies. looks like the rain will be starting up in the next couple days, i will be rebuilding it tonight or tomorrow with some marvel mystery oil after cleaning it out with mineral spirits and soaking the flapper in oil. i think that should cover it i saw some cars from your club at the boardwalk show a few weeks back. nice stuff! -j
It worked well for 3 years of daily driving,and we really don't have any Super FRIDGID temps here. This was after a teardown and freshen up of the motor. I have since converted to electric wipers,as found on another '59 Ford parts car I accquired. The grease is specified as "extreme low temperature" grease,and I learned of it while working on aircraft. I grabbed a tube years ago that was being disposed of due to "shelf life" issues. Tossed it in the tool box,where shelf life time stands still.
Other issues: wiper blades/arms are under spring tension. This should be as loose as will still wipe well, eliminate any drag you can but of course maintain enough traction there to move the water. Make a cardboard gauge the width of the inside of the motor, the width of the area where the paddle swings, and use it to examine housing for warps caused by deterioration of the pot metal. This is often a source of drag, and can probably be worked out if not too bad. Pluses: Neat sound effects, your wipers are an entertainment system with vacuum. Vac wipers, magneto, hand crank, some kerosene...free yourself from the demon electricity! Vacuum cans are on lots of cars in the junkyards, and a functional equivalent of the olde Trico Electrovac could easily be made from the powerful vac pump used on brake system in many 1980's GM cars.
well, i have some marvel mystery oil sitting in the garage so i decided to try it out. FUCKING BLOWS! it was better before with the old dried up grease... rain-x is ok for the freeway but driving at night, in the mist, in town at about 30mph is kinda shitty. now, to order a tube of dow corning low temp grease. cant find any pink stuff though, only white. any other suggestions? would love to get my hands on some low temp vacuum grease. -j
you did not mention anything other than grease,,, did you get a rebuild kit for it? I just found an NOS trico rebuild kit at a swap meet and it came with all sorts of gaskets and a little bag full of parts.... so I would figger it takes more than just cleaning to make them work up to snuff. if you got a kit then nevermind this post.... .
no, didnt get a kit. there are only 2 gaskets on the thing and i was able to re-use one of them and use rtv for the other one. is there a reliable source for rebuild kits for the trico motors? -j
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