Technical '49 Plymouth - Electric Wiper Conversion?

I have a 1949 Plymouth club coupe that I'm setting up as a daily driver, and would like a 12V electric wiper motor. The vacuum motor is long gone, so that's not even a ready-made option at this point.
Yes, I know New Port Engineering sells the 12V wiper motors for these cars.
But has anyone done it the cheap (difficult) way using a common junkyard motor from another car?
I'm asking because I, myself, am cheap and difficult.

 

Adapt a rear window wiper motor. Since these have only one wiper blade, the shaft does the back and forth pivot like your missing vacuum unit used to do.

 

Something to consider; I've yet to see one of those rear glass wipers that has more than one speed, something that's pretty important when it comes to keeping your windshield clean. I know we're all trying to save money but wipers, like suspension components and brakes, are not areas where it is wise to "cheap out".

 

I was also looking to adapt something for my Model A. After a lot of looking and thought I pulled the plug and bought a Newport wiper system. The quality is top notch and the installation was easy. In today's world, when most things require some modification to fit what they were intended for, it was a joy to get a product so well engineered.

 

49 and up Chrysler's had electric wipers and should bolt up but will need a voltage reducer.

 

You could also try Raingear Wiper Systems. I installed their complete conversion kit in my '51 Chev pickup and really like it.

 

Your in luck! I've installed modern wipers in my 48 Plymouth coupe.

One wiper is pretty easy, a single speed off the back of some car could be made to work, but you have to pay attention to how far the wiper blade swings on a stroke (the wiper sweep). Most rear wipers make a pretty big arch in their travel (many are 120 degrees), but your Plymouth probably doesn't have room for that much sweep (probably around 90 degrees). It gets pretty complicated to reduce the amount of sweep a wiper makes, its easier to find a wiper motor with the correct sweep. The next thing you need to be concerned with is how big the wiper post that goes through the body is, and how that wiper assembly is going to attach to your Plymouth. The angle the wiper post is in relation to the windshield of the car is will be the next issue. Your Plymouth's windshield is flat, so the wiper motor post has to be positioned so the wiper blade stays flat though its entire sweep. Once that is all figured out, you will probably need to cut down the length of the wiper arm, and also probably find a very short wiper blade. Your Plymouth's windshield is only 13" high (if the car isn't chopped), so a 10" - 13" long blade is the longest that will fit, if everything is centered perfectly. Those 10" - 13" blades have to be able to connect to the wiper arms you will need to cut shorter. Most rear blades have 20" long blades and even longer arms. Then, all you have to do is the switch and the wiring to run the wiper. A single speed wiper is better then none. The single wiper blade is simple!

Two wipers becomes a big problem quickly, if you don't want to run separate wiper motors. Nearly all modern wiper systems (this century) have wipers that swing in the same direction (both wipers swing right or left at the same time). For this to work, the position of the wiper posts has the left side (driver side) wiper post on the left side of the windshield and it sweeps at 120-140 degrees. The right side wiper (passenger side) is mounted on the left side of the passenger side glass (near the center of the windshield) and it sweeps at about 90 degrees.

Your Plymouth (and most per late 60s cars) have the wipers sweeping in opposite directions from each other (as they move, the either go towards each other, or away from each other), and both sweep at about 90 degrees. For this to work, each side wiper post is usually centered on the windshield on their perspective side. (if not centered, both would move towards, or away from each other the same amount from center).

Putting a modern wiper system on an older car means you need to change the direction one wiper moves in relation to the other wiper movement, or you have to move the wiper posts to the proper position for the wiper sweep direction. If you don't move the posts, you will probably have to create some sort of an idler post so you can change the wiper swing direction of the one post with the wiper linkage. That idler post will need the linkage lubricated very often.
Two wipers means you need two 90 degree wiper posts, and a wiper motor, to be mounted in the car. Then you have to determine the length and modify all the under the cowl wiper linkage (and miss everything under the dash). Then you still have to deal with the wiper post angles, shortening 2 wiper arms and attaching 2 wiper blades., the switch and the wiring. I have done 5 of these conversions now, the last one only took 3 days to get everything right. I have pictures of the last conversion on my 49 Dodge pickup that retained the cowl vent function. I lost the pictures of my Plymouth coupe on the last computer crash, but it was similar to the truck setup.

A wiper conversion needs a pretty complete donor system (I used a 90s Dodge Dakota donor system), then you need to be sure the wiper posts both have 90 degree sweeps, which will probably require two right side posts. Then the wiper arms to cut down and short blades that will connect onto the arms you are cutting down.
Fitting the posts through the body and mounting them in the car at the correct angle to have the wiper blades swing level with the glass surface is critical. Positioning the wiper motor, both wiper posts, and a directional change idler post is critical. Cutting down the wiper linkage and bending it to clear everything is also critical. I suggest you mock up everything into position on a work bench and do a test run, odds are not good everything will work the 1st or 2nd time. I've done this 4 times before, I still ended up redoing the last one 3 times on the work bench, and two times on the truck. They are noisy running (its the idler that makes the noise) but smooth running and have been in all day hard rains without fail. Gene

 

You can use a marine wiper motor [like Newport do]
You can adjust the sweep , and get them to park either left or right.

Personally you should support a small business like Newport [they support hotrodders everywhere]

 

I've used Newport systems in 2 different cars now. Bolts right in, worked flawlessly. Worth every cent. Getting ready for the third one. They take all the guess work and headache out of it.