Modern wiper assemblies for 41-48 fords

Just wondering what some more modern junkyard options for a 41-48 ford wipers would be?
Maybe 80s or newer, anything older gets pretty hard to find around here

 

My old time one flaps pretty fast......sometimes.

 

Sounds like a personal problem

 

Yeah, was just a bump I'd like to hear more about this.

 

Why not use Newport Engineering set up?

 

Because I need the entire wiper setup, and I'm cheap

 

Having adapted 4 modern wiper systems into 30s -50s Mopars, I can tell you there will be 10-15 hours (or more) of time invested in getting the modern system to function correctly in an old car or truck.

The old Ford wipers (like the old Mopar wipers) swing from wiper posts in the cowl at the outside edge of the windshield towards each other at the center, at the same time. Nearly all of the modern wipers swing from one wiper post on the outer edge of the windshield, and one wiper post near the center of the windshield and swing together in the same direction at the same time. Those modern wiper blades overlap the other wiper's sweep at the center of the windshield with each stroke.
That means you have to move one wiper post to near the center of the windshield (a real challenge with a split two piece windshield), and then will have to modify the linkage to accommodate for the wiper blades not being able to overlap at the center glass support, and to correct the different angles of the two pieces of glass. There will also be a problem with the amount of sweep the wipers swing in, the modern wipers have one wiper with a more degrees of swing (sweep) then the other wiper. To correct that, you may get by using two of the shorter swing wiper posts. The difference in the degrees of wiper sweep is determined by the length of the arm on each wiper post.

Or you have to add an idler point (create your own design and its mounting) between the two wipers to reverse one wipers direction as the wipers swing (you will still have to deal with the degrees of the wiper sweep).
The position of the wiper motor also becomes a problem. Modern wipers are designed for wider and taller windshields. The relationship between the wiper posts, the idler point to reverse one wiper's direction, and the position of the wiper motor are critical of proper function. You will be building the entire wiper linkage system under your dash.
We have not even addressed the windshield wiper post fit and clearance in the car body yet. Its pretty likely you will have to modify the holes in the body for the wiper posts to pass through, but then you need to come up with a way to mount the wiper posts in the car body. The old posts used the wiper post shaft to mount it to the car body, the modern stuff all bolts in with bolts/screws passing through the wiper post body to mount them to the car body. Hopefully, the modification of the wiper post mounting brackets will not alter the angle the post is mounted in the car body, the angle of the post in the body determines how much, and how equal, the pressure of the wiper blades have against the windshield glass as they travel through the wiper blade swing.

Once you get past that, you will probably need to cut down the length of the wiper blade arms, (modern arms fit the modern wiper posts are all pretty long) and you will need to find, or make shorter wiper blades that will work with the shortened blade arms.

By the time you have finished making the modern wipers work in your old Ford, buying the Newport system won't seem so expensive.

 

All of my wiper mechanism is missing from my 41 Cadillac except for the actual seized towers on the body just below the windshield glass area. I'm not looking forward to getting my wipers installed and functioning. I would probably be better off just to find another original wiper assembly. But I do need to research the possibility of installing a more modern but proper fitting setup. street rod style I guess. In the meantime I use Rain-X since 1985.

 

Take a look at the cable drive systems on some of the British cars. MGBs for example, have a geared wiper shaft that's driven by a cable from a remotely mounted motor. The cable itself runs thru tubing that can be bent to conform to the body.
The shafts use angled spacers that can be altered to match the contour of the cowl and the desired angle of the wiper arm. The shafts can also be inverted so that you could have the arms moving in opposite directions.
Wiring is relatively easy and the diagrams are online in a number of places. The two speed motors are very common and easy to find .

 

I used the rear wiper motor from a 2010 Jeep patriot and adapted it to the original setup for my 51 Pontiac. It is single speed and the biggest issue was getting the sweep to work properly. I will be redoing it and making it look pretty in the future when I redo the wiring but I do have decent wipers now. Hope this gives you some ideas.

 

If you can use the current wiper posts, that does make things somewhat easier. The biggest issues is finding linkage that attaches to the original post's arms, and finding wiper arms and blades that work with the original wiper posts.
There are several single wiper setups out there, most are pretty light duty with a short life span, but may work OK in a location where there is not a lot of rain. Dry windshields, heavy rain, or clearing any amount of snow off the windshields kill off the cheap single wiper motor setups pretty fast.

Before building a new wiper system, or adapting a system from a different vehicle, I would contact Newport engineering and see if they have a setup that will work in your car. Their stuff flat out works. It may be costly, but not facing the frustration of building or modifying system may well be worth the extra cost compared to the cost and time required adapting something else into place.

Just for kicks pictures of the adapted wiper system on my 48 Plymouth coupe. All I had to do was cut off the top of the cowl, box it in and seal it, then mount the wiper system, complete with the idler to reverse the passenger side wiper operation. This system is out of a Dakota, I used the driver side wiper post on both sides so I had a 90 degree wiper sweep.
Then I built a new cover for the cowl, but it has to be removable so I have access to the wiper system if I ever need to replace anything.

This system has been functioning since 2011, the car has been driven about 90,000 miles. The system is a bit noisy, but it functions very well. This wiper is a 2 speed with the wiper park. Doesn't have to be pretty, its all covered up (and the car isn't really very pretty either).