60 Windshield wiper mounting plate?

[Larry P.]

[Dennis C.]

Larry, If I'm reading your question correctly,

the shaft simply rides in the mounting bracket. On the top side the motor drives the rectangular plate which, in turn, drives the cable mounting wheel on the bottom side. And typically there is a noticeable amount of play in the fit.

[Dennis C.]

Re: Larry, If I'm reading your question correctly,

are we talking about the wiper motor or transmission stalks ???

[Ed Jennings]

Re: 60 Windshield wiper mounting plate?

The motor mounting plate, the middle pulley, the shaft, and the motor adapter plate, are all one assembly. You should have a plate, a shaft in the center with a 4 groove pulley on it and on the engine side there should be a rectangular plate that connects to the motor assy. All this is one "piece". New ones are becoming a bit scarce and typically sell fo $100+.

[Larry P.]

Re: 60 Windshield wiper mounting plate?

With the motor attached it will hold the shaft down and I suppose the cables keep it steady. With out the motor and cables the shaft with the pullys are just free free to flop around. Is that correct? It just seems to me like there should be a bushing or bearing or something more to keep the shaft more stable.
Apparently it is as it should be.
Thanks
Larry

[Dennis C.]

Re: 60 Windshield wiper mounting plate?

Larry, I think your reaction to what you have discovered is perfectly normal. Pretty sloppy, but it works - well, pretty well.

[Ed Jennings]

Re: 60 Windshield wiper mounting plate?

Larry, they shouldn't "flop around" very much. There is probably some wear in your assy. May not be bad enough to require replacement, but when they get loose and get in a bind, the center will eventually break out of the plate and that isn't easily repairable.

[Ed Jennings]

Addendum

As a matter of curosity I inspected some of the old broken parts of wiper plates in my collection of junk. There is a bronze thrust washer that goes on the motor side of the shaft, but the shaft itself apparently just rides on the potmetal bore of the housing. Whoever designed that system undoubtedly did not anticipate the cars having a 40-50 year service life! I replaced a plate on a 62 a couple of years ago with a NOS plate. There was no observed slop in the fresh piece. The parts I have in the junk box all have a pretty good amount of slop in the bores, but that is what I would expect from a steel shaft riding directly on the diecast bore. Since you probably use your wipers very sparingly, it may last another 40 years.