1964~79 VW Type 2, rear-window wiper & washer system

[NASkeet]

AN ALMOST-OPTIMAL, REAR-WINDOW WIPER & WASHER SYSTEM, FOR THE 1964~67 AND 1968~79 VW TYPE 2s

by Nigel A. Skeet

Over the years, I had become fed-up with having to regularly stop on long journeys, to clean the rear window, of my 1973 VW "1600" Type 2 Westfalia Continental campervan, during moderately damp weather, when it became filthy with dirt laden spray. So, in the mid-to-late-1980s, I began to give serious thought, to how a rear-window wiper and washer system, might be fitted.

All of the advertised, accessory rear-window wiper kits, appeared to be unsuitable and the few 1968~79 VW Type 2, DIY, rear-window wiper conversions I had seen, from time-to-time, were both untidy and swept only a small proportion of the window area, an example of which I saw fitted to David Taylor's German registered, 1978 VW 1600 Type 2 campervan (see Daily Drivers, VW Motoring, October 1997, p72).

After looking at the rear wipers on many vans, estate cars (i.e. wagons or station wagons) and hatchbacks, I had almost given up hope, when in 1988/89, I had reason to borrow the company pool car; a Vauxhall Astra Mk. 1 Estate, with its cross-over-arm, pantograph (i.e. double-arm & double-linkage) rear wiper. On close inspection, it was apparent that it might be possible to adapt this system, for use on our 1973 VW Type 2; which if successful, would sweep a substantial proportion of the rear window.

At that time, Vauxhall Astra Mk. 1 Estates, seldom appeared in my local breakers' yards, so many months went by, before I was finally able to buy a complete, second-hand wiper system. By mid-1990, following three weeks of experimental trials, I completed the prototype design, development and installation; the basic details of which have already been published:

Nigel Skeet, "1968~79 VW Type 2 Rear Window Wiper", Transporter Talk, Issue 25, October 1996, pp23~24. Also later published as VW Type 2 Owners' Club, Technical Information Sheet Topic 15: Rear Wiper Modifications, pp1~3.

Nigel Skeet, "A Clean Sweep", Workshop, VW Motoring, December 1996, pp85~86.

I am pleased to say, that on the whole, the first and only prototype, was a major success, although with 20/20 hindsight (such a wonderful thing!), I confess there are a few things I could have done slightly differently, to have made it just a little better; albeit not a lot. One of the minor differences, involving the secondary wiper arm, I shall implement, when the opportunity presents.

I have also since determined, that the slightly longer, cross-over-arm, pantograph, rear-window wiper system, fitted to its predecessor, the Vauxhall Chevette Estate, would also be suitable for use with a 1964~67 or 1968~79 VW Type 2 rear hatch, but some of the modification and installation procedures would be slightly different. I already know in general terms, what would need to be done and the measurements which would need to be taken, but I have not yet had the opportunity, to fully investigate these, owing to the lack of a spare rear hatch!

Sometime, after my original articles were published in late-1996, I prepared a draft, of an illustrated, modification & installation manual, which describes in considerable detail, the procedure for the Vauxhall Astra Mk. 1 based system, together with appropriate warnings, various pieces of potentially useful and/or interesting information and the history of why I opted to do things in a certain way, rather than some other. Overall, it amounts to nearly eighteen A4 format pages, not counting the illustrations, but only about seven pages of the text, are actually devoted to how to undertake, the modification and installation of the wiper system, into the rear hatch, involving precise measurements and positioning.

The following extract from the Contents Page, should give you some idea of just how detailed it is!

Introduction to the British & European, General Motors, SWF, Cross-Over, Pantograph Wiper System.
Other Possible General Motors, Donor Vehicles Around the World.
Rear-Window Washer Options.
Window Wiper & Washer Switch Options.
Air-Pressurised Window Washer Reservoir Options.
Required Materials & Wiper System Components.
Wiper System Removal from the Donor Car.
Sequence Summary, of Wiper System Modification & Installation Procedures.
Why Adapt the Wiper Blade Custom Fitting?
Adapting the Wiper Blade Custom Fitting.
Where to Locate Body-Mounted Washer-Jet Housings?
Rear-Hatch Holes for the Window Wiper Spindle & Window Washers.
Wiper-Spindle Housing & Installation Adapter Bracket.
Wiper Motor, Installation Adapter Brackets & Vibration Isolation Bushes.
Why Modify the Secondary Wiper Arm?
Modifying the Secondary Wiper Arm.
Routing Electrical Wiring & Washer Tubing.
Electrical Wiring & Washer Tubing Connections.
Supplementary, Air-Pressurised Washer Reservoir.
Supplementary Reservoir for Electrically Pumped Washers.
Trim-Panel Blister Moulding.
Spare Parts Availability.
Vauxhall Workshop Manuals & Other Technical Information Sources.
Chevette Internet Websites Around the World
Original Technical Article References.
Useful Addresses.

The rear-window wiper system I developed, has since been adopted, by at least five other British VW Type 2 owners, who contacted me, after reading my technical article, in either Transporter Talk or VW Motoring. Some of these, even commissioned me to obtain the donor vehicle wiper systems, on their behalf. One owner in Chelmsford, Essex, had the rear-window wiper modified & installed, by the workshop (aided by my detailed, illustrated manual!) who were undertaking his VW Type 2 restoration project.

I suspect that several others, will also have devised their own installations, working just from the brief summary and illustrations, provided in the article. A few years after publication, one VW Type 2 Owners' Club member, saw a rear-window wiper on someone's VW Type 2 and enquired to Transporter Talk, whether anyone knew of the appropriate donor car!

By a stroke of good fortune, the sweep angle of the Astra Mk. 1 estate wiper linkage & crank, is ideally suited to the 1964~79 VW Type 2 rear window; provided the standard length main wiper arm is retained. When fitted to the 1964~67 or 1968~79 VW Type 2 rear hatch, the secondary wiper arm of the Vauxhall Astra Mk. 1 Estate (and also of the Vauxhall Chevette Estate, I presume), pantograph rear-window wiper system, must be lengthened, in order that the wiper blade is parallel with the bottom of the window, at both the right-hand and left-hand limits, of the wiper's sweep. If this were not done, then the rubber seal, at the bottom of the window, would be struck at an angle, by the wiper blade, causing damage to both.

Owing to an inherent flaw in the original design of both the Vauxhall Astra Mk. 1 & Chevette Estate, pantograph rear-window wiper system, it is desirable to make a further modification to the secondary wiper arm. On most, if not all such wiper systems I have examined (both in car breakers' yards and on roadworthy Vauxhall cars), there has been evidence of chafe (i.e. worn and flaking paint), between the primary and secondary wiper arms, owing to their close proximity. Fortunately, this is easily overcome by creating two slight bends in the secondary arm, in opposite directions; resulting in a separating gap, of about 5 mm.

Owing to the Astra & Chevette Estate wiper blade (with special custom fitting for attachment to the wiper arm) being 14 inches (355 mm) long, whilst the VW Type 2 rear window is only 13•1 inches (332 mm) high, it is necessary to remove the special custom fitting from the wiper blade and adapt it, so that either a standard 11 inch (280 mm) or 12 inch (305 mm) wiper blade, with conventional attachment fittings, may be used.

My chosen adaptation involves replacing the "wiper-blade attachment ears" of the special custom fitting, with a "hook-end" from a conventional wiper arm, together with an intermediate ¼ inch (6 mm) spacer. In my opinion, this gives the VW Type 2, cross-over-arm, pantograph rear-window wiper system, both a factory fitted appearance and enables one to substitute with minimal effort (i.e. no more than for the simplest of conventional wiper blade attachments), different sizes and patterns, of universal 11 inch or 12 inch wiper blade, from the various manufacturers.

The Chevette, was General Motors' first World car, being manufactured and/or marketed in various countries, as the Bedford Chevanne (UK), Buick Opel (USA), Chevrolet Chevette (Brazil & USA), Daewoo Maepsy (South Korea), Holden Gemini (Australia), Isuzu Bellett Gemini & Isuzu Gemini (Japan), Isuzu I­Mark (USA), Opel Gemini (Malaysia), Opel Isuzu (USA), Opel Kadett C (Germany), Opel K­180 (Argentina), Pontiac Acadian (Canada), Pontiac T­1000 & Pontiac 1000 (USA), Saehan Bird (South Korea) and Vauxhall Chevette (UK), which would have been sold locally and to neighbouring countries in the region.

It is conceivable that similar rebadged versions of the front-wheel drive Astra Mk. 1, might also have been made in these and other overseas territories. Some examples are thought to be: the Bedford Astravan Mk. 1 (UK), Chevrolet Gemini (Chile), Chevrolet Spectrum (USA), Geo Spectrum (USA), Holden Gemini Mk. 2 (Australia), Isuzu Gemini Mk. 2 (Japan), Isuzu I­Mark Mk. 2 (USA), Opel Kadett D (Germany), Pontiac Sunburst (Canada) and Vauxhall Astra Mk. 1 (UK).

Hence, it is possible that suitable donor estate cars or car-derived vans, equivalent to either the Vauxhall Astra Mk. 1 or Chevette Estates (aka Station Wagon, Caravan, Kombi, etc), might exist in most regions of the World, where VW Type 2s are found.

Owing to the configuration of the 1964~79 VW Type 2 rear hatch and the effect of air turbulence, I surmised that conventional, hatch mounted, fixed washer jets, might be relatively ineffective. Ideally, I would have preferred to use an 11 or 12 inch SWW wash/wiper blade, with my rear-window wiper system, but unfortunately, the suggested method of routing the flexible hose for a conventional, parallel-arm, pantograph system, is not suitable, owing to the cross­over-arm design feature and the close proximity of the bodywork.

SW Washwiper AB's Internet website:

http://hem.passagen.se.zelus/ (in Swedish only)

I did propose a modest design modification to the manufacturers, which would have enabled me to use a wash/wiper blade, with my system and also facilitate a neater, more durable installation, for conventional wipers too. However, to the best of my knowledge, SWW have so far chosen not to implement, my proposed, product design modification! Consequently, a VDO/SWF, wiper-arm mounted, accessory, 4­way washer jet fitting, with adjustable ball nozzles, was chosen instead.

The wiper and air-pressurised washers, are operated by a 1968~72 VW Type 2, standard, dashboard mounted, wiper/washer switch (similar switches, with a different pattern of switch knob, were also fitted to some model years of the VW Types 1, 3 & 4). Pressurised water is supplied, from a VW 412 Variant, windscreen washer reservoir, mounted behind the left-hand kick-board, in the cab. The reservoir from behind a VW Beetle spare wheel, would also have been suitable, plus possibly some others. At sometime in the future, I hope to incorporate an intermittent wipe facility, using the Vauxhall timer relay, but that will have to wait, until I have managed to sort out the circuit.

Owners of 1968~72 VW Type 2s, who are fitting a rear-window wiper & washer system, may wish to use their existing dashboard switch for this purpose and upgrade their front windscreen wiper & washer system, by fitting the 1973~74 VW Type 2, steering-column mounted switch (VW part No. 211 955 517A).

See for example the following items, regarding people breaking 1973/74 VW Type 2s for spares:

http://www.thesamba.com/vw/classifieds/detail.php?id=294536

I shall be interested to learn by way of feedback, whether anyone has been able to confirm the identity of any vehicles, currently in the USA and/or Canada (or anywhere else outside the UK, Ireland & Europe), which can act as donors of these unusual cross-over-arm, pantograph rear-window wiper systems, for 1964~79 VW Type 2 owners like yourselves, in that part of the World!?!

If not, it's conceivable, that the more common, conventional, parallel-arm, pantograph, front windscreen-wiper systems (found on trucks, buses, tractors, railway engines, helicopters, hovercraft, etc), could be converted, to the cross-over-arm configuration, by rotating the pantograph link (the part which attaches to the wiper blade), through an arc about 180º and creating an offset (i.e. two doglegs, in opposite directions) in the secondary wiper arm. However, it would probably be necessary to modify the wiper-motor crank length, to obtain the desired wiper-sweep angle, to which the Chevette & Astra Mk. 1 systems were ideally matched, by an accident of fate!

Before his untimely death in 1996, the legendary Arthur Barraclough, described to me, the two-wiper system, he had retro-fitted to the rear window of his 1970 VW Type 2, "Rosie", which is believed to be an exhibit, at the Peter Black museum, in Keithley, West Yorkshire, England. The wiper system, was said to have originally been fitted to a Ford Cortina shooting brake (a Ford Cortina Mk. 1 estate car), but he didn't specify whether it had originally been a front or rear wiper system.

With 20/20 hindsight, I might also have considered the possibility, of adapting a conventional front windscreen wiper system, with the usual two synchronised wipers, originating from something like a flat-screen VW Beetle, which I think has a similar width to height ratio, as that of the 1964~79 VW Type 2 rear window (i.e. approximately 3•45 : 1), but it's debatable, whether a two-speed rear-window wiper system is necessary or desirable. A few weeks ago, I saw a modern, British L-prefix registered (early-to-mid 1990s), Toyota Camry 2•2GL estate car, with a factory-fitted, rear-window, two-wiper system, whose two wiper spindles were about 350 mm apart .

Whatever type of rear-window wiper system one chooses to adopt, it should probably be of a type which allows the axis of the single wiper spindle or pair of wiper spindles, to pass through the outer, sheet-steel panel, at least 20 mm (preferably much more – mine is 50 mm) below the bottom of the bodywork bulge, beneath the rear window, so that the wiper motor and linkage, can be concealed inside the rear hatch, behind a trim panel, with dished blister moulding.

Although it would be possible to freight second-hand parts from Great Britain or Europe, it would be much better, if suitable wiper systems could be sourced locally. With such information, I could then submit an updated, fully-illustrated, technical article, having greater local interest, to Dune Buggies & Hot VWs or other magazine, to stimulate wider interest, in this unusual and extremely useful, factory-fitted appearance upgrade, which I think many owners in the rainier territories, would find beneficial.

I had anticipated that someday, I might have the opportunity to modify and install my surplus Vauxhall Chevette Estate, cross-over-arm, pantograph rear-window wiper system into someone's 1964~79 VW Type 2, fully documenting the implementation, which would enable me to prepare a similar manual, but anwhere beyond my home county of Essex, England, is a bit far for that! I already know in general terms, what would need to be done and the measurements which would need to be taken, but I have not yet had the opportunity, to fully investigate these, owing to the lack of a spare rear hatch. However, I could certainly give considerable guidance!

I've no objection, to selling or bartering (I much prefer bartering, for things that I seek, of which there are a few, likely to be more common in the USA & Canada!) my surplus Chevette rear-window wiper system, plus the Astra Mk. 1 based modification & installation manual, to a fellow VW Type 2 owner, either in the United Kingdom or overseas, but I should like to have some feedback (including text, measurements and photographs, similar to those in my existing draft manual) from the recipient, about how the final details of the modification & installation procedures, differed from those using the Astra Mk. 1 based system, so that I could append appropriate, detailed alternative sections to the manual, to cover both Astra Mk. 1 and Chevette based systems.

If there were the demand, I could probably obtain a few more Vauxhall Chevette Estate and/or Astra Mk. 1 Estate, cross-over-arm, pantograph rear-window wiper systems, through the various local car dismantlers, but the supply is likely to be very sporadic, especially considering that the last donor cars, were manufactured circa 1984/85 and had a production run of only a few years.