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Mon Nov 11, 2002 2:38 am

I recently picked up a '57 bug... car came with no wipers. I ordered a set of wiper blades/arms from Rocky Mountain Motorworks, but what they didn't come with (and I'm having a hell of a time finding) is the "base" that the wiper arm would attach to that connects to the screw poking out of the front of the car... I'm about two seconds away from riping the wiper assembly from my '68 to put in my oval (since the oval's already been converted to 12V)!

Anybody know where I can score some of those?

Thanks!

Wed Nov 13, 2002 3:41 pm

Don't bother fooling with the 68. The only wiper assembly that will fit your car is a 57-down. measure the distance between the wiper holes--18 inches right? The 68 is narrower. Everything about your wiper assembly is different than the later cars. The wiper bases even have narrower slots (than the 58-later) to hold the arms/blades that you bought. So if you have the entire assembly and all you need is the bases, you can get really picky and hold out for "oval only" bases or make do with the 58-6? bases and jam a toothpick or something down into the base next to the arm to keep it from moving around in there when the wipers are on.

I just got my wiper bases at swap meets for a couple bucks. Make sure they have a tight pivot--that wears out. I have one extra one that you can have if you'll pick up the shipping.

Ignore this if your wipers have already been converted to 12V--
There is a current limiter for sale that is a good way to modify your existing wiper motor for 12v. I have been told that the existing screw-terminal motor both will and will not accept the rewound-for-12V armature that Wolfsburg West sells. Perhaps someone else does. I believe (not sure, someone correct me if I'm wrong here) that you can't just swap a 67 motor into your car because it will park the wipers in the wrong spot. I would be interested to hear if anyone else has more extensive experience on this than I have...my car is not complete yet.

Wed Nov 13, 2002 7:31 pm

Try Wolfsburg West for that base. That's where I bought the ones for my '60 and my '67.

Andrew
'58 Panel Bus
'60 European Beetle
'67 Deluxe Bus

Wed Nov 13, 2002 10:21 pm

If you are handy with a soldering iron there is a dandy little circuit on my web site which has only 4 components, and allows you to use the 6v wipers on 12v. It's a current limiter , so it doesn't get hot like a big resistor (voltage dropper) does, and if you experiment with the value 330 ohm "shorting" resistor (you'll see which one I mean in the diagram) and use a 67 ivory knob 2-position switch, you can even get 2 speeds.

www.geocities.com/aussiebug1970/wiper1.html

Rob
Rob and Dave's aircooled VW pages
Repairs and maintenance for the home mechanic
http://www.geocities.com/aussiebug1970/

Thu Nov 14, 2002 12:28 am

Thanks for the info... I would have been really pissed off to find out the '68 wiper set up didn't fit!!! -- "Gee, they look the same..."

My car is converted to a 12V and already has a voltage dropper, but it's just the bases I need really -- I'll try Wolfsburg.

Thanks again for the help...

Sean
'57 Beetle
'68 Beetle