Another Mopar Off My Bucket List - Barracuda Fastback
We made further progress on the wiper motor project yesterday.
I started by cutting off the 3 studs that originally held the motor to the firewall. After welding up the top two, I drilled & tapped the bottom location. Then I installed a 5/16" stud in the bottom threaded hole that protruded inside of the car (as opposed to sticking out as it originally was). Once the stud was in place I welded it in place and ground the 3 spots down.
I took three pieces of 3/4" diameter (1/8" wall) pipe and welded 1/4" tap plates to the ends. Two of them only needed to have a tap plate on one end because the other end would be welded to the firewall. The third one has tap plates on both ends. It will be threaded onto the one stud that protrudes through the firewall. The reasoning we had was that we'd want the bottom pipe to be removable. That way the wiper motor can be dropped out when necessary in the cramped space beneath the dash.
The original reinforcing plate that was behind the wiper motor still helps stiffen the assembly and provided a good base to weld to.
The driven end of the wiper arm lines up pretty well with the motor. I had to put a slight bend on the end of it to get it to lay flat.
At this point we went ahead and welded up the large opening that the motor had stuck through.
One concern we had was that torsional stress would cause the stands we made to eventually shift or bend. To eliminate that possibility we're adding an additional support that will wrap around the motor.
We bought some more tubing that had the inside diameter matching the outside diameter of our motor. (It was about 3&1/8" across) We split a few 1&1/2" wide sections of it in half. Then we welded tabs to the half circles. Nutserts installed on the one half will simplify the process of attaching the outer clamp beneath the dash.
To attach the one side of our homemade clamp to the firewall I formed one 1&1/2" wide strap into an L shape. After cutting it off to the desired length I'll weld the the tab end to the firewall and the other to one of our clamp halves.
The workmanship may seem crude by some standards but the fab work was all done with simple hand tools. We had put POR-15 on the firewall years ago and glued insulation down as well. We've only partially cleaned it off the area we were working on. Before we're done I'll use my small hand held bead blaster to make it nice. - Then I'll re-apply more POR-15.
I'm fairly confident our mod will work but we still need to tweak the wiper arm that extends to the left wiper. Right now it touches the second arm that ties right & left together.
A very light skim of filler should be all we'll need to smooth over the firewall.
We made further progress on the wiper motor project yesterday.
I started by cutting off the 3 studs that originally held the motor to the firewall. After welding up the top two, I drilled & tapped the bottom location. Then I installed a 5/16" stud in the bottom threaded hole that protruded inside of the car (as opposed to sticking out as it originally was). Once the stud was in place I welded it in place and ground the 3 spots down.
I took three pieces of 3/4" diameter (1/8" wall) pipe and welded 1/4" tap plates to the ends. Two of them only needed to have a tap plate on one end because the other end would be welded to the firewall. The third one has tap plates on both ends. It will be threaded onto the one stud that protrudes through the firewall. The reasoning we had was that we'd want the bottom pipe to be removable. That way the wiper motor can be dropped out when necessary in the cramped space beneath the dash.
The original reinforcing plate that was behind the wiper motor still helps stiffen the assembly and provided a good base to weld to.
The driven end of the wiper arm lines up pretty well with the motor. I had to put a slight bend on the end of it to get it to lay flat.
At this point we went ahead and welded up the large opening that the motor had stuck through.
One concern we had was that torsional stress would cause the stands we made to eventually shift or bend. To eliminate that possibility we're adding an additional support that will wrap around the motor.
We bought some more tubing that had the inside diameter matching the outside diameter of our motor. (It was about 3&1/8" across) We split a few 1&1/2" wide sections of it in half. Then we welded tabs to the half circles. Nutserts installed on the one half will simplify the process of attaching the outer clamp beneath the dash.
To attach the one side of our homemade clamp to the firewall I formed one 1&1/2" wide strap into an L shape. After cutting it off to the desired length I'll weld the the tab end to the firewall and the other to one of our clamp halves.
The workmanship may seem crude by some standards but the fab work was all done with simple hand tools. We had put POR-15 on the firewall years ago and glued insulation down as well. We've only partially cleaned it off the area we were working on. Before we're done I'll use my small hand held bead blaster to make it nice. - Then I'll re-apply more POR-15.
I'm fairly confident our mod will work but we still need to tweak the wiper arm that extends to the left wiper. Right now it touches the second arm that ties right & left together.
A very light skim of filler should be all we'll need to smooth over the firewall.