VCCA Home Forums TECHNICAL - GENERAL Helpful Information & Suggestions 49- 54 windshield wiper transmission question

Found a donor car wiper transmissions with arms. On one the spline where wiper arm pushes on has 2-3 splines on opposite side of each other that have been distorted, looks to be a pliers may have been the culprit. I think I can clean them somewhat with a file. How critical is the spline connection to the wiper arm, any tolerance or are they exact like transmission spline ?

My experience with my '37 is that it might work if you assemble things carefully. On my car the splines on the both of the shafts looked pretty much gone. It appears that the wiper arms had been forced on by tightening the nut without aligning the splines.

I cleaned the splines with a wire brush in a Dremel. Then I carefully worked the arm on to the shaft with back and forth rotation while lightly pushing the arm onto the shaft. When I felt the splines align I pushed the arm just far enough the start the nut. I kept rotating the arm back and forth lightly as I carefully tightened the nut. The arms seated nicely and work well.

One advantage is that these are tapered parts so the interference of the tapers helps make the parts fit tightly.

The real tricky part is making sure you put the arms onto the shafts in the correct position.

Thanks for the reply. The ones I have are off a 51, they don't have a nut to hold the wiper arm, just about a 3/8" spline and a recessed area behind. Looks like it may clip on.