VCCA Home Forums TECHNICAL - 1945 AND NEWER 1949-1954 wiper cable adjustment

Need help! I am getting around to installing the vacuum wiper transmissions in my '54 chevy. Restoration has been ongoing for 14 years. Removed these parts many years ago and misplaced the originals. Had to buy replacements from a local yard. Installed the transmissions and routed the cables to the drums per the diagram in manual page 25. Lots of slack in the cables. Backed out the screw 1 turn and tapped on the outside of the transmission. No movement or change on the cables. What does it take to tighten the cables?

This is what you have?



I think that the windup tightening spring has to be wound up or Pretensioned (kinda like an old fashioned window shade) before they will take up the slack in the cables. Check for the tenite ring that keeps the tension from unwinding on new units. I have had these units on the bench in a vise and found out that there is a ratchet affair in the rear that catches and holds tension when the nut is loosened and the shaft can move toward the rear of the transmission. I wound the spring up tight and pulled the shaft back out toward the front, the nut tightened and the ratchet held the tension UNTIL the nut was loosened. The Tenite ring holds the shaft from moving to the rear of the housing and releaseing the tension during shipping and while you are installing the transmission and cables on the car.

That is about my sum total knowledge of these contrary things!
I hope you are getting some help out of these ramblings....

OK. Life is good. The advise here and a friends knowledge helped me get the wiper cables installed. Now it on to the next task. Thanks for the great advise.

After the screw is loosened you have to push in on the stem. This will release the clutch and wind-up the cables.
The above is true for EARLY 1953 models only. The late 1953 and all 1954 have NO center screw. To tighten the cables you just push in on the ARM....not necessary to remove the arm.
The early 1953 had an arm in the center that the cables attached to. The late 1953 and all 1954 has a drum that the cables wrap around. The arm type cables will not work on the drum type.,etc.