Updating the looks of a wiper motor

[Dstoltenberg]

Hello everyone, I stumbled across this board researching methods for fiberglassing, and am very impressed the amount of information, ideas, and builds I came across on this forum. By far one of the best auto customization websites I have come across.
I am in the process of building a 70 Buick Skylark, It was my first car 4 years ago, was neglected for awhile, and is now getting the love and attention it deserves. I am 19 and enrolled in a local tech school for a 2-year degree in auto body and refinishing.

I am going with a black and brushed aluminum theme throughout the car, especially under the hood. One kink I have hit is the ugly windshield wiper motor/pump assembly. Anyone have any ideas on cleaning this up, making it look better, maybe some alternate motor choices of motors or pictures of what you have done with yours?
I am just looking to get some ideas on cleaning up this aspect of my firewall accessories.
I attached a pic of what it looks like right now, definitely an eyesore next to the brushed aluminum intake and fabricated aluminum valve covers on my 455.

[KWIKND]

DSE has a late model cadi retrofit with all the wiring and switches.

http://www.detroitspeed.com/productp...r_kit_prod.htm

Good Luck
Dan

[Steve1968LS2]

The easy way is to just use the DSE kit.. sure you could do it yourself for a little cheaper but when you factor in how much time it would take then the DSE deal is a bargain.

[Dstoltenberg]

Thanks for the link, I had heard mention of the DSE kit on here but never saw a link to their product. Much more advanced than the 1970 technology, and the wiper button would look great with my dash. Its really not that bad considering i would be spending around 140$ for a stock wiper motor, and another 50 for a new wiper switch

[Sundance]

The easy way is to just use the DSE kit.. sure you could do it yourself for a little cheaper but when you factor in how much time it would take then the DSE deal is a bargain.

A little cheaper? 24.00 for the motor (2002 Deville), 6.00 for the switch, and 10.00 for the aluminum plate... 40.00 is ALOT cheaper than 300.00!

[KWIKND]

A little cheaper? 24.00 for the motor (2002 Deville), 6.00 for the switch, and 10.00 for the aluminum plate... 40.00 is ALOT cheaper than 300.00!

You forgot to mention the harness and plugs which are done very well. My time is worth some money too. I could stay at work a couple of hours of OT and make up the difference easily vs. trying to source plugs and connectors and soldering, anodizing adapter plates, fabricating adapters for the arms.... I guess if you want it to look like a $40 wiper mod. Dan

[Jim Nilsen]

I was going to make an aftermarket delay switch and a $50 wiper motor do the job for me but when the swich was going to take hours to make right and the reliability of it and repair could be a pain.

So I went with the DSE universal kit and had the whole thing relocated and working in 3.5 hrs. I could work overtime at work to make up the differnce of fighting with it all.

So if you can do it on the cheap go ahead and have fun with the details or get the DSE setup and spend time doing something else.

[Rhino]

You forgot to mention the harness and plugs which are done very well. My time is worth some money too. I could stay at work a couple of hours of OT and make up the difference easily vs. trying to source plugs and connectors and soldering, anodizing adapter plates, fabricating adapters for the arms.... I guess if you want it to look like a $40 wiper mod. Dan

I can understand supporting vendors, but some of us prefer to do the work ourselves. I think this is a fundamental difference in two segments of people I've been watching on this site.
Building my car is a hobby, and I treat it as such. I do wholeheartedly agree that, including time to research and fabricate, it would be much more cost effective to buy something. Where this analogy breaks down is the fact that over 90% of us aren't getting paid to perform the work. Even if we wanted to, those of us on a salary don't even have the option of overtime. That being said, my time is pretty cheap.
I think I may be in the minority since I do actually enjoy the small details and thought processes as much as the actual build.
I'm not saying one method is better than the other, it just seems that many people are pretty quick to discredit alternate DIY methods that turn out every bit as professional.
As an example... Sourcing connectors is cheap and easy. I use what GM Uses. Delphi Metripac connectors. With the proper tools, wiring the whole setup is a breeze. When it comes to electronics, If you're sourcing second hand components (Scrap yard/ebay), make sure you get the connector with the item you're working with.
The other nice thing about this is that I have no one else but myself to blame if something fails. When that time does arise, I'll have a pretty intimate knowledge of the component and be able to quickly deduce what is wrong. I knew early on that I'd be doing this, so I've been documenting wiring diagrams and thought processes as I go along.
It may seem masochistic, but I do find it enjoyable.

[67 ls1 vert]

I can understand supporting vendors, but some of us prefer to do the work ourselves. I think this is a fundamental difference in two segments of people I've been watching on this site.
Building my car is a hobby, and I treat it as such. I do wholeheartedly agree that, including time to research and fabricate, it would be much more cost effective to buy something. Where this analogy breaks down is the fact that over 90% of us aren't getting paid to perform the work. Even if we wanted to, those of us on a salary don't even have the option of overtime. That being said, my time is pretty cheap.
I think I may be in the minority since I do actually enjoy the small details and thought processes as much as the actual build.
I'm not saying one method is better than the other, it just seems that many people are pretty quick to discredit alternate DIY methods that turn out every bit as professional.
As an example... Sourcing connectors is cheap and easy. I use what GM Uses. Delphi Metripac connectors. With the proper tools, wiring the whole setup is a breeze. When it comes to electronics, If you're sourcing second hand components (Scrap yard/ebay), make sure you get the connector with the item you're working with.
The other nice thing about this is that I have no one else but myself to blame if something fails. When that time does arise, I'll have a pretty intimate knowledge of the component and be able to quickly deduce what is wrong. I knew early on that I'd be doing this, so I've been documenting wiring diagrams and thought processes as I go along.
It may seem masochistic, but I do find it enjoyable.

Agreed. Not everyone on here has the big bucks to just buy high dollar parts because it's cool or everyone has it on their car.
Sometime it's a nice feeling to hear from someone that says "hey, that looks cool, where did you get that?" I made it, Thanks.

Perfect example, I cant find the guys screen name but he made his own fender braces out of aluminum and they look really nice.

[KWIKND]

I agree with both previous posts. My point is that it is more work than popping on ebay and buying 3 or 4 items as was hinted.

Good Luck
Dan

[Rhino]

I see what you're saying, and you're absolutely correct. Usually I end up spending just about as much to put my stuff together. Wiring products aren't cheap.

[41565 chevelle]

I say yank it off and smooth the firewall....!!! Ease to say in So Cal... I like the DIY option and it looks pretty simple and I agree with Rhino on knowing your car intimately.

[CapSS92]

I gotta throw in my .02 also. I got an Astrovan motor at the U-Pull-it for $13, $10 for aluminum plate, $10 for switch, $5 in resistors, and the plug for the motor came with it. I spent a LOT of time figuring it out and at some point I wished I had the $300 to buy the DSE kit. But when I was done it looked pretty close to the DSE kit and I figured out how to make it work. Personally I take great pride in having figured it out and I now know EXACTLY how the damn thing works. Sometimes when you're poor you GOTTA learn....<bg>

[KWIKND]

Sounds cool. Let's see some pictures.
In my case my "body man" (I used to call him a builder, far from it) lost my wiper motor. A rebuild will cost $ 175 - 200 and you are still stuck with a nice looking wiper motor that works like a 60's. The extra hundo was cheap to me. My list of stuff that needs to be done is too large to think about spending that much time on a nice wiper setup.

Dan

[Sundance]

You forgot to mention the harness and plugs which are done very well. My time is worth some money too. I could stay at work a couple of hours of OT and make up the difference easily vs. trying to source plugs and connectors and soldering, anodizing adapter plates, fabricating adapters for the arms.... I guess if you want it to look like a $40 wiper mod. Dan

I fabricate things myself because I can make them BETTER than I can buy them. For example, my switch knob matches and I have a spray/wipe position.

The harness came from the donor car. All I had to do was cut the wires to length and solder them to the switch. I used heat shrink so it looks just like DSE. Throw in 5.00 more for that detail. I didn't anodize the aluminum plate, but I could have done so fairly cheap. I powder coated mine at home.

I don't have to worry about unskilled labor assembling the parts I make. If something were to go wrong, which it doesn't because I made it, I could fix it pretty fast. It's not worth my time to have to call 1-800 numbers, talk to people, and ship things back and forth for them to fix it for me.

Believe it or not I actually like to spend my time learning and creating. I'm sorry if becoming a better person eats into your :bsjerk: time... different strokes for different folks I guess?

[formula]

I fabricate things myself because I can make them BETTER than I can buy them. For example, my switch knob matches and I have a spray/wipe position.

The harness came from the donor car. All I had to do was cut the wires to length and solder them to the switch. I used heat shrink so it looks just like DSE. Throw in 5.00 more for that detail. I didn't anodize the aluminum plate, but I could have done so fairly cheap. I powder coated mine at home.

I don't have to worry about unskilled labor assembling the parts I make. If something were to go wrong, which it doesn't because I made it, I could fix it pretty fast. It's not worth my time to have to call 1-800 numbers, talk to people, and ship things back and forth for them to fix it for me.

Believe it or not I actually like to spend my time learning and creating. I'm sorry if becoming a better person eats into your :bsjerk: time... different strokes for different folks I guess?

1) don't really know why you have to act like an ass. Nobody is doubting how awesome you are. If you could just reel your attitude in about ten notches, that'd be pretty cool and make everyone here more likely to think you're trying to help and less likely to think you're just in here to talk about how overpriced and all-around sh*tty the dse kit is and how those of us who occasionally would rather just pull the trigger and have everything figured out and waiting on our doorstep are idiots.

2) I happen to be figuring out how to make a similar setup myself, and the spray setting is one thing that's been missing. Did you build your switch yourself, or find one that would work?

[Sundance]

1) don't really know why you have to act like an ass.

formula, I apologize if I :bsjerk: you the wrong way, but I was insulted by KWIKND's comment:

"I guess if you want it to look like a $40 wiper mod."

DSE parts are fantastic I have the majority of what they sell for my car. I never once hinted that DSE wasn't anything but top notch. I hold DSE in the highest esteem. Without their continual commitment to innovation we wouldn't be having this conversation.

Those of us who occasionally would rather just pull the trigger and have everything figured out and waiting on our doorstep are idiots.

Never said anyone was an idiot, my point rather was to say I personally take pride and prefer to tinker when it saves me money. In this particular case I saved a lot of money and I felt the original poster could benefit from my experience. I thought the idea of a forum was to help others?

2) I happen to be figuring out how to make a similar setup myself, and the spray setting is one thing that's been missing. Did you build your switch yourself, or find one that would work?

Please use the search function...

[formula]

formula, I apologize if my comment rubbed :bsjerk: you the wrong way, but I was insulted by KWIKND's comment:

cute. lemme know when you hit the seventh grade, then we can start making fart jokes.

DSE parts are fantastic I have the majority of what they sell for my car. I never once hinted that DSE wasn't anything but top notch. I hold DSE in the highest esteem.

I don't have to worry about unskilled labor assembling the parts I make.

I'll give you this one, as it could be construed to be more of a comment on parts you don't build yourself as a whole and less of a stab directly at DSE like it seems at first.

Never said anyone was an idiot, my point rather was to say I personally take pride and prefer to tinker when it saves me money. In this particular case I saved a lot of money and I felt the original poster could benefit from my experience. I thought the idea of a forum was to help others?

I'm sorry if becoming a better person eats into your :bsjerk: time...

Pretty sure saying that the other users on a board spend more time masturbating than learning is equivalent to calling them idiots.

Use the search function...

I thought the idea of a forum was to help others?

[derekf]

Enough with the bickering.