macfly
February 21st 2003, 17:38
One of my favorite things about the Z8 is looking out over that voluptuous hood and watching the passing world dance in its curved surface (did the same thing in my 427 Cobra). Unfortunately, the stock wiper blades, with their bulky air foils, come to rest high up on the windshield and block a significant portion of that view (I'm 6'). So I decided to modify them.
The process is relatively straight forward but you must be comfortable working with tools. The wiper arms are held on with nuts which are hidden beneath plastic caps. Pry off the caps, remove the nuts, then carefully pry up the wiper arm at its mounting point. It is a press fit so it will be stubborn (there are special "pullers" you can buy for this). You will notice that the wiper arm and the shaft it's mounted on are splined. If you reinstall the arm using a lower position on the splines, you will change the rest position of the wiper blades. The problem is, the wiper blades will now be at cockeyed angles to each other and their ends will hit the cowling. The solution is to change the existing curvature of the wiper arms. This is a trial and error process but what you are shooting for is to have the wiper blades sit closer to the bottom of the windshield when at rest and be parallel to each other. If you wrap the wiper arm in a cloth, you can gently bend the thin upper part in a vise until you achieve the correct geometry, without leaving any marks.
At the same time, I replaced the bulky wiper blades with ones that are much thinner. I used the PIAA blades which are impregnated with silicone and leave a thin film on the windshield during wiping. This makes water bead up and stream off so the blades don't have to do as much work (sort of like using Rain-X). This is important since by eliminating the air-foils used on the stock wiper blades, you may get less downforce from your wiper blades at very high speeds. I have used the PIAAs in the rain, at high speeds, and they worked great. If you are uncomfortable undertaking the wiper arm mod, you can at least replace the wiper blades which will also improve your view.
You should be aware that there are a few drawbacks to the wiper arm mod. Because the wipers sit much closer to the edge of the hood when at rest, you must not attempt to raise them with the hood shut or they will hit the edge and possibly chip the paint. This is particularly important if someone at a service station is cleaning your windshield. If you raise the hood, the wipers can be raised with no problem. The other thing is, because of the change in geometry, the blades will not wipe the outside edge of the windshield like they used to. The new wipe arc will start lower on the windshield and not go quite as far to the side. The change is relatively minor and you may not even notice it.
Hope this helps!
Grease Monkey
The process is relatively straight forward but you must be comfortable working with tools. The wiper arms are held on with nuts which are hidden beneath plastic caps. Pry off the caps, remove the nuts, then carefully pry up the wiper arm at its mounting point. It is a press fit so it will be stubborn (there are special "pullers" you can buy for this). You will notice that the wiper arm and the shaft it's mounted on are splined. If you reinstall the arm using a lower position on the splines, you will change the rest position of the wiper blades. The problem is, the wiper blades will now be at cockeyed angles to each other and their ends will hit the cowling. The solution is to change the existing curvature of the wiper arms. This is a trial and error process but what you are shooting for is to have the wiper blades sit closer to the bottom of the windshield when at rest and be parallel to each other. If you wrap the wiper arm in a cloth, you can gently bend the thin upper part in a vise until you achieve the correct geometry, without leaving any marks.
At the same time, I replaced the bulky wiper blades with ones that are much thinner. I used the PIAA blades which are impregnated with silicone and leave a thin film on the windshield during wiping. This makes water bead up and stream off so the blades don't have to do as much work (sort of like using Rain-X). This is important since by eliminating the air-foils used on the stock wiper blades, you may get less downforce from your wiper blades at very high speeds. I have used the PIAAs in the rain, at high speeds, and they worked great. If you are uncomfortable undertaking the wiper arm mod, you can at least replace the wiper blades which will also improve your view.
You should be aware that there are a few drawbacks to the wiper arm mod. Because the wipers sit much closer to the edge of the hood when at rest, you must not attempt to raise them with the hood shut or they will hit the edge and possibly chip the paint. This is particularly important if someone at a service station is cleaning your windshield. If you raise the hood, the wipers can be raised with no problem. The other thing is, because of the change in geometry, the blades will not wipe the outside edge of the windshield like they used to. The new wipe arc will start lower on the windshield and not go quite as far to the side. The change is relatively minor and you may not even notice it.
Hope this helps!
Grease Monkey