Parts falling... a wiper arm

I was driving my 1970 Elan +2 tonight in the rain, the wipers were working fine, and then? tlaklccltltcack! A scary sound and a part flew over the windshield. I think, I saw it hitting the road in my rearview mirror?. Long story short, it was one of the wipers! It was too rainy and too dark to stop and pick it up. I did not want to be killed by another car while trying to find a wiper arm in the middle of the road. I drove home with one wipe cursing all the way home. Now the QUESTION: Where can I get the wiper arm (new or used)? Is this a ford part? MG? Triumph? Thanks for your help

Carlos (USA)

  • as stated on a bumper-sticker : " Parts falling off this vehicle, are of the highest British craftsmanship!"

  • sorry… :laughing:

I am sure you can get a new high quality product from Sue, Paul Matty or any other of the usual vendors.
Or, as I see you are in the USA; Dave Bean.

:laughing:

:laughing:

Thanks for the support!

Yes. There are a couple of vendors such as Dave Bean and RD that may have the part. Still, I am curious. I do not thing Lotus made these wipers. They seem to me like a design for another car cannibalized by Lotus. They surely look like a generic 60s British part. I wonder if it is the same wiper arm used in early MGB GTs.

In the meantime, while you’re waiting for the part to show up, Rain-X properly applied, you’ll never, never need to use the wipers.

I think I have a ‘spare’ pair in the garage if you dont find any others
:smiley:
cheers
G

Carlos, I see you are located at least partly in the USA.

Trico were one of the suppliers for UK Elan Plus 2 wipers, so presumably same applied for Federal spec units. The UK Wiper blade assemblies that utilised any of the 60s vintage refills were Trico Speedblades.

Trico on their US website still list Lotus Elan on the classic applications together with part numbers. I’m sure that one of their stockists with a bias to classics would be able to supply. The blade length from memory is 16". I’m sure other forum members could advise the arm length. (there may already be some posts on this subject if you search).

As you rightly point out, these assemblies were proprietary bought in components. Lotus or Ford did not manufacture model specific components such as these.

Regards

Thak you guys for the info and the offer. I am still looking for one. Elanman I sent you a PM. Best

Carlos

UPDATE: I learned 5 things: 1. Not to drive in the rain. 2. Not to use the wipers. 3. Wiper arms can be expensive ($40 used). 4. The driver side arm is different than the passenger side one. 5 So far, nobody knows what car these arms came from…

Apart from the wiper arms (and a few other parts), the Golden Gate Lotus Club at gglotus.org/ggpart/ggpart.htm do have a good Lotus Parts Cross reference List.

They list most of the Lotus models, and where a lot of the parts came from.

I like to conclude the postings I open so here it is: soon after I posted about losing the wiper arm I got the part from Sports Car World, used: $40 plus shipping

After the owners death Sport Car World closed temporarily but has not reinitiated operations. They have a huge collection of used parts.

Spooky - I was driving home late last night (UK) in atrocious, heavy rain and guess what - exactly the same problem! Clatter and bumping noise over the top of the car. Fortunately it was the passenger side, so I was able to continue. Is this a regular problem or caused by poor quality new supply (mine were supplied by a well known Lotus supplier)? The arm just seems to be a push fit into the base, with only friction to grip it. I was assured they were to OEM design - ah! that would explain it!

Not sure if it damaged the new paintwork on the way yet…

Jeremy

What about these texautomotive.com/images/Cla … U76300.jpg - not sure of exact size needed but looks as though it shouldn’t fly off as easily!

Richard

Link to main page for the wiper arms texautomotive.com/classic_wiper_arms.html - realised my previous post only shows the picture

Richard

Thanks for this, it looks like my lack of understanding of the purpose of the ‘adjustment’ tab shown on your first post may have been the culprit. I hadn’t appreciated the purpose of this odd little bit of fitting.

You live & learn

Jeremy

The only wiper I’ve lost was on an MGB driving up I-75 to Detroit during a blizzard back in '73. Luckily it was a three wiper arrangement.
Regardless of marque, most old style wiper arms need to be installed with the arm in the “UP” position, next push the arm cap securely onto the shaft, followed by snapping the arm with blade down onto the windscreen. Pull up on the arm cap end to ensure it’s locked onto the wiper drive shaft.

Richard: Thanks for the link. Really useful. I am going to get a couple of spares! Carlos

Probably not if you live in southern California. Try the west of Ireland! I use it regularly but still need wipers in our rain. :unamused:

I can recall floppy wipers on all my Minis. The close cut wiper spindles often became burred and thus lost the grip on the wiper arm. The trick was to use Wrigley chewing gum silver paper over the spindle and hey presto - problem solved! (Well, it was until I could afford to buy the new parts).

Tim