Windshield Washer

[Gunnin4ya]

New guy with a 65 SWB project I just got. I have been looking through the pics here trying to see what people have had the best results with for a reservoir. I hve looked at a few sites and catalogs and they have different ones for the same year. Any pictures or help here period would be great. Also who has the best wiper arms to use? Mine are gone.

[disasterbus]

something like this is probably the easiest and cheapest option - most car parts shops sell something similar or you can get them on ebay for about £10 ($15)



just operates from a push button switch under the dash

[markeb01]

Here are a couple of shots of my washer bottle. I can't remember for sure, but I think it's from a 83 C10. It bolts to the bulkhead through two brass grommets:





It is much more durable than the earlier style that slips in and out of the metal bracket. I have my windshield washer pump (cheap universal type) mounted directly below the bottle. It is activated by a momentary switch on the dash.

The best wiper arms are NOS if you can find them. They generally have as many splines inside as the spindle does on the cowl, allowing them to be perfectly indexed against the lower windshield gasket.

Many of the aftermarket wiper arms have very few splines inside, making it difficult to correctly align the arms. For blades, just make sure to select 13" blades. They reach to within about 1/2" of each other when parked.

Most of the classic parts providers supply shorter blades, which don't cover enough sweep of the glass.

[Gunnin4ya]

Thanks for all the help.

[vince1]

I had the OEM bracket in the 66 and put in a new plastic jar. I couldn't get the squirt pump under the dash to work so got one from an auto wrecker to mount on the side of the radiator, under the jar with the aid of an electrical conduit strap, maybe 3/4 or 1 inch. Ran the wire from the pump inside to the outside pump and it seems to work good. In hindsight the under dash pump didn't suck fluid because the line was rotten.

[64shortbox]

Here's my solution. I used a Ford Washer/Radiator Overflow unit from a full size Ford truck. The exact same system was used in Explorer's, Cougars etc. The washer pump is built in the bottom of the reservoir. Run the hot constant and use the ground to make the circuit. I bought a used wiper/washer switch off eBay for my 64 C10. I flipped the horn relay and the voltage regulator to the front side of the radiator support and was able to use the existing holes to remount the horn relay and the voltage regulator. I later switched to an internally regulated alternator and got rid of the old regulator completely.
The angle of the radiator overflow reservoir perfectly matches the angle of the inner fender of our 60-66 trucks.

[Gunnin4ya]

That looks really clean Shortbox. Think I will start looking for the parts.

['63GENIII]

Definitely a clean set up! Want one here too.

[64shortbox]

If you are looking for the same set up as I used, I looked for a washer reservoir that was partially full. I figured if it was completely full the washer pump was bad - though they are still available brand new from Rockauto.com for as low as $10.00 each. I figured if the washer or radiator overflow reservoir was completely empty that there might be a leak in the tanks. When I bought mine (at 1/2 off day) the radiator side was nasty brown. I bought some cheap CLR knock off stuff at Lowes and dumped it full strength in the radiator side and let it sit over night. I then stuffed a rag in it wrapped around a long screwdriver and swooshed it around real good scrubbing the sides & bottom followed by a good rinsing. For the outside of the tank I used Awesome Orange (Dollar Tree for $1.00 a bottle) The washer side I just used liquid dish soap and water and let it soak overnight and shook it around to clean it. I was afraid the CLR might damage the pump. The washer/radiator overflow bottles are also available brand new from rockauto.com for $29.79 and the washer pumps range from $9.82 to $42.79 depending on brand. For reference go to rockauto.com and search for 1996 Ford (I know the F word) F150 with a 5.8L V8 - click on Wiper/Washer just for reference. Unless you want it all brand new so everything looks Purdy, but I'm cheap and went the cheap route with used stuff and 1lb of elbow grease. Hope this info helps some.

[gmcdeadhead]

the DORMAN part number is 603-212 , thats for a brand new one, less the washer pump.