EA Labs Wiper Motor

[mlp623]

I have an EA Labs wiper motor on my E28. The motor was cleaned and works great. I don't have a wiper and possible not a complete arm. Does anyone know what type of arm and wiper will fit?

[Mark in MT]

That looks like a popular replacement wiper motor from the era, I have one on my car and it works well. The arm that is on there is flattened at the outer end on 2 sides, originally there was a simple u shaped piece of meter with a screw through it to hold the blade to the arm. The blade will have just a hole through the metal back.

[mlp623]

Mark
Like these?

http://www.brattons.com/product.asp?P_ID=2167

And

http://www.brattons.com/product.asp?P_ID=2159

???

[david801]

I have the same motor and have looked for the arm and blade with no luck. Please keep us updated if you find a source.

[Tim B.]

You can make one. You've got all the important parts, the holder, spring and the bent end of the old arm. All you need is some patience, a vise, hammer, vise grips, a closed car replacement style A17529 vacuum wiper arm (the one with the flat plate and spring that attaches to the motor and blade holder) and a matching replacement style blade the length of your choice. I bought a couple arms since they're cheap and it was an experiment but it ended up being easier than I expected and only needed one.

Remove the motor end attaching clip and spring from the new arm by placing the arm in a vise and tighten the jaws to straighten the end or using the anvil of the vise and a hammer to take out the short 90 degree bend ( the clip can be popped out of the way to do this and the spring may pop off but I can't recall), then slide off the spring and re-orient the arm in the vise and using a pair of vise grips pull the flat retainer plate off the rod (love that repop quality it comes right off with a twisting motion). You now have a straight new rod that has an end to hold a wiper blade. Take the new rod and place it in the vice so the plain end is up and protruding sufficiently to provide enough rod to make all the bends needed to match the bends of the stub that came with your motor and at the point where the bend closest to the blade will start. Orient it so that you will make the new bends in the correct direction so they will be at 90 degrees to the attaching piece for the blade so that it is oriented correctly to install the blade towards the windshield. I can't remember exactly how much I allowed (I pretty much eyed it) I want to say about an inch and a half but I measured the old bend and added just a bit extra for shrinkage when making the bends. The quality of spring steel of the rod is actually quite good so I found that I needed my brass hammer to make the bends (most any hammer will do). Using the old rod as a guide, start with making the lower bend closest to the blade using light taps and then using the same process orient the rod where the next bend starts and make the sharp one that creates the rod that slides in to the wiper retainer and is held by the spring.

Before you start bending make sure to pay attention to the direction the arm needs to be oriented in the wiper blade holder clip to keep spring tension on the arm to keep the wiper tight on the windshield and how the spring is oriented and attached to the arm. You may need some additional bend once it is installed to get the blade tight to the windshield. Lay the bends of the old rod on top of the new as you make the bends. You can use some 14 ga copper wire as a template to get comfortable with what you need to do before bending the actual one. It works but don't expect modern day performance. Tim

[mlp623]

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Originally Posted by Tim B.

You can make one. You've got all the important parts, the holder, spring and the bent end of the old arm. All you need is some patience, a vise, hammer, vise grips, a closed car replacement style A17529 vacuum wiper arm (the one with the flat plate and spring that attaches to the motor and blade holder) and a matching replacement style blade the length of your choice. I bought a couple arms since they're cheap and it was an experiment but it ended up being easier than I expected and only needed one.

Remove the motor end attaching clip and spring from the new arm by placing the arm in a vise and tighten the jaws to straighten the end or using the anvil of the vise and a hammer to take out the short 90 degree bend ( the clip can be popped out of the way to do this and the spring may pop off but I can't recall), then slide off the spring and re-orient the arm in the vise and using a pair of vise grips pull the flat retainer plate off the rod (love that repop quality it comes right off with a twisting motion). You now have a straight new rod that has an end to hold a wiper blade. Take the new rod and place it in the vice so the plain end is up and protruding sufficiently to provide enough rod to make all the bends needed to match the bends of the stub that came with your motor and at the point where the bend closest to the blade will start. Orient it so that you will make the new bends in the correct direction so they will be at 90 degrees to the attaching piece for the blade so that it is oriented correctly to install the blade towards the windshield. I can't remember exactly how much I allowed (I pretty much eyed it) I want to say about an inch and a half but I measured the old bend and added just a bit extra for shrinkage when making the bends. The quality of spring steel of the rod is actually quite good so I found that I needed my brass hammer to make the bends (most any hammer will do). Using the old rod as a guide, start with making the lower bend closest to the blade using light taps and then using the same process orient the rod where the next bend starts and make the sharp one that creates the rod that slides in to the wiper retainer and is held by the spring.

Before you start bending make sure to pay attention to the direction the arm needs to be oriented in the wiper blade holder clip to keep spring tension on the arm to keep the wiper tight on the windshield and how the spring is oriented and attached to the arm. You may need some additional bend once it is installed to get the blade tight to the windshield. Lay the bends of the old rod on top of the new as you make the bends. You can use some 14 ga copper wire as a template to get comfortable with what you need to do before bending the actual one. It works but don't expect modern day performance. Tim

Tim
Thanks so much for the details. I had already ordered the wiper arm above and will see if I can modify it in a similar way to what you described. I will take pictures along the way and share - if it works

[Tim B.]

No problem. I thought so too but I think you will find that without the cast brace that the original arm style uses to attach the arm to the motor, the arm will be short and difficult to attach to the EA pivot adapter and get the needed tension on the blade. The design of the EA Laboratories is pretty ingenious and simple. It uses a spring with a rod so the rod can pivot to allow the tension of the spring to transfer to the blade. I think you will find that it actually takes less time to make one than it took to read my how to do it. I'll follow along to see how you make out. Good luck.

[DHZIEMAN]

I have a few if these outside mount motors but all without the wiper arm mount or wiper arm. Am working on using the Trico arm and am working on a mounting. So far the attached picture is as far as I am. Once I get a working template, I will be able to produce a handy fix for these vintage motors to again function as a wiper motor.

[woodiewagon46]

You might try A&L Parts Specialties, they have wiper parts.