Wiper input needed

[sconnors]

My vacuum motor has died and cannot be rebuilt according to the Trico expert. There is a NOS one on eBay for $400.00. I’ve been seriously considering going with an electric motor but all the vendors are currently out of stock and I’ve read on here if you put an electric motor in you cannot open the windshield which I really like doing.
Although I don’t plan on driving in the rain a lot, would you guys recommend springing for the vacuum one on eBay which is guaranteed to work or go with and electric? And if electric is the choice, have folks had good luck with a specific vendor?
Any and all input is greatly appreciated.
Scott

[Marshall V. Daut]

Your year Coupe should have a vacuum wiper. Since you don't plan on driving in the rain much, keep your non-functioning vacuum wiper and apply Rain-X to your windshield in the event that you get caught in a rainstorm. Rain-X works better than a vacuum wiper at keeping visibility good in rain. Then keep your eyes open for a vacuum wiper that can be rebuilt. As I posted last week, try for one with the snap-on motor cover, which is an aftermarket wiper made by Trico versus the factory wiper, whose motor cover is held in place by two screws. The aftermarket wiper reputedly has more success being rebuilt because the body doesn't warp as much as a factory wiper.
Marshall

[old31]

$400 seems steep unless it's a newly chrome-plated open car wiper.

Is this for what is in your avatar?

Have you tried rebuilding it yourself?

[sconnors]

It is for my 30 coupe in my avatar. I have tried rebuilding mine except the rocker arm is broken and I ordered a parts one I found on eBay and that too had a broken rocker arm. The Trico guy everyone raves about on here basically told me mine was junk as it was an aftermarket one and he doesn’t touch them. The one on eBay is NOS and I’ve included a picture

[Big hammer]

NOS doesn’t mean it hasn’t gone bad in the box ! I would follow what Marshall said .

Rain-X also makes removing bugs from your windshield much much easier !

[Planojc]

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x2 on rain x

[rotorwrench]

The original TR-C1A and TR-C2A wipers are getting very hard to find due to the way the old Zinc castings deteriorate over time. The replacements that came later are not the same as the originals and parts for them are even harder to source and very few parts interchange. Ficken wiper service has had luck repairing later ones like the KSL-230 that are still in pretty good condition and I've seen his units on Flea-Pay that have intermixed parts between original and the later KCX-1/KSL-230/KSL-123 types since a very few parts can be interchanged. If he gets them to work then they look original but are mostly the later replacements in parts. Most still have the snap on center cap. Originals have the two screws. Some were waffle cover and some were not. Patent dates on the cover help some with ID.

I remember that the newer units were available for quite a while but I haven't seen new ones for a long time. A person just has to keep looking for them anyplace they can if they want an original. Mabe they will be reproduced in the future but I wouldn't hold my breath.