Vacuum Wiper - How to connect to inlet manifold, where to put the vacuum pipe

[Frank Stoll]

Hello again,
Although the perfect washers / seals can be found on the homepage mentioned by Dave, I could not order them, simply because I am not a member of the club that runs the homepage... So, I have to work with the stuff I have got. I wanted to wait until I have my autumn holidays but while drinking a lovely Bavarian beer and holding the bottle cap in my hand, I wondered whether the cap could be used to fill the inside of the new and slightly thicker seal.... That was the moment where I decided that work on the matter had to start now.
To cut a long story short... the bottle cap did fit into the seal but... well, it caused new problems and so I got my compasses, my measuring stick and a piece of brass... some nylon srews (M3 x 10mm) and a drill (3mm). First I got rid of the old rivet...



...and then measured the new seal.... 28mm inside, created a round piece of brass the same size and fitted the whole thing. Looked good, so I put it in the cylinder and.... it works... the only question that remains is whether the size of the seals causes problems with the valve unit. We will see.... perhaps tomorrow, while having another lovely Bavarian beer....





Kind regards
Frank

[Frank Stoll]

Hello!
Although the wiper motor has received the new seals, I do not like the many compromises I had to make. Two round washers, made of 2mm plastic sheets, had to be made to avoid that the seals obstruct the valve mechanism. So I contacted a local leather supplier who was fascinated by my idea to reproduce the seals myself. After 20 minutes and at least 10 boxes of different types of leather (I did not know that there are so many differences) we found suitable pieces of leather.... I invested 2 Euros.... to produce at least... 40 seals...

I immediately went into the cellar, got my jigsaw, a piece of plywood, my calliper and after 20 minutes I had prepared a mould that would allow me to press the leather - in the meanwhile floating in a jar filled with warm water - by means of a clamp.

The photos show some stages of the process...








bottom right: metal washer that will fill the inside of the seal (top right), bottom left: the old seal, top left: the new, seld-made seal with slightly higher sides... will be cut off later...

Tomorrow the new seal will be fitted... cannot wait for the result.

Kind regards
Frank

[Frank Stoll]

Hello,
although the first self-made seal turned out to be useable and even worked, I will slightly alter the mould and make the seal open slightly more... the sides are simply to steep.
After fitting the seals and attaching the whole thing to a vacuum cleaner this is the result.... needs a bit of fine-tuning but it works!



Kind regards
Frank

[David Stepney]

Well done Frank! Although at the speed it goes I wouldn't want to be caught in a rainstorm.

[Frank Stoll]

Hello David!
Thank you. Yes, speed is a rather low but I have absolutely no clue of how strong the vacuum must be, I tested each part of the air system and the weakest point seems to be the valve unit. Most of the vacuum is lost at the valve. Perpahs I will sand it down and polish the surfaces... We will see.
Kind regards
Frank

[Dave Mann]

I spoke to James of the Riley register and it appears that to avoid some tax they can only sell to members. He apologises for any misunderstanding he was a bit busy when you contacted him, he was prepared to sell such small items on his membership.
For what it's worth on the RN the hose passes down the windscreen pillar out the bottom and through the horn cable hole in the bulkhead, just to the right of the bonnet stay. It is secured to the stay with the horn cables by a cable clip and then drops down to the manifold.

[Frank Stoll]

Hello Dave,
thank you for your reply and the information given. Although my seals become better and better, I am not quite sure whether they equal the old seals completely. So I think that a set of professionally produced seals might be useful. 
The position and path of the hose is extremely useful and will be added to the information I have received, collected and ordered so far. Hope that it will help other enthusiasts as well.
Once again thank you very much
Kind regards
Frank

[Frank Stoll]

Hello again,
Yes, I know! I should stop working on this little thing but... Well!
After the wiper has successfully been reanimated, I concentrated on some weak points that might also have an influence on speed and reliabilty. I realized that the valve unit was not really air tight and so I polished the surface of the body (the part the valve moves) and - in case that it could not be flattened properly - prepared an additional brass surface that can be put into the valve unit to have a flat surface again (will be glued in, you can see it in the photo, still without the three necessary holes). Then I assembled the gadget and... speed increased drastically. This was also achieved by sealing the brass pipes that go into the valve unit. Normally they should seal themselves because the holes are conical... or at least were conical. Now they are widened and this can only be solved by using sealant.


Although it is hard to see, the polished surface of the valve unit and the "spare surface" made of polished brass.

Because I had spent so much time on the wiper I went a step further and stripped of the paint and removed the logo so that everything can be properly repainted.



I will keep you updated...

Kind regards
Frank

["Slack Alice" Simon]

Interesting stuff, Frank.

Please keep it coming.

I take a perverse pleasure in my nearly useless  vacuum wiper.


Good to hear it could be improved.

And that beer may help the process!

[Frank Stoll]

Thank you, Simon!
Yes, the beer helped but frustration has also increased beer consumption drastically.... now I have reached the drastic number of one bottle of Bavarian beer per week.... 
Seriously, the whole construction is interesting and frustrating at the very same time but that's what makes me work on.
Regards
Frank