69 Elan Wiper Arms

PostPost by: Certified Lotus » Thu Jan 28, 2016 1:06 am

As some of you know I am in the midst of rebuilding a '69 Elan S4. One of the many parts I needed to source were the wiper arms. I was able to locate a pair of NOS brushed wiper arms (not chrome) that came with a Lotus tag attached.

The question is; on Federal S4's, which direction do the wiper arms mount? I have researched many photos and they seem to be either direction, positioned parked on the right or the left.

As you already know, the arms come with a bend in them for installation one way. I'm not saying which ones I have (yet) as I want to hear from the forum what is considered a correct install.
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PostPost by: pharriso » Thu Jan 28, 2016 1:15 am

Glen, not going to say if it's definitively correct or not, but if you look at Image the green car (mine) & red car (gregZ's) both have the wipers parking in front of the driver (LHD).

I believe that David's car was originally RHD & the wipers are parked on the RHS.

So I am going to summize that the wipers are supposed to park in front of the driver. :)
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PostPost by: Certified Lotus » Thu Jan 28, 2016 1:31 am

Thanks Phil. Are your wiper arms chrome or brushed finished?
Glen
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PostPost by: pharriso » Thu Jan 28, 2016 4:17 am

You tell me...
image.jpeg and

I think they are brushed stainless steel, but I'm not sure!
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PostPost by: simonknee » Thu Jan 28, 2016 8:53 am

IMHO wipers always park in front of the driver so that they sweep the most windscreen in the line of view! If you insist on having the steering wheel on the wrong side then you aught to complete the job by swapping the wiper park position. :wink:
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PostPost by: Hawksfield » Thu Jan 28, 2016 10:08 am

Hi

My wipers park on the left in a right hand drive +2S130, I believe that they should park away from the driver
John

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PostPost by: pharriso » Thu Jan 28, 2016 11:30 am

Hawksfield wrote:Hi
My wipers park on the left in a right hand drive +2S130, I believe that they should park away from the driver

The Plus 2 is a different car which shares a lot of similarities...
simonknee wrote:IMHO wipers always park in front of the driver so that they sweep the most windscreen in the line of view! If you insist on having the steering wheel on the wrong side then you aught to complete the job by swapping the wiper park position. :wink:

That sounds logical!

Just looked in my library of photo's of cars sold captured in the last 4 or 5 years

13 of 13 LHD Federal S4s cars have wipers on LHS - Drivers side
20 of 21 RHD Sprints have wipers on RHS - Drivers side
22 of 22 LHD Federal Sprints have wipers on RHS - Drivers side

So I think we can safely say that on Elans (I'm not going to use the B word) the wipers should always be parked on the driver's side.

The one anomoly is http://www.uksportscars.com/view/lotus-elan-sprint-dhc-1972-091072-superb-body-off-restoration-to-exacting-standards/...

Safe to say Glen's car should have the wiper's parked on the Left.
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PostPost by: rgh0 » Thu Jan 28, 2016 11:58 am

I believe Lotus parked the wipers totally at random on the left or right depending on what wiper motors they happened to have bought that week going cheap. The parking position appears to have no consistent relationship to car or year or model or LH versus RH driver.

Park them which side is your personal preference as no one else knows any better

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PostPost by: pharriso » Thu Jan 28, 2016 12:06 pm

rgh0 wrote:I believe Lotus parked the wipers totally at random on the left or right depending on what wiper motors they happened to have bought that week going cheap. The parking position appears to have no consistent relationship to car or year or model or LH versus RH driver.


Rohan, surely the data I have just presented clearly demonstrated that is not so?

55 out of 56 Elans have the wipers parked on the drivers side, that is hardly random.
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PostPost by: rgh0 » Thu Jan 28, 2016 12:10 pm

I am sure I can find 55 out of 56 photos where they park on the non driver side if I wanted to look. Maybe google can do the search for me :lol:

Not really disagreeing with you but....
I am a cynic when it comes to this sort of surety around anything that came out of the factory.

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PostPost by: rgh0 » Thu Jan 28, 2016 12:26 pm

PS
My 68 S4 RHD has them parked on the LH non drivers side

I had to go to the garage and look after 40 years just to make sure :roll:

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PostPost by: mark030358 » Thu Jan 28, 2016 12:29 pm

the arms are cranked, obviuos when you fit them. good news is you can change the motor to suit. check the archives.
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PostPost by: Certified Lotus » Thu Jan 28, 2016 1:18 pm

Very thorough research Phil ! I would agree that the overwhelming evidence suggests the arms are parked on the drivers side. Rohan, I also agree that the cars came off the line with which ever part was available and perhaps how ever the person assembling the car wanted to do it. Additionally, a number of the early cars were sold as kits so who knows what the proper installation really is :mrgreen:

It is fascinating Rohan that your car has the wiper arms parked opposite the driver. It's the reason I asked the question, I've seen a number of variables and wasn't sure what was correct.

These are my NOS wiper arms. Brushed finish (not chrome). Will install them this weekend without worry that I am doing it wrong.

image.jpeg and
Glen
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64 Elan S1 - 26/0379
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PostPost by: pharriso » Thu Jan 28, 2016 1:52 pm

Wow, those wipers are quite a find! According to the manual Parts 036M6295 is RHD - Windscreen Wiper Arm, 10? crank

Irrespective of where the wiper blades should be parked, you will have to put the wipers on to suit whether you have a LHD or RHD wiper motor. You will not be able to put the wipers on parked on the LHS if you have a RHD motor, when you switch the wipers on they will try to wipe the hood (aka bonnet). :roll: & vice versa.

Not sure whether it is possible to convert a RHD motor to LHD or other way around... but I'm sure someone has tried in the last 50 years.
Last edited by pharriso on Thu Jan 28, 2016 1:56 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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PostPost by: RogerFrench » Thu Jan 28, 2016 1:54 pm

Install them on the side that your wiper motor parks. Saves a lot of hassle.
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