MAA here I come!

[69gmachine]

Well I signed up, so come hell or high water I will drive my car across this country. Now here is the technical part: The one thing I can't find new or rebuilt is the windshield wiper motor. As luck would have it (and mine is always bad) the last time I turned mine on, the wipers stopped in mid motion. The rain had stopped and the windshield dried off so the friction was pretty high I suppose, but still it was a bit disturbing. I could get another used one and cross my fingers, but I'd like to have more confidence than that before I drive 4000 miles cross country. So does anyone know where I can get one rebuilt soon? Anybody know of a good way to judge what condition they're in if I bought a used one e.g. a resistance reading through the windings?

 

[jlangholzj]

have you pulled the motor appart yet?? all it could need to get it in (working) condition would be some new brushes, and if you have an electrical shop in the area you **may** be able to recondition the armature.

 

[69gmachine]

I'm trying to keep it in an "up" status, so I don't want to tear anything apart that I don't have to, but it's a good idea. If I can find a local electrical repair shop, I'll buy a used one, take that to be repaired and then swap them out. It's a small town, so not every service is available that you'd find in a big city, but I'll start looking.

 

[68GT500KR_Vert]

Call over to Mustang Mikes on Indian Head Highway and see if he has any or check ebay.

 

[BarnStang]

NAPAONLINE®

http://www.parts123.com/parts123/yb...~S2LL0JI2D524170221414a~Z5Z5Z5~Z5Z5Z50000016e

We get them from the parts store. Napa, Advance, Carquest. 1 out of three is defective (like York A/C compressors) so you need to be ableto test it. THe "Park" function is what usually doesn't work. SOmetimes it doesn't work at all. THere is very little quality control in this area.

 

[69gmachine]

I took the grill off and sprayed WD40 on the linkages. They ran fine with no wipers installed, so I put everything back together with new wiper blade re-fills and tried them out. I didn't run them very long because the windshield was dry, but they ran OK. I'm going to take a chance with it like it is. Now that all the snow's gone, I'll drive it to work every day until I head out, so I should get a chance to run them in the rain a few times between now and then. If they act up again I'll stop by Mike's Mustangs. If every 3rd rebuilt one is bad, I'd just as soon get a used one.

My biggest challenge is not to start any new projects before I leave. The only things I'm going to change are the fluids and the radio station. I keep thinking "there's enough time to swap out the gas tank to a '70 style 22 gallon for better range" or "I could swap out the crappy 80's Ford radio for one with modern guts and an iPod adapter", or "surely I could put the tinted door glass in, I'll need that in the desert". I must NOT touch a n y t h i n g!.

Thanks for all the feedback!!

 

[68GT500KR_Vert]

Best advice I can give you is if something is or has acted up, bring a spare with you. If you get stick somewhere without it and have to order the part it could take a week. Also upgrade to the 22 gallon Fuel Safe Pro-Cell fuel cell, it's really nice. I just got mine, your more then welcome to check it out. Radios are an easy upgrade.

 

[69gmachine]

I'd love to check out your car up close sometime. I'm pretty sure I saw you over in Prince Frederick last summer at one of the K-mart cruise ins; that's one sweet ride! Are you a member of the Southern Maryland Mustang Club? If not, I hope you'll join, if yes PM me. I'd like to see more vintage iron in the ranks.

The only thing that's acted up recently is the wiper motor. I may go ahead and pick up a spare from Mike's. I think I'll get a spare fuel filter also. I also need to put fresh tires on the front. I don't even have a spare tire yet.

I keep changing my mind about swapping out the gas tank to a 22 gallon '70 model. This trip is already going to blow my budget bad, so a $1K+ fuel cell probably won't happen. I also need to get a CB radio and antenna. I think I'll just buy an i-phone instead of changing the radio and download all my music.