A1 mono wiper conversion


Well, after seeing the pics and drooling over my buddy's mono-blade Scirocco, I went ahead and performed surgery on my '84 GLI. Rather than by the $200+ (US) kit from Neuspeed I picked up a Scirocco mono-blade linkage from an autowrecker and did it myself. By pure luck, the original motor fit and works AND the original wiper motor mount (on the car) lined up with the mount on the wiper motor in it's new position.
(This worked on my A1 Jetta, so it should also work on the Cabriolets and Rabbits which use the same linkage as my Jetta (I assume))

Step by step, here's how I did it.


Note: I cut a hole in my car. You may not want to

  1. Go to an autowrecker and get the wiper linkage (and wiper arm) from a mono blade Scirocco.

  2. Remove the wiper assembly from your A1 VW.

  3. Decide where you want the base of the wiper to go.
    You have options here, depending on how you want your new wiper to look or function.
    1. use the passenger side wiper hole
      Pro:
      • no holes cut
      Con:
      • wiper will be passenger side biased
      • wiper doesn't look good when parked straight up and down
    2. drill a hole in the center of the car
      Pro:
      • the centered wiper looks good, especially if the park position is straight up and down.
      • no wiper side bias
      Con:
      • have to cut a hole in your car
    3. drill a hole up to 5" to the right of the passenger side hole
      Pro:
      • driver's side wiper bias
      Con:
      • have to cut a hole
      • wiper doesn't look good when parked straight up and down
      Note: any more than 5" to the right of the passenger side hole, and the whole thing starts to look funny. Plus, your new wiper may rub on the driver's side windsheild rubber if you go over too far.
  4. Mount your original wiper motor (from your dual blade set-up) to the mono blade assembly. (Three bolts.)
    You will have to cut part of the mono-assembly to make the motor fit properly. The assembly folds over at the edge near where the motor goes for Scirocco mounting points. You will need to cut 1/2 of this off, flush with the top of the assembley for motor to fit right. Mount the motor so that the electric drive points off to the front corner of the linkage.

  5. Mount the assembly to your car.
    If you drill the hole in the center of the car, you will probably have to make up a mounting plate to connect the wiper motor to the car.
    Or, if you used the original passenger side wiper arm base hole, you WILL have to make up a mounting plate to conncect the motor to the car.
    For my car, with the 5" offset, the wiper motor's mounting plate coincided with the original car mount

  6. Connect the wiper arm and adjust to your own personal tastes. You have options here too.
    1. Stock Scirocco wiper arm with stock Jetta/Rabbit blade (15-16")
      This set-up just touches the top rubber on the windsheild at the highest point, and just grazes the driver's side windsheild rubber.
      This is the set-up I used for the pictures on this page.
      It was set to park flat on the passenger side.
    2. Stock Jetta/Rabbit wiper arm with Scirocco blade (19-20")
      You can either use the wiper arm as is, or bend the arm so it's straight.
      This is the one I've been using lately.
    Depending on your choice of wiper arm/blade combinations, you can then adjust the park position of the wiper. This is done by loosening the nut on the wiper motor drive, and changing the location of the lever.
    Then mount the wiper arm. I'm sure you'll figure it all out.
    By adjusting the park position of the linkage, you can adjust where the wiper parks and what direction it goes when you run your wiper. You can park the wiper straight up and down, and have it go left when started, or go right, or you can park the wiper in the factory position on the passenger side of the windsheild, or you can have the wiper park infront of the driver. The choice is yours, and you can always try one position for a while and change it later.


Discussion:

Pros:

Cons:



all three pics togeather (65 k)

Disclaimer:

I'm not a professional VW mechanic, just an enthusiast who wants a cool VW without spending a life's earnings. If this doesn't work on your car, don't blame me. It's just a personal experiment which worked and should be shared to all others who want a mono-blade without spending hundreds of dollars. I don't know if the stock Scirocco wiper motor should be used, or it the wiring for it would be different, or if it's more robust or if my wiper motor will burn out in time due to the increased torque it is loaded with. This conversion worked on my car and I'm happy with it. Thank you.

-Dave

Note: To my knowledge, Neuspeed and Awesome (Tel:(0706) 222272 -England) make mono-blade conversion kits if you're interested in a professional kit (and spending alot of cash)



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05/08/2004