Vacuum wiper motor

[telmore1964]

Hello, I have recently purchased a 1930 Model A pickup truck about 3 weeks ago now. The truck came with an electric wiper motor and I was trying to determine how original this would have been. There is no vacuum piping or hose inside the cab nor is there any inside the engine compartment. In fact the intake manifold doesn't even have the vacuum port installed. I was wondering if Ford would have sold new Model A's like this? There is a hole near the sediment bowl in the firewall which I assume would be for the vacuum line to pass through though. On the windshield there are some holes that look like they were drilled by someone in an attempt to install the electric motor and I would speculate they are not original. Also the U shape notch on the inside of the windshield frame where I assume the control knob and shaft for the vacuum wiper motor pass through are not drilled to outside at least there isn't a matching hole that lines up with it and lastly I don't seem to have a hole for the vacuum hose to pass through and it doesn't appear there was one then later patched up.








Thanks
Tom Elmore
Anchorage, Alaska

 

[ryanheacox]

Yep, some came with electric wipers through 1930. Everything got vacuum wipers in the tail end of 1930 IIRC. I believe there were 3 manufacturers (Heinze, Owens Dyneto and E.A.?) which all made a few different variants. It sounds like yours might be an original although the vendors carry an aftermarket version. If you can post pictures of the one you have that would help.

There was also a nice website that went over the wiper motor versions in detail but I couldn't find it just now...

 

[Don Turley]

Hi Tom. The “Restoration Guidelines & Judging Standards”, 2016 revisions, page 20-2, the “Windshield Wiper Master Chart” shows that commercial vehicles use a hand wiper through June 1929. In June 1929 commercial vehicles then began using a vacuum wiper. According to this chart, there were no electric wipers installed on commercial vehicles.

It is possible, and very likely, that your intake manifold and your windshield frame are not original to the vehicle. Many parts have been replaced on these old vehicles over the years. If you want your Pickup to be per the “Restoration Guidelines”, with a vacuum wiper, then you will need to find an original intake manifold with the port for the vacuum wiper connection. You might possibly weld up the holes in your windshield frame and drill new holes to accommodate the vacuum wiper motor and fittings. Or, you can search for an original windshield frame that has the correct vacuum wiper mounting holes. New vacuum wiper metal tubing and fittings are available from most of the Model A parts suppliers.

You stated elsewhere that your engine number is A2978529, which is a March 1930 number. If your engine is original to the vehicle, then your Pickup has the same type cab as the 1928 - 1929 Pickup, body style 82-A. The 82-B style Pickup with the more rounded type cab was introduced in June 1930.

I have assumed that your Pickup is a Closed Cab. If it is an Open Cab, then the body style is 76-A.

If you are not too concerned about having the correct wiper on your truck, then the electric wipers do a much better job at wiping rain from the windshield than the vacuum wipers. Better yet, just use Rain-X.