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MG MGA - Wheelbox Challenge

I decided to tackle the job of replacing the MS wiper wheelbox yesterday after putting it off since last summer.
The splines on my wheelbox have worn almost completely away.
I had got hold of some 2nd hand OE boxes which actually had splines on the spindles.

I had made a temporary fix on the splines by draping some thin strands of electrical flex over the spindle to stop the wiper arm from slipping and this had worked really well.

It didn't take long to remove the box but getting the bottom plate screws back in was where the challenge began. The problem was with the screw nearest to the wiper motor.
The demister duct was immediately beneath it and meant that a screwdriver could only be applied at about 45 degrees to the screw. This angle meant that the screw just wouldn't start in the thread.

Access is more than awkward and I could only get one finger to the screw at a time.

After struggling with it using a standard size pozidrive screwdriver for a couple of hours with no success, I tried another method.
I found a very thin driver(really a size too small for the screw) which was fairly flexible. I used some duck tape to attach the screw to the driver and pushed it up to the hole. The too-small driver then allowed the screw to be pushed into the correct alignment and to actually screw into the thead - at last.

If I had to do this more often than once every 12 years I would make an access hole in the bracket that supports the demist duct. But hopefully that should now be the DNOS problem 😁

Cheers
Colyn

Picture of my "bodge" to keep the wiper arm on the spindle whilst on holiday



Colyn Firth

Picture of the worn out aftermarket wheelbox and the 2nd hand wheelbox which actually has splines!😊


Colyn Firth

Picture 3

Showing the screw that caused me so much trouble.
(The lower one in the picture)


Colyn Firth

Colyn

You need one of these -https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=npFYRWhjzZI - maybe an early Christmas present?

Only about £6 and you can connect to a standard screwdriver of course
Graham V

I am guessing that Colyn is using the standard MGA push-on wiper arms. The fix is to use the 1968 midget wiper arms that have a screw/wedge fixing, are the same length as the MGA arms and have a spoon fitting too. These can be locked solid on the spindle.

I have a set of MGA wiper boxes going spare, plus the rack tubes between them, so if anyone is in need of a set, just shout. I am sure a deal can be reached that will make both parties happy.
Dominic Clancy

Thanks Graham
I dont think the flexy drive would do the job because there is only about 1 1/2" gap between the problem screw and the demister bracket and the flexy drive would need to have a 90 degree bend.
After I had managed to fit the screw I remembered that I have a 1/4" drive socket set in the car somewhere which could have been small enough to fit in that tight space. Ah well, too late now.

Dominic, I do have the Midget wiper arms with the built-in screw clamp and they are brilliant, the problem was that the splines on that spindle had worn completely away and it had a virtually polished surface as you can see on the picture.

(Are they making the spindles on those replica wheelboxes from soft aluminium?)

I did send you an email asking about your wheel boxes when you mentioned them earlier on this forum Dominic, but maybe it got diverted into your junk file?

So I have had to fit an original used wheel box.

So far, it seems to be working just fine.

Cheers
Colyn



Colyn Firth

I gave the wipers a good test last week when we had to drive through heavy rain on the motorway on the way back from the Hebrides.

All my previous efforts were for nothing because both wiper blades fell off leaving me to depend on "Rainex" to keep the screen clear. (They were the Midget screw-on type Dominic but they seem to have worn a little)

So I sent for some brand-new wheel boxes from Moss and some new Midget arms to sort things out once and for all.

I fitted them today and it was a real challenge, the fixing screw on the passenger side wheelbox again was a nightmare to refit, it took me well over an hour to get the threads to engage on that one screw so that I could tighten it.
To make things worse, when I finally got it fitted and tested the wipers, I found that they were only wiping about a 40 degree arc on the screen.

When I looked under the dash to see what was going on, I found that the flare on the first tube nearest to the wiper motor was not being gripped by the cover on the new wheelbox.
So reluctantly, I had to remove the awkward wheelbox and I found that I had to bend the tabs on the cover downwards by almost 2mm to make it grip the flare on the tube.

Then, rather than spend another hour or two trying to refit that #*!*"'! screw, I decided to take drastic action!
I cut a 1/2" corner from the left side demister support bracket which took me 10 mins or so, then it was only a 2 min job to refit the above screw.
(just needs a dab of paint on the cut metal to finish it off).
It all seems to be working well now with full wiping action. Only time will tell if the wiper arms stay on this time but I am confident that they really are now fixed!

I have attached a couple of pictures which hopefully will show the problem areas and the mods I have had to do.
Cheers
Colyn





Colyn Firth

On the first picture above you can see where I have cut out a section of the bracket. I can now get a screwdriver directly onto the screw. Once I paint the bare metal it will be a pretty much invisible mod.

The 2nd picture here shows just how much I had to bend down the tabs on the left side of the wheelbox cover to get it to secure the tube flare.

I'm hoping that these wheelboxes will last me for another 13 years like the first ones did.

Cheers
Colyn


Colyn Firth

Colyn, stop the rain, or move to Australia where you won't need wipers...probably a costly fix though!
Gary Lock

Not such a bad idea though Gary, after wrestling around under the dash board for over 4 hour hours yesterday, the thought of living in such warm (and Dry!) climate is very tempting!

Cheers
Colyn
Colyn Firth

This thread was discussed between 03/04/2018 and 31/05/2018

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