MG-Cars.net

Welcome to our resource for MG Car Information.

Recommendations

Parts

MG parts spares and accessories are available for MG T Series (TA, MG TB, MG TC, MG TD, MG TF), Magnette, MGA, Twin cam, MGB, MGBGT, MGC, MGC GT, MG Midget, Sprite and other MG models from British car spares company LBCarCo.

MG MGB Technical - Wiper Conversion LHD to RHD

I have just bought a '74 GT to go with my midget. It needs a reasonable amount on mechanical work doing so this is likely to be the first of many questions.

The car has been re-imported from Belgium in 1980 and converted to RHD. Unfortunately the wipers are still positioned as LHD so the passenger gets a 'full wipe' but the driver misses a large section. How easy is it to swap the wipers over? Is it just a case of re-positioning them and changing the park point of the motor? If so how do you do this?

Thanks in advance,

Dave.
Dave

Dave try posting this on the mIge Board
Cecil Kimber

I've got no information, but lest someone else read it too quick and write him off as being on the wrong board, the question's about his new BGT.

Peter Ballinger

I can't speak with any expertise, but the main arms of the wipers have a bend in them. You will probably need to replace them (so the bend is the other way) as well as the other things you mentioned.
P R Akers

Hi David
You need to take the top cover off the wiper motor and move the parking cam through 180 degrees and buy a pair of RHD wiper arms
All the best Ron
r algie

Thanks for the comments,

I thought that was the case but haven't opened up the wiper motor to have a look. I'll wait till I've got the new arms then have a go.

Thanks

Dave
Dave

The parking cam is integral to the cam that operates the rack, you can't alter their relationship, there is a different part (in fact a different motor) for RHD and LHD.
Paul Hunt

I have just sorted a similar problem on a roaster.Remove the wiper motor,prise off the clip retaining the large drive wheel and tap it out.Look on the rear face and you will find a small nylon ramp,which simply clips to the wheel.Gently ease it out with a small screwdriver and refit to the other position 180 degrees opposite.Refit the motor and you should find the arms magically park on the other side of the screen!Hope this is clear.Regards Steve.
SR SMITH

I guess I'll do what I usually do in these situations:- Pull it apart & see if it works when/if I get it back together. If it doesn't then I've not really lost anything and will buy the appropriate RHD motor.

Thanks again,

Dave
Dave

Interesting. When I refurbished my GT, a LHD USA car, I set it up so that the driver got the full wipe and the RH side the partial.

All I recall doing (it was about 13+ yrs ago I did this) was changing the relationship of the rack to the wheelboxes. By that, I mean that if the rack is positioned so that it runs across the top of the wheel box, it wipes from side A to sid B initially and parks on side A, and if you position the rack on the bottom (turn the wheelboxes "upside down"), then it reverses the side the sweep starts and ends on. There is sufficient "play" in the postioning of the guide tubing for the rack that there was no problem of binding as I recall. After just going out and looking at my setup, I see that the rack runs on the top of my wheelboxes and the wipers park on the RH side. FYI

Bob Muenchausen

Sorry, I misstated. both wipers sweep the same, it is only the parking that matters and that is set to park on the RH side. Doh!
Bob Muenchausen


Hi Dave,

It is much easier to do than you think, I recently rebuilt a MGB GT and didn't realise the wipers were the wrong way round till i'd finished. Took me about less than an hour to fix.

The motor pushes a ribbed rod inside a metal sleave. The wiper arms are mounted onto the spindles which are attached to cogs driven by the rod.

Take off the wipers, take the wiper motor off, undo the wiper spindles and remove. All you have to do is take the spindels/cogs off and put them on rotated through 180 degrees. Then if you are careful you can bend the wiper arms so that they are kinked in the correct direction. Easier to do than it sounds!

Good luck

Mark
Mark Ireland

"Doh" from here too. Clausager doesn't show any LHD LH parking wipers, they are all RH parking. The important thing is the angle of the arms and the placement on the spindles to sweep down to the bottom of the screen in front of the driver, the fact they are then cocked up in front of the passenger when parked is hardly a big issue. In fact, the early cars seem to park across the screen and not on the bottom edge, which on RHD cars is right in front of the driver. Funnily enough someone was moaning about the sweep area in front of the RHD driver on a current French (I think) car. Again the advice was to bend the arms and reposition on the spindles.
Paul Hunt

This thread was discussed between 10/05/2003 and 15/05/2003

MG MGB Technical index

This thread is from the archive. The Live MG MGB Technical BBS is active now.