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[mab01uk]

Quote: Originally Posted by ARCrawford (original)

I suppose this business of the failing wiper motor is something BMW were trying to replicate from the original Mini. My Dad's favourite story about his Cooper back in the 1970's was when the wipers failed in the pouring rain when he and my Mom were on a long road trip.

So my Dad tied string to the tops of the wiper blades and ran it round to the inside of the car through the windows in a big loop. Then my Mom had to swift her hands left and right to move the string and hence clean the windscreen whilst they drove to a scrap yard. My Dad paid the scrap yard attendant £11 and removed the wiper motor off another Mini in the pipe. He stuck it onto his Mini and it worked great until they sold the car many years later.

Just think of it as a nostalgic thing... your MINI was following in the footsteps of its ancestors.

All the best,
Andrew.

I upgraded my first Mk1 classic Mini in the 1970's to the luxury of self-parking wipers from a later model in the breakers, followed even later by 2 speeds and electric washers instead of the standard Smiths manual hand pump plunger under the dash. Toggle switch extensions were also fitted so I could just about reach the wiper switch with a (static) seat belt on !
It was much easier to get to the wiper motor and rack assembly on it than with my current MINI though, despite being very cramped under the bonnet..............
Thanks everyone so far for the many useful tips and info in this thread for diy wiper repairs.