A few notes for anyone looking to do the “early” to “intermediate” windshield swap on a early Jeep.
Pros
- Better visibility
- Better wiper motor
- Two wipers wiping
- Two wiping speeds
- No change to your softtop or hardtop required
Cons
You lose a bit of that early Jeep “coolness” that the top wipers, and especially the passenger hand-crank wiper provided.
Me - I’m 6’3” and always fought for visibility out of Dutch. Between the narrow windshield and seating position, I usually watched stoplights in the reflection of the hood. One sit in a friends ‘71 CJ with the intermediate style windshield was all it took to convince me of the need for the swap.
Add in the frustration with the *chinsy* aftermarket replacement top-mount wipers and it was a no-brainer.
Windshield Frames
For a comparison of the 3 different style early Jeep windshield frames, see this page.
The ‘72 - ‘75 style is the one to get, as the curved glass adds visibility. I managed to get two of these frames as part of the first CJ6 I bought.
Everything is available on the aftermarket, near as I can tell, except for the linkage arms that run inside the sheetmetal of the frame, connecting the wipers to the motor. Oh - and non stainless covers for the wiper motor.
Glass
After wire-wheeling, primering:
and painting the frame it was time for glass.
I found a used piece of glass, bought the necessary gaskets, and took it to a local shop for install - for which they charged me $50. This was cheaper than the 2nd piece of glass I’d have to buy if I attempted installation myself. I also installed a new cowl gasket.
Wiper Arms
I attempted to buy these at Autozone with some new blades, but what they have is junk - they hardly engage the wiper blade, leaving the blade floppy. Get the AANCO brand arms with the adjustable length and blade angle.
Wiper Motors
The 4WD vendors will have a motor for ‘68-‘75, and one for ‘76-‘83. Both motors are a 2-speed, self-park, 3-wire plug, and the only difference is in the location of the mounting bracket at the end of the motor. The early version will have the bracket centered on the motor body, the later version has a hole that’s offset from the body. The later version usually sells $12 - $15 cheaper. eBay had the best prices that I could find.
My windshield frame had already been modified to use the later motor. I found this out after ordering the later version because it matched one of the dead motors I got with the frame, then noticing a threaded insert that looked more original than the simple hole in the sheet metal for the later motor.
Switch
I bought a replacement switch for the ‘68 - ‘75 Jeep. Price was around $14 from the vendor, and it doesn’t come with either a knob or a nut to hold it on the dash. The vendor offered a repro light switch knob he thought would work - it doesn’t. The wiper switch has a “D” shaped shaft and the light switch knob threads on. No biggie to me…I’ll use the shiny new “lights” knob on the lights….
I found a knob at Radio Shack, but don’t buy their grab-pack of the thin little control switch nuts - as they are not the correct size. The wiper switch is a 3/8” 24 thread, and I found a “jam nut” at my local hardware store that works.
The plug on the replacement motor actually fit on the replacement switch - what a concept. There will be two leftover spades on the switch. I found that the outermost one is where 12V power hooks to. Not sure what the other one is for. You’ll want unswitched 12V, as the park circuit (yeah, *really fancy!) needs 12V for a bit after you shut the wipers down.
You’ll have to drill a hole in the top of your cowl, under where the windshield frame rests, to allow the plug from the motor to pass through and connect to the switch.
Wiring
If you’re not using a replacement switch or want to test a used motor, here’s some advice on figuring out the wiper motor wiring (Courtesy of the ECJ5.com forums):
The wiper is grounded through the case. The three wires are for the high, low, and park. Black is park, green is low speed and red is high speed. When the 12 volts is removed from high or low, the 12 volts that is always connected to the park wire will cause the motor to continue to run until it reaches the park position. At that time a cam inside the motor assembly will disconnect the park wire from the motor and everything stops.
You’ll want to connect 12 volts to the park wire all the time, even with the wiper switch off. Then, if you also connect the 12 volts to either of the other two wires, the wiper will run. If you remove the 12 volts to the wire, the motor should continue to run until it reaches the park position at which time it will shut off.
You can simulate the wiper switch by using a single pole double throw (SPDT) toggle switch to choose between high and low.
You’ll need one 12 volt wire to a fuse (6 amps) to the park wire and branch that off to the center of the SPDT switch. The output of the SPDT switch should be connected to each of the other two wires.
Just a note—the above does NOT apply when working with a Wrangler windshield. The grounding is different on them and you have to remove a ground wire first before you can do the above.
Hood Hardware
I removed the early hardware from the hood, and installed the standoffs from an intermediate-era Jeep. They’re spaced approximately 24” apart, and placement is best found by lowering the windshield and seeing where everything meets up.
To protect the hood when raised back against the windshield, I installed a rubber bumper that TJ’s use in place of the metal standoff loops. They’re available from the dealer for around $10. I just hope not everyone has to drag the parts guy out to the lot to show them what you’re after….
Note that I do intend to re-install the middle footman loop so there’s a place to secure the w/s when down.
Comments are closed, but you can read the comments other people left.
Mark on April 08, 2008
Boyink (Author) on April 08, 2008