Windscreen woes
One of my (many) little OCD hangups is being able to see out the windscreen clearly when driving along in the rain. And although I’ve upgraded the wiper blades to the best options Volkswagen did for Split screen buses at the time, they are not the best things in the world for keeping the glass clean!
seen worse views…Buttys Bits
Another annoyance that most split bus drivers might empathise with is the inability of the wipers to ‘self-park’ when switched off! They just sort of stop wherever they are, so you (or is it just me?) end up playing the game of trying to time switching them off so that they finish as near as possible to the park position to the side of the screen. A great game for all the family, hours of fun for everyone as I’m sure you can imagine! 😉
innovative quality engineering solutions from Buttys BitsEngineering excellence
Well, fortunately, it’s not just me that gets bugged by this ‘feature’, luckily the super talented engineer Simon Butland of Buttys Bits had spotted the issue and used his skills to develop some fantastic upgrades to help resolve some of the issues!
quality twin speed 12v wiper motor from Buttys BitsWiper motor wonder
Buttys Bits make genuinely useful upgrades. Things that solve real-world everyday driving issues. Like his brilliant accelerator throttle kit that has transformed countless VW air-cooled rides. Now he has turned his attention to sorting out wiper motor issues for Splitscreen buses. Not only has he developed a 12v twin speed, self park wiper motor that fits a vintage VW Split screen camper (yeah modern motorists won’t get how good an upgrade this is as its standard on modern cars!)…
old wiper linkage arm – this should be straight!…but has also produced a new and improved wiper linkage arm with ball joint ends to replace worn or damaged parts! These two things combined make the whole windscreen wiper motor set-up better than new!
Buttys Bits replacement wiper linkage rodBetter than new
Cool stuff! 🙂 The replacement right-hand rod has ball joints and is pre-setup at the correct length so no need to alter/guess the correct lengths etc. The rods will fit onto the original wiper spindle ball and the drive unit on the original drive plate.
Buttys Bits replacement wiper linkage rod endsOh so quiet
So with the new twin speed/self-park motor fitted, along with a replacement wiper linkage rod, it was time to address my poor old worn wiper shafts. Fair to say that they have seen a fair bit of action over their lifetime, they were noisy, worn and had seen better days!
the old wiper shafts had served their time and now seen better daysI had ordered a pair of replacement Wolfsburg West wiper shafts and spindle caps from Alan Schofields to complete the transformation.
new Wolfsburg West wiper shafts and spindle capsWiper motor magic
Once fitted and the wiper blades realigned, the difference was remarkable – the whole operation is just so much quieter than before. I guess I had simply grown accustomed to the noise of the mechanical grinding and whirring of the old mechanism and linkages!
new wiper shaft and spindle caps fittedWait till winter
Typical, I do a job that won’t fully be appreciated to the winter months, but at least it’s now done! Less work and more time to spend actually getting out and enjoying the camper whilst the sun’s out!
