'Rufus Maximus' - Build Thread

[Danny G]

Wiper motor out and linkage arms
It's interesting how these are just press fit onto the wiper "studs"/"mount" not sure the actual nomenclature. E2B-17532-AB is printed on it the main body appears to be fiber reinforced plastic, it's worn and has fibers visible. I'm curious if this is paintable to help seal and protect it.

I decided while I had it apart I would just go ahead and clean, treat and paint the pieces. Also going to get new weather seals etc for the cowl. I really want to get into powder coating, but for now some ceramic/high temp paint is quick and cheap for these small parts.

Did these use to have a nylon waster or bushing between the metal and the plastic wiper?

Also going to get some new screws with sealing washers. This will protect the paint and metal from being damaged and causing future issues with rust etc.

[Danny G]

Adjusted the hood it was grinding the cowl

[Danny G]

https://youtube.com/shorts/t-jjurZD420?si=1EHxXa4wAhGQ7nxP

[ArdWrknTrk]

Nylon bushingsfor the linkage available in the Dorman HELP! section.
There is nothing beneath the wiper arm on the pivot.

I turned Gary on to the idea of garage door weatherstrip for a cowl seal.
He has a tutorial....  💡👍

[Danny G]

Got home and started cleaning what remained of the old rotted open cell foam seal under the cowl.

Went to the garage to find some goo gone and didn't but, came across my gallon of WD40 and remembered that it works well on removing adhesives. WD 40 didn't disappoint. I like using it to clean tools and then oil any hinge work after.

[Danny G]

The blue bristle Otis firearm brushes are my go to "toothbrush" style cleaning brush for just about everything. Work better than metal bristles for most tasks especially if damage is a concern.

[Gary Lewis]

Haven't tried WD40, but will now that you show those results.  Nor have I heard of those brushes.  May try them as well.  

[Danny G]

I remember my dad telling me it removed old duct tape glue like a champ. I put it on there let it soak in and started scrubbing it about then wiped it up with a cloth. Benefit is it also helps with rust.

[Danny G]

The cloth in the picture is a "wire" cloth. Non scratch dish type thing


The brushes available are blue, white and brass. Blue is the stiffer of the two nylon types.

[Gary Lewis]

Thanks, Rufus. 👍

[Danny G]

Sometimes you need brunt force and science.. IE an angle grinder and Phosphoric Acid

[Danny G]

It's not a  decorative piece seeing as it's sandwiched between the cowl and the fire wall I had some black automotive primer and some black gloss enamel hanging out in the shelf so that's what she got. Between that and the other treatment it should be well protected, just needs to get some good cure time in before getting rough with it.

[Danny G]

Dug out the old ultrasonic cleaner today and put one of the wiper brackets in there and some of the smaller parts and as much of the arms that would fit. Going to see how that does vs cleaning the other brack up by hand.

It appears they had some sort of adhesive or butyl putty to hold the washer on this arm. There is a gap here. I'm not sure if that play is needed for the mechanism to keep from binding or not but I'm toying with splitting a nylon or better yet teflon washer on one side and sliding it in this gap to buffer between the metal and the plastic and basically nice surface to rotate against.

[Gary Lewis]

Looks good.  Especially for something that will be buried like that.  

[ArdWrknTrk]

There are reasons that glass filled acetal (Delrin) injection mouldings are used for parts with an integral bush.

[Danny G]

Went ahead and tossed everything into the ultrasonic cleaner with a 1:1 mix of simple green concentrate and water.

Left the  wiper mounts and clip in there for about an hour while I went and acid washed any rust I could on the truck until the heat and sun took me out. It's 95 on the thermo right now and 70ish % humidity.

Took the mounts out and the clip it did a good job. Dried it up, hit it with some heat and added some WD40 to the pin to drive any water out between it and the Derlin material.

I'm gonna get these painted up at some point as well. I got thinking it would be pretty cool to maybe nickel electroplate this retaining clip.



While outside I just when ahead and started treating anything I could around and under the cowl area. I have some Eastwood's chassis treatment coming in with the hose. I thought I had some still but can't find it. Thinking I'm going to mask off the top and feed the line through to treat everything, then transfer the hose to a can of paint to top it off.

I thought the edges at the seems in there were metal but it appears to be peeling body sealant. Looks like I need to scrape that out and replace a bead there before painting.

Basically started bathing the bed with metal prep. I have some damage here to sort out. The forward two bed mounts look like the carriage bolts spun on someone. So I have to hammer those out and repair that area. Maybe weld a washer to the underside.


The driver side forward bed side looks like a tie down ripped the hole open. And there are some more bed holes here, probably from a previous set of roll bars.





Finally this gooseneck needs to come out. Not sure if this was factory or not. It would be great if it's set up to be installed and removed as needed.

[Danny G]

So some internet sleuthing has uncovered the potential reason for my wiper dilemma. The "new" units in the market are remans. Old motors got sent to China and refitted for sale. The only problem is when they got refitted they put the wrong drive arm on the motor.

The consensus seems to be that you have to file down the motor spindle until it fits the stock wiper drive arm. Go figure. I reached out to Car Done who is the seller of my motor to see if they have anything on the books to fix the issue. In the mean time I got the motor off the 1986 F150 and am cleaning it up. It worked when parked and the motor is spinning freely unlike the one in the 85.

[Danny G]

The ultrasonic cleaner works wonders on rusted chrome as well it would seem.

[ArdWrknTrk]

That ultrasonic cleaner sure seems to have done a number on those chromed pieces!  

I don't think I've ever seen a factory option for a gooseneck ball, but that one looks like a clean installation.
Maybe Gary can confirm?

Your wiper  motor is the exact opposite of Vivek's rebuilt power steering pump, where they just polished the shaft, leaving it too small for a good press fit.
"Damned if you do, damned if you don't"... I guess?

Cardone has never had a good reputation, but tbf they're working with scrap to begin with.

They used to offer a "upgraded" (Saginaw) power steering pump that fit the Ford C2 bracket and had a smaller shaft, so you could use your existing pulley.
There was a little 'horseshoe' adapter bracket, and their longer shaft put the pulley in the right place.
AFAIK, those haven't been seen in over 15 years, and I understand why there wouldn't be enough demand to keep on making them.

[Gary Lewis]

Yes, that cleaner has been doing a really good job.  

But I can't find a gooseneck hitch in either the MPC or the accessories catalog.