paul2748 (11/14/2020)
Your idea of removing the wipers is a good one
I don't know how much it is to either buy a new (rebuilt) one or getting yours rebuilt but look at the cost of the electric conversion vs how much your spending for two rebuilds plus a possible additional rebuild another three years down the road.
Honestly it looks like the wiper motor is working just fine. I didnt realize it till later on that when I first installed the rebuilt wiper motor I had 35+ year old wiper blades which didnt really grab the glass that much. Now as of last year I installed new wiper blades so that could explain why it seems like the wipers work so much slower. I am not taking into account old dried out hard rubber wiper blades vs new soft rubber wiper blades ontop of dry glass. We were to get rain today but it didnt show up so I didnt get to try it out with some water on the windshield but I think it might be ok. The wiper motor wipes quick and returns quick without the arms attached. The arms are free but the drag on dry glass slows it down. I might get the water hose out and try it one day just to make myself feel better about it.
As far as the rebuilt goes, to rebuild a wiper motor when I got this one it was like $130 for the rebuilt wiper motor then another $100 for a core charge. I sent in as a core a wiper motor I got from work off of a '56 F500 truck and kept my original one to my car to have rebuilt for a spare later on. The electric wipers at the time I looked was $400 for the electric wiper conversion then another $50 for the wiper switch extension so you can retain the OE wiper knob.
For me not really planning to drive in the rain only having them functional in case I get caught in a rain storm I couldnt really justify the doubled price for the electric conversion. Even figuring in sourcing a used dual action fuel pump at $50 and a ethanol safe rebuild kit for it for $100 still keeps me under the cost of the electric wiper conversion at the time.
1956 Ford Fairlane Town Sedan - 292 Y8 - Ford-O-Matic - 155,000 mi