Wipers & Upper Dash

Since it rains nearly every day for about 5 months in our area, I placed a rush order to Rover's North that same morning for all the parts we would need to get the wipers working again. Two days later, I installed new arms, collets and wiper blades but still the wipers would not work for more than a couple of passes.

The next day, I found posts on various Rover forums describing how the drive cable can become bogged down in the old factory grease along with instructions on how to remove, clean, regrease and re-install. That night, I took the upper dash apart and removed the wiper assembly. This was late December so the grease was more like gritty wax than grease. I set everything in a dish and soaked it for a couple of days in parts cleaner.


Since the upper dash was off, I succumbed to a mild case of shipfitters disease and reupholstered it. The original dash had several sun-baked deep and wide cracks, mostly clustered in the center. The vinyl was so dry, I just snapped off the crack edges that were sticking up above the level of the rest of the dash. I didn't bother to fill in the cracks--the foam would smooth them out. I purchased about a yard of 1/4 inch closed cell foam (48" wide) and the same amount of automotive vinyl from JoAnn's Fabrics plus a can of heavy duty spray adhesive. These pictures give you some idea of the outcome. Here are the steps I took:
1. Clean the dash with soapy hot water, rinse and let dry:
2. Cut the foam and vinyl to size leaving about 2 inches on either end just in case. Cut about 1 inch circles out of the foam for the screws that attach the dash to the bulkhead. Also, trim about 1 inch off either side in order to fit the end caps.
3. Spray the adhesive on each surface--the dash and foam first and, later the foam and vinyl--and let it dry for a minute or so.
4. Leaving the 2 spare inches overlap, start at one corner and smooth the material over the dash surface. Make sure there are no bubbles or wrinkles. Also, don't stretch either material.
5. Secure the foam and vinyl to the back of the dash using the factory spikes.
6. Reinstall.



After cleaning all of the wiper parts, regreasing every peice and reinstalling it, I found out the problem was with the switch... Also, I installed the passenger side wheel box upside down so that wiper doesn't stop at the bottom of the windsheild like it should. Oh well, another project for another time.

I wasn't quite ready to pay $115 for a new switch so I found a similar looking single speed pull switch at a local auto parts store and, within minutes, the wipers worked!