ACS Mono Wiper Fabrication

[IronmanE30]

I decided to fabricate a mono-wipe for my E30. There were several companies that have done this in the past which include Hartge, AC Schnitzer, AKG, Vac Motorsports, Bonrath, Schneller and Gadget Guy. I wanted to use the Euro drivers’ side fresh air intake vent and did not want to use a cap on the US drivers side fresh air intake vent. I also wanted to use the ACS duel wiper blade. A good friend of mine (Raul) bought an ACS mono wipe so I was able to use that as a template for my fabrication seeing that ACS had both of the items I wanted in their design. I was also able to locate a Hartge mono wipe and bought Gadget Guy’s mono wipe so I could compare the different designs in an effort to make this one.

The sweep on our stock wipers needed to be extended by about 35 degrees. This was achieved using two different modifications to the wiper assembly arm. Most of the companies shortened the wiper assembly arm by about 15mm to achieve the longer sweep. However ACS lengthened the opposite of the wiper assembly arm by about 10mm. I liked the ACS design because it added length which added leverage to the wiper arm. Not that we need that here in California but I think ACS was thinking about the added pressure that snow would put on the system.

The ACS wiper arm was another interesting part to find but I was able to locate one of those with some help from some other friends.

So I started by comparing the four wipers assembles for degrees of sweep.

Stock



ACS



Then after deciding to use the ACS arm I modified the stock arm to match theirs.



This is where I first learned that German steel is a different thickness than US steel so I had to find a piece off the BMW that I could fabricate the spacer out of so the steel would be the same thickness. I also had to trim the shaft and add threads so I could use a nut to hold the shaft on like ACS did. Funny thing here is that ACS used the same copper coated nuts that are used on the exhaust system.

Then I had to modify the bracket that holds the modified arm. ACS fabricated theirs by welding two pieces of tubing together and welding that to the stock wiper assembly.

Stock



ACS



Once again German steel is different dimensions than US steel so I decided to modify the stock bracket rather than fabricating one like ACS did.

This required pressing out the sleeve that is in the aluminum housing. I then had to drill out the aluminum housing and seeing that I did not have the metric drill the correct diameter I use Liquid Steel to hold the sleeve into the housing and aligned it with the shaft on the modified arm.



So at this point I have it all together and it measures the same sweep as the ACS. The last things that I have to do is to mount the wiper arm assembly in my car and see if the bracket that ACS used is necessary or if I can use the same design as the other tuners have used. That would be two mounting points instead of three that ACS used.







Cheers,

Jim

[e30m3s54turbo]

Jim I can't wait when you install yours on the m3. Maybe that might motivate me to install that in my s38 m3.

[Coyote_ar]

ill be following this, i wanted to do this, but didnt know how to do it. thanks for sharing.

[archie]

Grabbing the bull by the horns here. I like ithis!

[e30m3s54turbo]

Hay buddy here is a better pic AC Schnitzer mono wiper kit.

[ZM Blue Devil]

doing it right!

[IronmanE30]

Thanks for your comments and pictures. This one will go on the Mtech the next one will go on the M3. I will post pictures once it is installed.

Cheers,

Jim

[brian52555]

Great work.

[jrobie79]

how much?

[reelizmpro]

Pretty innovative Jim. You must have really wanted a mono wiper! I never understood why these damn things were so expensive. The cheapest I've seen was the Bonrath kit at under $200. Are you coming up for the carbque in Ventura by any chance?

[IronmanE30]

how much?

I have no idea how much the wiper would cost. I am still doing work on the prototype so it's not really done. I'm not even sure if I will make the wiper for sale. Once I finish the second one and refine the fabrication process I should have a better idea if I would consider making more for sale.

Pretty innovative Jim. You must have really wanted a mono wiper! I never understood why these damn things were so expensive. The cheapest I've seen was the Bonrath kit at under $200. Are you coming up for the carbque in Ventura by any chance?

Thanks, Once I saw the duel wiper blade I liked it. I was just to cheap to pay the price for the ACS unit like my buddy. I can't make it to the Car-B-Q this year due to family obligations. I wish I could make it, last year was a blast! The plan is to head up to the SoCal Vintage and down to the SoCal Euro meets though. See ya there!

Cheers,

Jim

[Gooch]

Subscribed!! Awesome, and thank you!

[IRON-E]

Work looks good and maticulous., keep at it Jim. :up:

[IronmanE30]

Subscribed!! Awesome, and thank you!

Thanks!

Work looks good and maticulous., keep at it Jim. :up:

Thanks Edwin! Install scheduled for tomorrow.

Cheers,

Jim

[IronmanE30]

Today I was able to test the 3 mono wiper arm assembly’s. I used the ACS as the bench mark for the testing.



Then I tested the one I am fabricating.



Then I tested the one I was told that is Hartge.



The last one tested was the one that was produced by Gadget Guy that I bought to use as a test for this project.



Here is a close up of the tape marking that I used to compare the three mono wipes. Blue = ACS, Red = mine, Yellow = Gadget Guy and Green is the Hartge mono wipers at full sweep.



Using the ACS wiper blade for all testing I found that the one that I am fabricating has about 2 centimeters less sweep than the ACS assembly. ACS had to notch a couple of other areas that made contact on the wiper assembly which was not necessary on the one that I made. This gave me a clue that I was not going to get as much sweep as the ACS even though I made a jig. I am thinking about adding a millimeter to the next assembly arm that I fabricate to see if this gives me the additional sweep but I am not sure if it is worth having to modify the other parts. I used a dry windshield so with water lubricating the windshield the sweeps may increase. It should be noted that Gadget Guy and what I am calling Hartge used a stock wiper arm which would reduce the sweep.

One of the other items that I was concerned about is the mounting for the drivers side of the wiper assembly. It appeared that the Hartge assembly did incorporate one into their design, Gadget Guy used the original mounting point (the wiper shaft) but this required a cap on the stock air vent and ACS fabricated a bracket that requires drilling a hole in the channel at the top of the firewall. I want to use the Euro air vent so I can eliminate the cap on the air vent. What I found was that because the motor is on the drivers side of the assembly it allows movement in the Hartge and my assembly when the wiper is used. I believe that over time this will put stress on the other two mounting points so I am now going to fabricate the bracket that ACS used in their design. Tomorrow I will work on the motor timing to allow centering the wiper blade to see if I can get this question answered and check the sweep using the stock wiper arms to see if the sweep is acceptable for a Hartge style mono wiper.



I just noticed that the wiper arm starts on the opposite side of the car in the first picture. This should easy to adjust. One more thing to test tomorrow.


Cheers,

Jim