GEV Windscreen Wiper Motor Restoration.

[chris dancey]

A problem I had encountered during GEVs ( 1938 10 Coupe ) continued restoration was the drivers side windscreen wiper control and integral on / off switch. The original switch was very worn and the wiring was in dire need of replacement. the wire was the easy part, but I struggled with the wear in the mechanical switch and as the switch body is made from mazak ( a rough aluminium )... not an easy material to deal with.. I repaired as best I could ( albeit I have since found an original / unused one now on ebay ) at the time. Unfortunately the mechanical switch still kept jumping from the ' off ' to the ' on ' , one morning I found that the switch had turned the wiper motor on during the night, one of the wipers had jammed and this caused the wiper motor to overheat and eventual burn the coils enough that the motor would'nt work.

The wiper motor was not wired through the ignition switch, so the possibility to become ' live ' was always present.

I sent the wiper motor to Robson & Francis Rewinds Ltd, London who replaced the windings, field coils, brushes etc. In the interim I decided to fit a ' master switch ' in the dashboard which will prevent this happening again ( I have since bought the replacement switch on ebay ) and ran through a single seperate fuse for this circuit only.

So if you have one of these switches fitted, make sure its in good condition and not worn, as it can have a desire to self destruct and take the wiper motor windings with it. just a thought .