Nick Jones Posted May 16 Share Posted May 16 Driving the GT6 in the rain (again!) today I was reminded that the arcs of the two blades don’t quite overlap leaving an unwiped section right in the middle. This is sub-optimal and twangs my OCD. Poking around on the internet I found the Tex website. They ought to know…. But now I’m more confused. Tex list the mk2 and mk3 GT6 as being the same. 2x 11” blades and 2x adjustable length, 10 degree cranked arms. Methinks Mk3 actually ought to be the same as MkIV/1500 Spit. For that Tex list 12” blades and 280mm arms, drivers one with 10 degree crank and passenger one straight. This is mostly what I have except I’ve got the arms on the other way around….. ‘cause it just seems wrong the way listed….. What do you other mk3 GT6 & Square tail Spit folks do? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Escadrille Ecosse Posted May 17 Share Posted May 17 Nick I would agree that the the GT6 Mk3 wipers would be the same as the square tail Spitfires. The blades and arms of which are longer than the round tail cars. I know this because I have been supplied with the later ones in the past and they are too long for the early cars It's a long time since I had my Mk IV but what you have just said about the arms reminded me of fretting about this myself long ago. So dug out the old Graham Robson book, my old Haynes Spitfire manual and my similarly ancient Intereurope Herald/Spitfire manual. And my BL Spitfire 1500 manual... So the BL manual says cranked arm on the left, straight arm on the right. However, the cutaway drawing on the front of the Haynes manual suggests both arms are straight, as does the period photo of the MkIV on the front of the Intereurope one. The Robson book has a number of photos of factory fresh Spitfires and GT6s of the appropriate models. There are a few of both models (Spitfire and GT6 square tails) with one straight right and one cranked left arm but most of the photos appear to show both arms being straight. There is even a LHD GT6 which appears to hae a straight arm on the right and a cranked one on the left . Make of all that what you will.... With both my Mk4 and with the Mk1 and Mk2 cars I ended up cranking the ends of both arms myself with a custom bend to get the best fit, since like you the random blade angles offended my OCD. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nick Jones Posted May 17 Author Share Posted May 17 Thankyou for the research material! Your effort is much appreciated. I have mine as you BL 1500 describes, by the drawing. I do struggle with their definition of left and right though! It’s mainly the fact that the arcs of the two wipers don’t overlap, leaving a section unwiped in the middle of the screen that winds me up. I’d assumed it was because I had the wrong parts combination but it seems I don’t Puzzled I is Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gt64fun Posted May 18 Share Posted May 18 Nick I have a similar problem on my Mk2. I'm currently using 11" blades (280mm), both arms are cranked and the tip of the blade is 430mm from the pivot point. The screen is 365mm between rubbers I understand that the Mk3 screen is deeper, so I would have thought you could quite readily go to a 12" (305mm) blade as long as it doesn't run off the side edges of the screen. Ian Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nick Jones Posted May 18 Author Share Posted May 18 Already got 12” blades…. The arms actually measure 275mm from end to the spindle centre (which is how Tex say they should be measured. That’s 440mm from spindle centre to wiper tip on both straight and cranked variants….. This implies there might be 5mm adrift (10mm total in the “overlapping” area). That wouldn’t be enough to sort the issue. With have to consult with Chris and see how the Spitfire does it…. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Escadrille Ecosse Posted May 18 Share Posted May 18 (edited) 17 hours ago, Nick Jones said: It’s mainly the fact that the arcs of the two wipers don’t overlap, leaving a section unwiped in the middle of the screen that winds me up. I’d assumed it was because I had the wrong parts combination but it seems I don’t Puzzled I is I realise that my comments, while quite extensive, were in no way helpful And also missed your point about the unswept bit in the middle. I think that this is an issue with the length if the arms available today. When I first got the Scimitar the wipers and arms were completely shot so I got a new set. At which point there appeared an unswept gap between them. Longer blades didn't work as they interfered with each other and caught the top of the screen. All very puzzling until I compared the length of the old and new arms. The old ones (presumably the factory originals) were about 1/4 inch longer. And that seems to be the way of all the arms nowadays. Suspect the same is true for the Spitfire/GT6 Edited May 18 by Escadrille Ecosse Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gt64fun Posted May 18 Share Posted May 18 2 hours ago, Nick Jones said: Already got 12” blades…. Ah yes, re-reading for post I see that you have. Would it help if the offside ram was set at a higher parked position. Not ideal I know! Hopefully other GT6 mk3 and Spitfire 4/1500 will be along soon to enlighten us! Ian Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nick Jones Posted May 18 Author Share Posted May 18 4 hours ago, Escadrille Ecosse said: All very puzzling until I compared the length of the old and new arms. The old ones (presumably the factory originals) were about 1/4 inch longer. And that seems to be the way of all the arms nowadays. Yeah…. I think this is it. The arms are not new, but are ones we didn’t use on the Spitfire. I don’t think we got any in the GT6 “kit”. Probably I should invest in a set of the adjustable length arms and set them so they work. And the info you posted was useful as it proved that I have notionally the correct combination of parts assembled in the right way. So thanks. 4 hours ago, Gt64fun said: Hopefully other GT6 mk3 and Spitfire 4/1500 will be along soon to enlighten us! Yes…. Though I feel that most of the info is on the table now….. comments still welcome though! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Escadrille Ecosse Posted May 18 Share Posted May 18 31 minutes ago, Nick Jones said: Yeah…. I think this is it. The arms are not new, but are ones we didn’t use on the Spitfire. I don’t think we got any in the GT6 “kit”. Probably I should invest in a set of the adjustable length arms and set them so they work. And the info you posted was useful as it proved that I have notionally the correct combination of parts assembled in the right way. So thanks. Yes…. Though I feel that most of the info is on the table now….. comments still welcome though! Bon chance on this then Nick. I think the adjustable length arms are a good plan. Used them myself in the past and very handy for 'tuning' the wipers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gt64fun Posted May 18 Share Posted May 18 BTW my arms are 290mm from centre of the spindle to the centre point on the wiper blade, so possibly a bit longer than your current ones. Adjustable could be useful if you can find them. Do you have scope to use a longer blade or are you at the limit of what the screen edge will allow? Ian Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
egret Posted May 20 Share Posted May 20 I have a mk4, but sadly the unwiped gap between the wiper blades are fairly far down the list of jobs! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nick Jones Posted May 20 Author Share Posted May 20 8 hours ago, egret said: sadly the unwiped gap between the wiper blades are fairly far down the list of jobs! Interesting…. That you also have this gap! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
egret Posted June 9 Share Posted June 9 2 x 12" wipers. Left it dirty to show what's going on. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TimBancroft Posted July 22 Share Posted July 22 The TR6 has a cranked wiper arm on the passenger side....as the share the same screen with a mk1/mk2 GT6, what about fitting those? Just a thought? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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