Intermittent wipers became available in Ford trucks in
1973. Initially offered as a stand-along option, the setup was offered as part of the Convenience Package
starting in 1976, which
was standard in the Ranger XLT and optional in other models, and also
included a lockable glove box and a 12" day/night inside mirror. |
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Installing a factory Ford wiper
delay in your classic pickup is one of the little things that make
day-to-day driving much more convenient. The good news is the '73-'79 setups
will plug right into your existing wiring. Look for these in XLT
Rangers and Broncos. These have been getting around $30-$50 on
E-bay. |
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Here are the basic
tools you'll need for this job: A 3/8" nut driver, hacksaw, Dremel tool,
Allen wrench and a Phillips screwdriver. |
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Step 01
- This is your old factory 2-speed wiper switch. Simply unplug the
connections. Even though you're done with this, save the old switch as a
backup.
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Step 02
- Find a good place place to mount the governor. The backside
of the steering column brace is the best place. The governor mounting
bracket will have two mounting holes. The screw holding the small black
wiring-harness ground wire in Fig. 2 can be used for one of the
attachment points, and it's even the correct size for threading
perfectly into the governor bracket. (Use the 3/8" nut driver for removing
this.) You can drill another hole in the column brace for the remaining
mounting screw. |
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Step 03
- The only modification necessary to mount the wiper delay switch
is obvious in this shot. The later switch stem is longer and will need
to be trimmed to match the length of the stock piece, about 3/8". Then,
using a Dremel tool, you'll have to flatten off one side of the stem to
allow the '67-'72 knob to be tightened down with a setscrew. |
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Fig. 3
- The '78-'79 switch (left) and a stock '67-'72 switch (right) |
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Step 04
- The differences in the housing castings (where the switch
contacts the backside of the dash panel) can be compensated for by
simply stacking a few large washers (or similar spacer) over the stem
for a combined height of 3/8".
NOTE: I got this pack of washers from O'Reilly's Auto Parts, DorMan
Part# 766-014 1/2". You'll use 3 of these. |
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Step 05
- Install the switch back into the dash and plug into the main
wiring harness. |
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...and a final shot
before reattaching the instrument cluster. You can just see the wiper
governor mounted on the backside of the steering column brace. |
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Once installed, it looks completely stock.
THAT'S IT! YOU'RE DONE! |
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NOTE: As
described above, the '73-'79 wiper delay units are a plug-in swap into
the '67-'72 wiring harness. Everything will work as intended.
However, in 1980 the
wiper delay switch's plugs were slightly re-designed. The '80-'86 units
will still plug into the '67-'72 trucks' wiring harness and all normal
wiper functions will work, but one wire on the delay unit (the power
wire to the washer pump) will need to be moved to supply power to the
washer pump.
When you connect the
main wiring harness to the wiper delay switch's harness, you'll notice
that the lime-colored wire (the washer pump's power wire) coming from
the main harness does not have a corresponding tab in the wiper delay
switch's harness. You'll need to move the black/white wire from the
wiper delay switch harness to the slot that will connect it to the lime
green wire of the truck harness. |
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Jeff Ford from Manic
Mechanic also produced a short intermittent wiper switch
tutorial video on a '72 F100 using an '80s setup.
WATCH IT HERE
on YouTube
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