Friday, February 25, 2011

Finally a clean windshield!

Today I set out to install a 12 volt windshield washer system that I bought about 3 or 4 months ago. It is a universal one but should work good for the bug.                                                                                     
 Here is the reservoir. It's kinda small but so is the windshield and the trunk where it's going to get mounted.
 I had to remove the air inlet to get to the original washer outlet . I hooked up the hose to that and ran it over to where I was going to put the new one.
 This looked like a good place to install the reservoir. I hooked it onto the brake fluid reservoir. This way I didn't have to drill any holes for the mounting bracket.
 Here is where I installed the new switch. I hate to drill into the metal firewall but it is a small switch that isn't seen much. This will run the 12 volt pump for the fluid.
 I soldered on the wires to the back of the switch that will run the pump.
 Here the switch is installed and wired up. It fit nicely there and is out of the way of everything else.
 I filled up the tank and tested it to make sure it was going to work. I was able to wire it in nicely so you can't even tell it is added. I hate hack wiring jobs. That is one reason I love this bug so much. There was very little added or taken away from the original wiring. I have seen some really horrible wiring jobs in the past.
Here is the result. It will be nice to be able to clean the windshield when it gets dirty. The original system in a bug is actually pretty cool but there aren't many out there that still work. They are not electric, they run off the air pressure from the spare tire which is located in the trunk. I think they worked pretty good when they were new but they tend to leak all over your wiring and back of your radio when they get older. That is why I opted to get a 12 volt one. It is more reliable and is an easy install. Tomorrow, I need to tune up the engine and maybe I will get around to installing the pop out windows I have had for awhile. It's looking a little busy so I may not get to much done. We will see.

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