Wiper Positioning

Mia911 · Mia911's Garage

guys i have relized in some pics of other member porsches i see some wipers are tilt to the right and some to the left...does that determine whether the car was LHD or RHD?

masraum · 03-25-2009, 05:04 PM

I think they started putting all of the cars on the left in the 70's. Before that I think they might be on either side depending upon right/left hand drive, but I can't remember for sure.

It's easy to swap them to the right side. I did on mine and would recommend it. I believe there's an article on Pelican parts or possibly in Waynes book 100 Projects.

ossiblue · 03-25-2009, 05:06 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mia911

guys i have relized in some pics of other member porsches i see some wipers are tilt to the right and some to the left...does that determine whether the car was LHD or RHD?

Not necessarily. Early cars had them on the right, post 68 on the left, and later cars (not sure the year) back to the right. Also, many owners change the left hand park position over to the right so the view is not obstructed and the wipe of water does not shoot over in front of the driver, as it does when they park left.

Oh Haha · 05:11 PM

Not necessarily.

You can pretty easily "park" them on the passenger's side of the windshield by changing the position of the wiper arms.

Here's a thread that discussses the project.

Duh;
Wiper Reversal Project Failure

Mia911 · Mia911's Garage

Thanks for clearing thats up guys....

S2GART · S2GART's Garage

Is there a particular reason why they did place them on the left. My 83 has them parked on the left. Also, both my '87 Benz and my daughters 92 Benz, with a single wiper system, both have their respective wiper blades parked on the left as well. I used to have a MB 380 SL, that also parked it's blades on the left. So there has to be a deliberate reason to set these different cars up that way.

m110 · 03-25-2009, 06:19 PM

It was thought by Porsche that visibility was better. The wiper parked on the driver side was considered to be peripheral to your normal line of vision while driving. When you looked to the right, if they were parked there, a greater proportion of your vision was occupied by the wipers.
Seems like a weak argument but that's what the word from the factory was. I don't believe it was a TUV thing at the time but I don't really know.

Wyvern · Wyvern's Garage

I just did the reversal ...

Just over 2 hours ...

the finishing touch is to bend the arms so that the wipers are flat ( horizontal ) and fitted ...

tomphot · 03-26-2009, 03:41 AM

I was thinking of switching mine as there is a streak of water left in the drivers view made by the right wiper. In the other thread linked above...
john_cramer said >>So I have a 1966 911, and the wipers park on the starboard (passenger) side. When you wipe the windshield, when they return to park over there, there's always a bunch of slush and water and wiper juice on the drivers side. Realizing this, Porsche switched the parking position over on the LWB cars and the rest is history. I can't imagine why you would want to switch them to the other side.<<

What experience have others had?

ossiblue · 03-26-2009, 06:26 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tomphot

I was thinking of switching mine as there is a streak of water left in the drivers view made by the right wiper. In the other thread linked above...
john_cramer said >>So I have a 1966 911, and the wipers park on the starboard (passenger) side. When you wipe the windshield, when they return to park over there, there's always a bunch of slush and water and wiper juice on the drivers side. Realizing this, Porsche switched the parking position over on the LWB cars and the rest is history. I can't imagine why you would want to switch them to the other side.<<

What experience have others had?

My experience has been as you describe, with a streak of water left in front of the driver by the right side blade. However, I also experienced what John describes in my Toyota which parks on the right, but only when the driver side blade is old and ineffective. I think this comes down to which PITA you choose to live with--a streak of water in front of your eyes, slung from the tip of the right hand blade, or some streaks and grunge left behind from a worn blade as it moves to its park position. Best solution is to not drive in the rain anyway!