On Wed, 4 Jan 1995, Andrews Peter F wrote:
> Bridget, my '61 Bugeye, is being reassembled after a complete stripping.
> though... A more careful debug process lead to the realization that the
> windshield wiper motor was wired backwards. (Wires just got hot this
> time - I had the presense of mind to check.)
> I was using the wiring diagram in a reprint of the July 1958 AH Sprite
> Owners Manual. Green wire to terminal one, black w/ green to terminal
> two. Hmmm.
> Better check the newly acquired reprint of the Workshop manual for the
> Sprite Mk 1. Oops. Black w/ green to 1, green to 2. Ahhh. A further
> check in the Bentley Sprite Mk2 manual (my original manual before I found
I assume the green is hot, and the green with black tracer is ground. I
will have to check my car, but I think I followed the Mark I manual. If
so, I've been running that way 3 years. Now, the question is, if the
motor were truly isolated from ground, it should not matter which way it
is connected. If one terminal *is* connected to chassis ground, and you
attach the hot wire to it, your wires should do more than just get warm...
I guess it is conceivable that one terminal is connected to the motor
housing, but that does not short to chassis ground because the wiper motor
is on rubber grommets that isolate it electrically from the foot well, and
the wiper mechanism runs through grommets in the firewall.... Enough
speculation; does someone *know* the answer? You've got me worried; I had
better check and see if the wiper cable and housing are hot before they
accidentally ground to something.
> Next step is the interior - I have the new carpets, trim panels, seat
> covers, seat belts, door check straps... I still have to repolish the
> aluminum cockpit trim rails - any ideas on how best to do this?
>
> Pete Andrews 1959 AH Sprite Mk1 AN5L/18575
> andrews_pf@salem.ge.com 1961 AH Sprite MK1 AN5L/44591
>
The trim rails are supposed to be a satin finish anodyzed aluminum, I
believe. My best ones had some significant scars, and I was not very
interested in trying to find someone in northern Vt to re-anodize the
rails. So I sanded off the anodized finish with fine sandpaper, and
buffed them to a high gloss. Not original, but it looks fine. The
downside is that the cockpit trim turns the cloth black when I polish the
car. I can live with that, though. If preparing for concours, this
isn't the way to go. Get the sprite concours notes from the AHCA.
Ray Gibbons Dept. of Molecular Physiology & Biophysics
Univ. of Vermont College of Medicine, Burlington, VT
gibbons@northpole.med.uvm.edu (802) 656-8910
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