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Wiper tower for 37 series 60

Started by tmdeturck, December 14, 2021, 07:47:17 AM

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tmdeturck

Hi All, my 1937 series 60 came from the previous owner with a set of wiper towers, but no wiper arms or blades.  In reading about what styles were used back then, it seems that the factory wiper arm would have been one that pressed on, and was held with a decorative nut to the wiper tower post.

Attached is a picture of the wiper tower.  I do not see where a decorative nut would go, these appear to be press-on style wiper posts. Are these the right wiper towers for a series 60?  I'd like to find out before I go locating and ordering arms and the decorative nuts.  These towers need work already, so I'd like to find out if it's worth chasing down this path.

I see places like caddy daddy and chevys of the 40s sell repro parts that might work, but I wanted to get a better idea of what I should be looking for.  Thanks!
Terry

1963 Series 6229
1937 Series 6019

Tom Boehm

#1
Hello Terry, I did not know the answer so I looked it up in the parts book. The part number for the wiper transmission (tower) for 1937 series 50 Lasalle and 1937 series 60 Cadillac is 407 4296 for the left side and 407 4295 for the right side. There should be a part number on the back of your parts or on the attached arm. Also the book says all Cadillacs and Lasalles from 1933 through 1940 used a nut to hold the wiper arm on the post of the transmission (tower).
This is just a hunch but could the ribbed cylindrical piece on your towers be an adapter to enable the use of "nutless" press on wiper arms ? Did you try to remove that part? I looks like there is a screwdriver slot in the top.

tmdeturck

Hi Tom, the nutless adapter certainly is a possibility. I had no idea those adapters were made.  Now that I look closer, each wiper tower has a different ribbed cylinder or adapter on it...  I took both the wiper towers apart, and there is indeed a threaded rod inside, which seems to accept a 10/32" nut.  Is that the thread of the original wiper nuts?  I've attached a pic of the two different "adapters".

The tower itself does not show the cadillac part numbers, only patent numbers 1553621, 1964400 on both. One is marked BR and the other BL.  The linkage arm is stamped with a Trico stamping.

These are pretty pitted and someone painted right over them in the past, and one was cracked and JB Welded back together.  I tried to find a set at Hershey in the fall but was unsuccessful.  It seems visually the 37 style wiper tower was different in appearance than later cadillacs or the chevy versions, so I'm somewhat reluctant to switch to something else, but if these can't be saved I might be forced to.
Thanks!

1963 Series 6229
1937 Series 6019

Tom Boehm

Hello Terry, yes the nuts that hold the wiper arms on the shaft are 10-32 thread. Notice the tapered part of the shaft with grooves. The hole in the end of the wiper arms have the matching taper in them with grooves. The nut is similar to an acorn nut.

All of these towers from GM in the late 1930's look the same. The difference is in the base because they conform to the shape of the cowl in front of the windshield. The body shell GM used for the 1937 Cadillac Series 60 was also used for the 1937 Lasalle. There is a good chance that same body shell was used on certain models of Buick, Oldsmobile, and Pontiac. Not Chevy. What I am leading up to is those models would use the same wiper transmissions/towers as the 37 Cadillac series 60. You could enlarge your search to 3 other car clubs and increase your chances of finding some good ones. ANY OF YOU GUYS OUT THERE WITH '37 CAD/LAS KNOW WHAT OTHER GM CARS USED THAT BODY SHELL?

Terry do these towers/transmissions fit in the cowl hole and match the contour on your car? Are the arms the right length to match up to the wiper motor? If yes then they are correct for your car.

As you probably have figured out already, finding ones with good chrome is not easy. I have heard of these being rechromed but it is really difficult to get good results. I think it is very difficult to find someone to do a good job replating any piece of pitted pot metal. These wiper transmissions are more difficult because if new chrome gets inside the tolerances will be thrown off and the mechanism will not fit back in or work right.