• Hi Guest!
    You can help ensure that British Car Forum (BCF) continues to provide a great place to engage in the British car hobby! If you find BCF a beneficial community, please consider supporting our efforts with a subscription.
    There are some perks with a member upgrade!
    **Upgrade Now**
    (PS: Subscribers don't see this gawd-aweful banner
Tips
Tips

Windscreen Wiper Direction

Share this page

On the cover of the "Original MGB" is a LHD '64 MGB with wipers parked to the right...

....but I did just find a photo of the 250,000th MGB, a LHD GT, coming off the assembly line in 1971 with its wipers parked to the left (so I have to retract my statement about "ALL" GT's).

...but, then, "The Original MGB" has photos of '71, '72,' & '73 LHD cars with wipers parked to the right.

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Quote:]There may be a change in the line between early and later model cars leading to this confusion. [/QUOTE]

Breathes deeply....Steve, if it was - & anything is possible where Abingdon is concerned, it happened around the '64 model year....real early cars had the tiny single wiper blades but somewhere around '64/65, they made changes to the blades themselves.
 
<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Quote:]On the cover of the "Original MGB" is a LHD '64 MGB with wipers parked to the right...

....but I did just find a photo of the 250,000th MGB, a LHD GT, coming off the assembly line in 1971 with its wipers parked to the left (so I have to retract my statement about "ALL" GT's).

...but, then, "The Original MGB" has photos of '71, '72,' & '73 LHD cars with wipers parked to the right.[/QUOTE]
I don't doubt that, but in the last 10 minutes I have also found numerous photos of cars with wipers parked on both sides. Later cars seem to all be right. Earlier cars seem to park based on RHD and LHD.

This would support the factory book which lists different arms for RHD and LHD cars in 1962-1964.

Additionally, my '65 MGB has been in the family since new and the arms park to the driver's (left) side.

The cars in Original MGB are not original. They have all been restored, some many times over, and numerous non-original aspects are pointed out by the author. Anyone restoring a basket case early B who doesn't know how the wipers work would simply copy whatever MGB was available to check. This doesn't make it correct. For absolute correct originality, you have to consult factory publications.

You now admit that GTs came both ways, why is it so hard to believe that early roadsters also came both ways?

Edit: I'm really not trying to pick a fight here. I'm only stating hard facts!
 
<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Quote:]You now admit that GTs came both ways, why is it so hard to believe that early roadsters also came both ways? [/QUOTE]

The only GT I've found that's different is the one coming off the assembly line - so I've gotta agree at least it had them parked to the left.

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Quote:]The cars in Original MGB are not original.[/QUOTE]

Some are original, though I agree most are restored.

I need to look at the wiper system on my early '63 roadster to see what's what (the wipers are off - its the car I'm converting to RHD)...but it is possible the real early cars up to '63 or so could've been handed.

Every photo of an original push handle car I've found are parked to the right...I've also found several pre-production photos of original MGB's with wipers parking both ways & some '62 & '63 original MGB's with them parked both ways - but only the 1 GT photo...

...this is getting interesting. I'll be up all night searching out photos of original cars.

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Quote:]Edit: I'm really not trying to pick a fight here. I'm only stating hard facts![/QUOTE]

Ditto here! & always trying to learn something new about these little buggers!
 
If there was a change, it would be after 1964. My '65 was manufactured in late November 1964 and it's wipers park to the driver's (left) side.

MGA also differed by RHD and LHD. Perhaps this (proper) tradition continued into MGB production as did many parts (banjo axles, felt steering column bushes, etc, etc) until the penny pinchers got involved. At that point there may have been a change to a universal arm and motor configuration to save a few bucks. This would not be unheard of in the BMC or BL empire by any means.
 
Just found an early photo of the windshield of a '66 LHD MGB with the wiper coverage area marked - it is visibly smaller on the left & the accompanying article talks about the American Motor Vehicle & Road Traffic Act of 1966 (thank Ralph Nader for that one) & MG's attempts to meet its requirements. The article says American car manufacturers & foreign car distributors took the administration to court over the act & were given until Jan 1, 1968 to comply...one of the compliance features was triple wipers on North American MGB's so they would meet the wiped area requirements.

There was also a requirement that eared knock-off's had to be eliminated!
 
Eared knockoffs were banned in the USA and UK. Wing (fender) mirrors were also banned in the US for the same reason... pedestrian safety. /bcforum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/rolleyes.gif

NEWS FLASH:

A man was brutally knocked to the ground by the wing mirror on a passing MGB. He was then chopped into bits by the car's eared knockoffs. /bcforum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/computer.gif
 
Just found that '65/'66 GT's had a different wiper motor than roadsters but from December '67 the GT & roadster shared the same wiper motor....& I can't find but that 1 GT photo of an original car after that period with wipers parking to the left.

So, Steve, I may have to eat my words...looks like some of the early, early cars (up to the '65 model year) went either way - but not all of them!
 
He he...I love this....

Where else could we talk at length about the specific configuration of a non effective system.

I love my screwed up British car. /bcforum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/grin.gif
 
I told my wife that there was a big hoo-hah going on in the MG forum. I then tried to explain what it was about. I don't think she thought I was serious .... /bcforum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/thumbsup.gif
 
jjbunn said:
I told my wife that there was a big hoo-hah going on in the MG forum. I then tried to explain what it was about. I don't think she thought I was serious .... /bcforum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/thumbsup.gif
Click to expand...
ROFLMAO!!!!
 
Never seen a 3 wiper car with the wipers parked to the left.

*shrug* that's all I can add /bcforum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/smile.gif
 
I ~HATE~ when this happens!! I go away and do stuff all evenin' instead of bein' here, and you guys are havin' all th' fun.

WhatsThatNoise said:
He he...I love this....

Where else could we talk at length about the specific configuration of a non effective system.

I love my screwed up British car. \:G
Click to expand...

/bcforum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/laugh.gif

Meetoo, Dave!
 
Hey folks! I didn't mean to open a can of worms here. But, I've looked at hundreds of pictures of MGBs and the wiper thing was really starting to bug me. Now I am not alone! But, I think my car is, at least, correct; if backwards from every other LHD car I've ever owned.
 
Don't worry, LHD '64 is correct to park on the left side of the glass.

Even if it wasn't correct, you would still get better visibility this way.

If you want to be positive about the "correctness", remove an arm and try to mount it the other way. The blade will never sit flat.
 
After reading all these posts I still have one question...

Are we all talking driver's left, or left from the front?

(And before some funny guy says near side..... /bcforum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/nonono.gif)
 
But driver's side on a LHD is left, near side or driver's left .
And drivers side on a RHD is right, near side or driver's right. (or the left side when looking from the front)

However driver's left is always left (RHD OR LHD)and never confused with the perspective of someone looking from the front.

Now do this thread all over again /bcforum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/grin.gif
 
No do-overs! LOL! All references to left and right have been from the driver's perspective. NOT from the mechanic's perspective.
 
Well, all this talk about wiper blade direction - I had to get up out of the comfort of my little computer alcove, got outside into the driveway, and check the direction of the windshield wipers on the '64 B, #25066, because I couldn't for the life of me remember which way they were pointing, despite the fact we've been out there working on the car off and on the last couple of weeks.

The wipers are pointing to the passenger side of the car, BUT they sit at a funny angle across the chrome trim onto the glass, and are etching a line into the glass on the far side of their travel, which probably means somebody did something wrong at some point in time, so I guess this post doesn't contribute a thing to solving the mystery!

Sharon
 
<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Quote:]No do-overs! LOL! All references to left and right have been from the driver's perspective. NOT from the mechanic's perspective. [/QUOTE]

Amen, brudda!
 
Back
Top