Wipers Killed My Festiva.....Recommendations Requested

[jglutz]

Left work about 5:30 this evening during a typical wintery mix.
The driver's side wiper sstarted mis-behaving shortly into the trip....swinging off the window....going below the windshield trim.
Drove most of the way home flashing the wipers...got progressively worse
Pulled into the garage and immediately pulled the arms to find this.







My heart fell to the floor. I had no appetite for dinner. This is possibly one of the worst part failures I've ever experienced...and to my beloved Skate. 30 plus years of working on cars....this one is going to take some skill. Any and all suggestions are appreciated!

Thanks, Joe

[littlecar]

If you have access to and can weld a plate to it and re-bolt it. And that does stink, I have only seen that once before, and it wasn't easy or fun to fix.

[XFi]

Sorry to see that Joe.
Short of welding in a piece or another cowl/wiper mount area, it will require some definate 'McGyvering'.

[25Horseplay]

I had that happen on my first Festiva. I was able to make a plate that fit over the bad area and used JB weld and the nut to hold it all in place. Held up for as long as I had the car!

[SimonTuffGuy]

Ouch! Good luck on the fix Joe. Seems like welding a plate will be the easiest way to fix.

[milehighbear]

i go along with Brian, im a fan of JB Weld. And you can sand it down to whatever form you need. When i punched the hole in my tranny, i took piece of aluminum and JB Weld and its been holding for a year now. You may be able to take a fender washer and enlarge the middle hole and fit it to work.

[freshtiva]

mmm, not good but Im sure something can be done. Thats not a real accessible area and no parts to remove to make it more accessible. Cant believe that metal fatigue . Which side is that on. Maybe you could go with the mono wiper. I thinking like XFi. Cut out the bad section and weld in a new piece. I could probably get you a section with the wiper mount on it if needed.

[ejp2fast]

ouch! i don't know if JB weld would hold that... if it did that to the attached metal, that JB weld I wouldn't think would hold.. but then again, may be worth a shot as the nature of this break... good luck.

[SIBladerunner]

I've seen just a large single wiper in the middle work very well. Just get one from the store and place it on the passenger wiper in the dead center of the windshield and it should move to both sides. Give it a try it might look pretty cool like lambos use to have.

[Pu241]

Yeah, seen that before.
A friend on mine did a number of those.
He cut the replacement piece from a otherwise totaled festy and proceeded to, I believe, TIG weld it in place.
Weld some let cool, weld some, let cool.
All through the original wiper port.
Took quit a while and was difficult to access, but repair was solid.
I'm still not sure why they fatigue in that way, unless its because the metal is so thin.

[jglutz]

Thanks for the advice....I'll get to it this weekend...mean while I'm in the 'Loser Cruiser'...'87 Chevy Cavalier

[freshtiva]

Thanks for the advice....I'll get to it this weekend...mean while I'm in the 'Loser Cruiser'...'87 Chevy Cavalier

Part of the beat fleet ?

[jglutz]

The Beat Fleet:
1987 Chevrolet Cavailier, RS, 2.0L (Cadilac Cimaron without the Badge); 142K
1989 Plymoth Colt Vista, 5 door, AWD, 2.2L Mitsubishi; 238K
1992 Ford Festiva L; 156K
1996 Ford Escort LX; 1.9L; 142K

[25Horseplay]

ouch! i don't know if JB weld would hold that... if it did that to the attached metal, that JB weld I wouldn't think would hold.. but then again, may be worth a shot as the nature of this break... good luck.

Held on my old car for 3 years!!

[WmWatt]

I went right out and put some oil on mine.
Looks like once the fender is removed there should be good access to the support.
Removing the fender is easy in the abscence of rusted bolts.