Kevin Atkins Posted June 28, 2023 Report Share Posted June 28, 2023 Hi all, I've had a bit of a browse / search through the forums but couldn't quite find what I was after, at least with recent experiences. Simple question - where might I be able to buy decent quality wiper blades for my GT6? I have tried replacing what was on the car with items from one of the classic suppliers, stainless steel and look nice, but the performance is awful. On the driver's side (ie, the side that really matters..), the blade leaves a 2" unswept area in the middle of the blade. It seems the blade itself isn't able to follow the contour of the windscreen and the unswept bit is in between the inner mount points of the rubber to the stainless carriers. I can't really drive it in the rain like this, so has anyone had similar experiences, and are there any recommended suppliers? I'm thinking of going for modern blades otherwise - wipe performance trumps aesthetics in this instance.. Thanks in advance! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnD Posted June 28, 2023 Report Share Posted June 28, 2023 The blade needs to be forced against the windscreen to be effective. Have you examined your wiper arms and the springs that do this? Also, the wiper needs to be at an optimal angle, which means that the backing must be held firmly by the arm end, where wear may deteriorate that function. Again check the arms. John Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kevin Atkins Posted June 28, 2023 Author Report Share Posted June 28, 2023 Hi @JohnD - thanks for your reply. Sorry, should have mentioned, the wiper arms have also been replaced. I thought the lack of spring pressure might have been the issue but there's no difference with the new wiper arms, and the arm to spindle fitting seems fine too, no play. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sulzerman Posted June 29, 2023 Report Share Posted June 29, 2023 I believe Bosch wipers are good. They will be black which is a down side, but useless blades are no good! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dougbgt6 Posted June 29, 2023 Report Share Posted June 29, 2023 (edited) Kevin, You may also have wear in the spiral gear that drives the wipers. Pete Lewis showed me a trick with this, the gear only wears on one side so turn it upside down to the unworn side. The arms will then travel further and take up the gap. I got new stainless arms from the Club Shop, rubbers were fine, but they have a non-stainless rivet right in the middle. The orange dot tells me it's time to clean. Doug Edited June 29, 2023 by dougbgt6 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Josef Posted June 29, 2023 Report Share Posted June 29, 2023 Bit daft, but this caught me out. There are wiper blades available that look right, but the attachment for the arm is larger resulting in enough play to make them useless. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
68vitesse Posted June 29, 2023 Report Share Posted June 29, 2023 Bought stainless blades for my Vitesse at a show, the metal holder was ok but the rubber blade was poorly made, bough some Halford refills and with a bit of fiddling fitted and work fine. Regards Paul Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Iain T Posted June 29, 2023 Report Share Posted June 29, 2023 Haven't used them but I believe Tex wipers are good. They have the correct crank and instead of out 5.2mm wide blade they have a wider (7mm?) alternative. My arms have very little pressure and the blades don't really wipe correctly. It one of the things on my must do list. Iain Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nigel Clark Posted June 29, 2023 Report Share Posted June 29, 2023 I have exactly the same problem Kevin describes with the driver's side wiper not contacting the screen properly on my GT6. The passenger side wiper sweeps across a flatter area of the screen and wipes okay. It seems the problem is that many currently available wipers lack the flexibility to accommodate the screen curvature in the driver's side. If anyone knows of a wiper and blade combination that works well on a GT6, I would love to hear. Nigel Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dougbgt6 Posted June 29, 2023 Report Share Posted June 29, 2023 (edited) Maybe I didn't say it right. if you take the slack out the mechanism you will get increased travel and your unwiped area will be wiped. Worked for me. Doug Edited June 29, 2023 by dougbgt6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nigel Clark Posted June 29, 2023 Report Share Posted June 29, 2023 1 minute ago, dougbgt6 said: Maybe I didn't say it right. if you take the slack out the mechanism you will get increased travel and your unwiped area will be wiped. Doug The sweep of the wipers is fine Doug. The problem is that the centre of the driver's side wiper contacts the screen poorly, leaving an arc across the driver's eye line that isn't cleared effectively. Nigel 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gully Posted June 29, 2023 Report Share Posted June 29, 2023 The original wipers / blades were 'Curved Screen Blades' by Trico. When I found the current Tex ones completely useless, I found some NOS Tricos on eBay - totally transformed the experience of driving in the rain! As you can see from the picture below, the hinging of the blade is designed for a curved screen profile, so tracks properly - curves in the opposite direction to all the ones I've found available now. Replacing the rubbers on occasions is not an issue when you have the right metalwork! Gully 1 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mark powell Posted June 29, 2023 Report Share Posted June 29, 2023 I also trawl ebay for Trico blades and refills. I've recently used my last refills, so must start searching again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blakes73 Posted June 30, 2023 Report Share Posted June 30, 2023 On 29/06/2023 at 07:30, dougbgt6 said: Kevin, You may also have wear in the spiral gear that drives the wipers. Pete Lewis showed me a trick with this, the gear only wears on one side so turn it upside down to the unworn side. The arms will then travel further and take up the gap. I got new stainless arms from the Club Shop, rubbers were fine, but they have a non-stainless rivet right in the middle. The orange dot tells me it's time to clean. Doug What a simple but fantastic fix. 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kevin Atkins Posted July 2, 2023 Author Report Share Posted July 2, 2023 Thanks for all the replies everyone - the spiral gear wear fix is useful to know, although for now the wiper gearbox side of things seems to be OK; it's the poor wipe performance, and it looks like Nigel is having the same issue. I have ordered a set of NOS Trico 'Curved Screen Blades' on Gully's recommendation and will let you know how they perform - with this week's weather forecast it looks like it won't be too long before I get an opportunity to try them out! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kevin Atkins Posted July 8, 2023 Author Report Share Posted July 8, 2023 @Nigel Clark @Gully - pleased to report that the Trico B6 curved screen wiper blades work perfectly, new old stock bought from eBay. Battle tested in today's heavy showers.. finally I can feel confident driving in the rain. Thanks for the tips, this will make the car much easier to live with - the new stuff being sold by the various parts suppliers is useless.. it looks nice but is unfit for purpose in my opinion. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colin Lindsay Posted July 9, 2023 Report Share Posted July 9, 2023 14 hours ago, Kevin Atkins said: The new stuff being sold by the various parts suppliers is useless.. it looks nice but is unfit for purpose in my opinion. Sometimes you wonder if it's lack of effort, or lack of interest, or just a case of 'well, it's better than nothing...' Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul H Posted July 9, 2023 Report Share Posted July 9, 2023 7 minutes ago, Colin Lindsay said: Sometimes you wonder if it's lack of effort, or lack of interest, or just a case of 'well, it's better than nothing...' Is there a Trico model for the Herald/Vitesse or will B6 fit ? Paul Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kevin Atkins Posted July 9, 2023 Author Report Share Posted July 9, 2023 10 hours ago, Colin Lindsay said: Sometimes you wonder if it's lack of effort, or lack of interest, or just a case of 'well, it's better than nothing...' Yeah, possibly a combination of all three - guess if the stock continues to sell there's no incentive to do better, and they're pretty much the only items available new from what I can tell.. I suppose if they're going on lovely old cars that only come out in fair weather they're better than nothing but mine is / will be used in all weathers. I semi-deliberately chose a less than perfect car (it's turned out considerably less perfect than I was intending tbh!!), felt it would have been wrong to buy a minter and then have it deteriorate in everyday use, no garage, etc.. 10 hours ago, Paul H said: Is there a Trico model for the Herald/Vitesse or will B6 fit ? Paul The back of the packaging states they're a fit for 'GT6 Mk 2 69 - 71'.. so not sure about Heralds. Mine's a Mk 3 GT6 but they went on fine, and I think the Mk 3's had even more curvaceous windscreens than the earlier ones? They're a 12" blade. Might still be worth a punt though - seem better made than the new stuff too. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stratton Jimmer Posted July 10, 2023 Report Share Posted July 10, 2023 On 29/06/2023 at 09:37, Iain T said: Haven't used them but I believe Tex wipers are good. Yes they are good. I have them on my Mk3 GT6 and they work very well. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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