Bob's Studebaker Resource Website


Studebaker Replacement Wiper Motor (Subaru) Nov 2012


SDC Forum Thread

5brown1 Fort Pierre, SD, .

Windshield motor replacement w/ Subaru

I just completed the installation of a 96 Subaru Legacy wiper motor in the Speedster. Got the tip from Ben Wenberg.
I was able to do some minor modification of the original Studebaker mounting bracket to make it fit. I also cut off the end of the drive arm on the transmission and replaced it with the Subaru piece which I had cut off.
I was able to use the original wiper switch but found that I couldn't get the wipers to park. I found the solution was to install a momentary switch. After turning the wipers off just push the momentary switch and they park.
This is really an easy modification. I spend most of my time trying to figure how to get the park to work.
Total cost $18 for motor

....Some new pictures which I hope will better show the modification to the mounting bracket. First, yes the car is 12 volt. I don't know how the speed compares to the original. My guess that it is faster and it is two speed but does not have the intermittent feature.
The 94 - 96 Subaru wiper motors used two different mounting brackets. I used the one with the stamped steel bracket as it was removable. The 3 bolt mounting pattern was larger than the Studebaker so I needed to modify the bracket. I did that by slicing the bent over area beside each of the two upper mounting holes. I then straightened those areas so they were flush with the original mounting area. I did do some welding to fill voids and the original holes where needed. I then cut up the Subaru bracket so I could use it to drill the new holes. As you can see in one side view photograph my new hole is just below the original lowest hole. The top view picture shows how the bent areas were formed into flat surfaces for the new holes. I also used (after trimming) the original Subaru seal for the shaft as well as the Studebaker seal on the other side of the bracket. I am not able to photograph it now but I cut the arm that mounted on the Subaru shaft and used to replace the end of the Studebaker drive arm so it would fit without any slop. This motor puts the placement of the wiper transmission in almost the identical position as it was originally. The wiring was actually simple( after I spent a few hours). There are 3 wires for the motor - High, Low and Ground. There are four other wires which go into the gear housing. Those are used to Park. Two of them are black ground wires and are already connected to the ground wire from the motor. The other two control the parking.
From the switch there are bullet connectors for High, Low and Off and Power. There is also another connector which remains Hot at all times and is used to park the wipers. That Hot wire usually joins the Low speed wire on the motor ( in addition to the Low wire from the switch). What I had to do was run that constant Hot wire to a green (in my case) wire going to the gear box. The other wire ( blue, in my case) then goes to my momentary switch and continues on to the low speed wire on the motor. So you will have two wires going to the Low speed on the motor. Then after turning the wipers off just hit the switch and the wipers will park. I am going to use a momentary switch just so I don't have to remember to turn it off after parking the wipers. If you don't turn it off, the next time you turn them on the wipers will just hesitate when the park area of the gears meets the contacts but probably not damage anything. So if you are young enough to remember stuff you could just use a toggle switch. I am not giving wire colors as in my searching I found that there are obviously several different setups. So yours may be different than mine. Use a multimeter and a battery or battery charger to figure them out.
One more thing, be sure to orient your bracket as the holes are not evenly spaced. It might be obvious but thought I better mention it.
Good luck.