The trip to the boneyard to scrounge other things for the truck netted me an external transmission cooler from an 86 Ramcharger. While I was pulling that I noticed that the bottle looked like it would fit where I’m assuming the original washer bottle was on the 70, so I grabbed it.
Mounting it was pretty simple; I had to cut a slot for the bottom mount in the lower part of the inner fender with a cutoff wheel on a Dremel tool, as the bottle has a tab on the bottom that fits in a slot. I suppose a screw could be used to mount the tab, but on my truck with a 383 the exhaust manifold is right about where one would need to have the drill to make the hole.
The top is a bit more straightforward, one screw will go directly into the inner fender, one is a bit off but a piece of sheet metal for a bracket made it secure. The hose from the Ramcharger was the right length to reach from the washer pump to the T on the 70. The stock wiring routing will not have to be changed, as there is room behind the washer bottle for it to remain where it was.
Wiring it up took me a bit of thought, as I didn’t want to put any more holes in my dash, which somehow has managed to survive through the years and previous owners in fairly good shape. My original plan was to use a starter button inside the original foot pump, but that looked like a fair amount of modification, so I went on to another project so I could give the idea some more thought.
The next problem just happened to be the wipers, which turned out to be a bad switch. I didn’t have an exact replacement for the switch, but digging in the spare parts I found an extra switch for my 75 Duster. It fit the hole in the dash like it was made for it, but the plastic connector was the wrong shape and the shaft was too big for the knob.
The first problem was solved by swapping the plastic connector with one from a spare wiring harness I have. To remove the terminals from the connector you push the lock in with a dental pick and slide it out the back. The switches are marked with letter codes near the terminals, comparing the two switches while you’re doing this will help you get the right wire in the right spot.
The shaft was fixed by filing it down so that the original knob would fit on it. I removed the circlip from the shaft and held it with needle nose vise grips while filing on it so as not to place undue stress on any of the switch internals. Test fitting often while doing this will help avoid filing too much so the knob will fit right, and don’t forget to reinstall the circlip.
The 75 Duster wiper switch activates the washer by pushing the switch, and the wire for the washer pump runs from the W terminal on the back of the switch. Digging through the spare wiring harness I found a piece of wire about the right length with the correct terminal for the wiper switch on one end and the bulkhead connector on the other. I plugged that wire into the connector on the back of the wiper switch, and to unused slot 15 on the bulkhead connector.
On the engine side, another terminal with a short piece of wire from the spare harness was plugged into the corresponding slot. You don’t have to unplug the bulkhead connector to do this, just make sure it’s clean before you push the terminals in. Then the wire was connected to the supply wire for the washer pump wire and soldered and sealed with shrink tube so it will stay forever. A ¼” ring terminal was soldered on the ground wire and installed under one of the mounting screws.
The installation almost looks like it could have come from the factory, and it’s not too far from incorrect for the period if one doesn’t look to close at the capacity of the bottle which is marked in liters.
-Trailmaster
November 2009
