So did you do it or not?

 

More questions, what's the intercooler and where is it at and why are some using their washing fluid to cool it?

 

You don't have one because you don't have a supercharger. The sprayer cools the aftercooler that will keep the compressed air of the supercharger cool, which means more power. I swear my Mini has 25wheel hp more in the morning compared to the afternoon. The "S" Mini love cold weather.
But you could still have a clean rear glass with no wiper.
Mario

 

Cool, thanks. My rear window rarely gets dirty and it takes all of 5 seconds to wipe down. Plus, I never use the darn thing when it's raining anyway. Mine's going away very soon, it just looks so much cleaner without it.

 

Yes it does look a lot cleaner. Thats why I have decided to do it as well.

 

Shave it!

 

Do I have to take off the whole engine with it??

 

Yes ... you do need to remove the Wiper Motor (3 x 10mm bolts for the motor)

So by that info

YES I did it

Maybe we need a CLUB "NRW CLUB"

 

I just finished cleaning my car and my wiper blade is gone! Woot! I love the clean look , thank you everyone for your help!!

 

And yes, we should start a club, I don't have photoshop, someone needs to make a logo..

 

 

The wiper blade and motor are gone on mine right now, but I couldn;t make it to the hardware store before they closed. Tomorrow I will finish the job, wash the car and post some pics.

 

My MCS is the first car I've owned with a rear wiper. I think it's a handy thing to have...that glass gets nasty quick! That said, it DOES kinda clean up the appearance of the rear. Too bad there's not a wiperless model from the factory so you could get a piece of glass without the hole in it.

Rawhyde

 

I think it looks fine with the plug method... The one with the decall over the hole loked really nice. Too bad I don;t do decals on my car...

 

I did the plug and like the Union Jack better.

 

I finally did it and im happy with the result. The boot feels so much lighter.

 

I haven't gotten around to it yet, but I have a JCW center cap that I am going to try out instead of the plug. I'll post pix when I get around to doing it.

 

Sign me up for the NRW Club. Pull it, plug it, sticker it!

 

Here we go.

 

any pics of the acutall plug.. and how do you remove and motor and where is the motor located.. and how did you guys reroute the hose to spray into the IC

 

I went a different route on the plug or the reroute as I didn't do that yet, so I can't help you there astromini but the motor is no problem;

For my 02, the newer models have redesigned the sprayer.

1. On the outside of the car - lift the plastic elbow piece covering the pivot part of the rear wiper blade. Make sure to look for the rubber "o-ring/seal" where the trim piece snaps to the wiper shaft.
2. Remove the 13mm nut and work/rock the blade arm while pulling up to remove the blade.

On the inside of the car -
1. Remove the phillips head screws holding the rear panel on (6, I think).
2. Gently pull down the trim panel, start at an edge and work your way around.
3. Check to make sure all the metal clips stayed with the trim panel, if not reach behind them on the hatch and pop them out of their metal holes, reinstall them on the panel. Note the 3 in the middle of the panel - you'll want to make sure these get snapped in when installing to avoid a rattle.
4. Remove the fluid line, down stream of the oneway check valve, the electrical connector and the 3 bolts hold the motor on.
5. I chose to drain the fluid by using the pump to spray it empty.
6. Pop the factory rubber seal out of the shaft hole.

For my plug I wanted to get a rubber sheetmetal bulkhead plug, like these where they would pop in and seal against the glass by pinching the glass in a slot. Well what I ended up doing was getting a rubber grommet and a plastic hole plug and fitted them together;

Here are a few shots of the install:

I applied a bead of silicon in the groove of the grommet to help with the sealing. The grommet is a Hillman's 1 - 1/8 OD by 23/32 ID by 5/16" thick (Lowes item number: 139378 and plug is also a Hillman's from Lowes it's the 7/8" item number 139481. I also applied a bead of silicon on the under side of the plug. The grommet is a little loose, until you force the plug into it. The plug forces the grommet out and over the edges of the glass to better seal the opening.



Installed:



Inside view: Use a little spit on your finger to help spread the silicon, without it sticking to you and lifting off of the glass




Wires and hose secured: I wrapped a vw bug cooling tin stainless screw (doesn't everyone have one of those) with teflon tape and plugged the hole, then a ziptie to make sure it doesn't go anywhere. Note that the hose will be with the opening up when the hatch is closed.




Some cheapman's Dynamat (sticky backed rubber with alum roof valley repair material, brand Peal & Seal, $13 for 25' x 6" at Lowes):




Outside View: Love the look and leaves more room for decals




I haven't looked yet but I'm sure there is a fitting on the passenger side engine compartment where you can disconnect the hose to the rear and install another to the IC.

Let me know if you have any questions

 

This has been on my list for a while actually, for aesthetic, and weight-loss purposes. Can someone please share the weight of what was removed? I would really appreciate it.

I already lost the rear wiper (and head lamp) storage tank a year or so ago, and that was worth nearly 10 pounds (full). Thanks much.

 

On the bathroom scale, it's 4 lbs max at best.

 

If i had to guess, id say the wiper motor weighs almost 10 lbs. it seemed like it was kinda overkill for a rear wiper...

edit,,, whats your build smokey? my wiper motor was a friggin beast.

 

July 02, it's hefty but not that bad.