Wiper blades (refills)

[russelljones48]

My car has what appear to be the original chrome wiper arms.  I've now tried several different blades/refills because I don't want to replace the chrome arms.  The rubber blades are 12" X 3/8" (305MM X 9.5MM).  They are slightly wider blades than what is on the market now.  Does anyone know of a source for the proper rubber refills?

[specracer]

The ONLY place I have been able to find refills is at Amazon, no "brick and mortar" seem to. There are "snap to fit" options and there are specific lengths. Pay attention to the groove width. One time I was buying for a 66 Bronco (original arms), I was in doubt (or maybe confused by all the options) I think I bought 4 sets to be sure to get at least one right. Ironic that I cared, as its a topless "roadster", and has non functioning vacuum motors, but wanted a completed look. 

Not even Rock Auto seemed to have refills, unless I didnt know how to find them. (I was actually looking this week, for another vehicle).

[Mike K]

Have a look at this post I made in 2015. There's an off the shelf Bosch option, H305, which works perfectly.
Don't be put off by the label on the box which says "Rear", they're a perfect fit.

https://www.sl113.org/forums/index.php?topic=23299.msg166722#msg166722

They come with black wiper frames, which I removed, and installed the blades on to my existing chrome frames.

Seem to be available online incl. Amazon.

Best,
Mike

[Atazman]

I purchased two NAPA 60-1502 refills that came with the metal rails.  These refills are 15” in length, so I had to cut them off to fit my arms.  I have to qualify....... I'm not sure my arms are original.

[russelljones48]

Thanks all.  I've order the Bosch H304's they fit older Euopean cars so they may be the ticket.  I'll post again if they aren't.  And I couldn't figure out if Rock Auto has them either - without ordering 10 to try them out.  The RA listing for my car is wrong - I ordered them and they're the wrong length... 

rj

[russelljones48]

I also found an ANCO 5312 on Rock Auto that fits an older IH Scout..  I will try those next

[Mike Hughes]

I also found an ANCO 5312 on Rock Auto that fits an older IH Scout..  I will try those next

Summit Racing has them, too.

[Mike Hughes]

It is also worth mentioning that  marine parts supplier Jamestown Distributors carries a polished stainless steel 12 inch blade for boats.  They look great on a 230SLs and early 250SLs!

https://www.jamestowndistributors.com/userportal/show_product.do?pid=11676

[russelljones48]

OK I know all of you have been waiting with bated breath for this post...  my Bosch H305 wiper blades arrived from Latvia (of all places) and they aren't the correct blades/refills.  The blades/refills that came off my car are 3/8" wide which I believe to be the period correct refill (the Bosch are narrower).  The Bosch blades are labelled "REAR" so I doubt they are the period correct blade but they will work if I use the arms which are black and not to my liking.  I will now order a selection of blades from RA to see if they carry something that will fit.  Then I will try the boat blades mentioned above...

[russelljones48]

Here we go...   I ordered every blade RA had in 12" - both refills and blades.  Bad news is that there isn't a perfect answer.  Good news is that there's 1 blade with the right dimensions 12" X 3/8" that can be made to fit with 5 - 10 minutes of careful disassembly and re-assembly.  AND THAT BLADE IS: the ANCO 20-12 Vintage blade. 

   Search for Manufacturer='ANCO' and Part Number='2012'
Price   
ANCO 2012 Vintage; 12" Info
Category: Wiper Blade
<
Part image   
>
$12.71   

You will need to order 2 if you need 2 - they don't come in pairs.  I combined this blade/refill by removing the new blade from the supplied arm.  Since the SS rails and locating mechanisms are different (the MB blades stay put via indentations in the rubber and the ANCO blades via tabs in their SS strips/rails), you will need to remove the old blades from your arms - you will not need the SS rails.  Then on the ANCO arms carefully bend to straight the locating tabs on the rails so that the rails will slide out.  You will probably also need to bend the nose tabs a bit so that the blade and rails will slide out easily.  Now the new blade and rails will slide into your old arm (at least mine did) and you will only need to bend the tabs on the rails back so they hold the blades in place on the arm....  I'm very pleased that I can use my original arms...   

If anyone is interested I now have a large supply of 12" blades that I will send you for the cost of shipping       

[Mike Hughes]

Those ANCOs are good long wearing blades that I have used for years.  The 12 inchers fit the wiper arms on both my '66 MGB-GT and '56 Dodge Pickup and they also offer 10" blades that fit the wiper arms on the shorter windscreen of the MGB roadster.

[smackYYZ]

I ordered replacement rubber from Amazon.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01MU6T680/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o01__o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1  For $7

It came with 2 26" strips, which I just took one and cut to length, so still have one 26" on the shelf.

I just slightly pried open the frame clamps, removed, cut to length, reused the metal spines and clamped back into original blade frame.

Was a 20 minute job.

[CCollum]

The Classic Center has these too. Inexpensive and fit perfectly.

[PeterW113]

For those interested, I have just used the blades from Bosch H305, on my 1968 280SL, as suggested by Mike.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/BOSCH-REAR-WIPER-BLADES-VOLVO-V60-10-14-BMW-3-TOURING-E46-ALPINA-B3-ESTATE-H305/202286972758?

Listed as:BOSCH REAR WIPER BLADES VOLVO V60 10-14 BMW 3 TOURING E46 ALPINA B3 ESTATE H305

Perfect fit for the metal Bosch wiper frames  already on the car, but there again, I have no way of knowing if the wiper frames are original other than they were on the car when I bought it.

Hope this helps someone.

Peter