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Not sure to start this in general or V8 sec but since they were used in prior years-here we go. First Ill say thanks to those for posting the great info on the heater valve renew and the washer pump. The write ups are detailed and the pictures, instructions and formats very professional. These along with the parts ref and the service manual info are indispensable references. Upon examining the clipper pump and valve it seems these are totally original,untouched items as all else were upon disassembly and as such I have questions on a few specific detailes not covered and would like opinions from those with experience. If these seem to be nit picking or inconsequential details-feel free to relate that also.
Regarding the pump- It has what looks like a varnished card board or leather gasket/seal covering the entire inside surface of the cover secured under the plunger housing and wire locating bracket rivet which was not addressed in the write up and and the delicate nature of the brittle plastic valve and solenoid cover which to this point are undamaged and obviously unmarred and untouched lead me to prefer not to disassemble if it is not required. Are these items included in the rebuild kit? Is preserving originality important in this case? How well did these units work brand new? How well after a refirb? If a solenoid is ng prior to refirb efforts will be wasted time. I have disassembled the plunger bottom to clean and inspect the seals and spring, tested the fluid plunger seal and ck valve in the base, Ohmed the solenoid(6 ohm) and applied vacuum to the solenoid inlet while energizing the solenoid with a 9v batt and the plunger distends into the chamber and diverts vacuum into the vac plunger chamber. The weak link seems to be the check valve in the fluid discharge on the top of the cover. This does restrict the reverse flow but not totally seal like the pickup does. That and the spring corrosion on 2 areas seem to be the issues. I can flip the spring and put those coils to bottom over the plastic guide or buy the spring on your listing from McVeys. Anyone purchased thier spring? Is it stainless perhaps? I think I would prefer to change the spring and 1 ck valve and gently clean the shellac from the cover as it has a black matte finish which is virtually unscratched and seems original. The black cloth wire seems to have a shellac on it and is well preserved and the red wire may be preserved with a small heat shrink on its only chafed spot and hidden under the wire clamp. Can someone tell me apprx how fast the plunger is supposed to cycle in operation? What is the volume of fluid delivered under proper operation? Anyone drilled 2 holes in the cover under the clamp and cut the old wires to covertly terminate them there and run 2 new wires to a modern submersible pump hidden in the plunger case? (This would not be required if the refirbs work adequitly.) I know there are alot of questions but any insight on any or all topics is appreciated.

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I tried the electric pump inside the jar many years ago and it was not a success at the time. Possibly with todays pumps it might be different. At the time a pump that would fit inside the larger half of plastic housing and could be hidden was not easily found. The pump I did run across that fit did not have enough output or power to keep the diaphragm (which I think is what you are calling a check valve) in the lid outlet valve assy flexed to allow the vacuum to work the co-ordinator. It did provide a small stream of water thru the nozzles but nothing like the pressure the spring can provide in one burst.

I'm not math inclined but the total volume in one shot would be the diameter of the small section times the distance the piston travels being the factors. The plunger moves fairly quickly upward to charge the water but how fast it exits is totally dependent on the nozzles and if there are any restrictions at the jets or in the hoses. I can well remember a road trip with a very unhappy father driving a 58 Mercury. We were on the road out in the middle of nowhere with the wipers going and the knob would not shut them off. It started because a teenager (me) pushed the washer button not knowing how the washer worked to turn the wipers on or what happens when the jets are clogged and water can't exit. I can tell you that the water pressure will stay on that co-ordinator control diaphragm keeping it active and supplying vacuum to the co-ordinator until hell freezes over or a mechanic that knows how it works pulls the water hose loose.

Not sure what is in the kits in the way of the waxed cardboard piece. BigKev might remember but if there is nothing included you might be able to duplicate the look with a thin piece of brown phenolic or garolite sheet. McMaster has thin sheet material in 6" squares.

McVee makes a rebuild kit for those pumps. I wrote a How-To on how to rebuild them. Check the Literature section.

Yes. Thanks for the info. And yes I ref the write up extensively. In the pic it looks like a new cover interior gasket is installed but no mention if it was custom cut, or came in the kit. No pic of it in the prts kit pic and no mention of it in the txt. I was wondering if someone would comment on originality and judging as it related retaining original finishes of this item. The repro spring?

I don't think the cardboard piece would ever be noticed as far as originality. Doubt any judges would go to the length of unscrewing the washer lid to verify but I suppose you never know if judging was so close it had to get down to that nitpicky.

The spring is probably ordinary steel music wire particularly if corroded.. It should be fairly well protected from water reaching it so wonder if it is condensation that causes the problem.

I measure a wire diameter of .085 with OD of .860, ID of .650, a relaxed length of 5 3/4", compressed of 3" and number of coils at about 30. McMaster doesn't show anything close but Century has 4 based on most of those specs that might be a possibility. Not sure how to measure the rate or max load of the original to narrow it down more but maybe someone else can say how and we could verify if one of these would work. The 883 I think would be the closest. It would appear there is a bit of leeway in the way it mounts so I think the piston could handle the ones with slightly larger dimensions.

Am curious when you say a black matte finish on the lid.. All lids I have or can see in photos appear to be a zinc or more galvanized finish with maybe a clear lacquer or enamel over.

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Thanks. The spring seems very stiff and is of quite heavy wire. I will get the one spec from McVeys as the price is not too far to the extreme but I was just wondering if anyone had bought it from them and what material it was and if it is the same tension and operated as the orig. As far as the cover- I am quite sure of the finish on it and it does have the words stamped on it for the hose connections and also has what looks to be a dash(-) stamped near one edge that the cover on the pics does not seem to have. I am quite certain it has always been with this vehicle and that it has not been monkeyed with. I can post more pics if you like.

Funny I just looked at Troys vid clip of his new member of the family-55 Pat and his washer cover jar seems to be the same as mine under the snow flakes. Poss Packard coating only? We can confirm if his cover is orig rivets, lid gasket bl finish on lid etc

Kind of hard to say.. These are dirty but is what I'm calling zinc or galvanized like with a possible clear coat of something over.

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I see those. Poss galv? But no, mine is - absolutely not a similar finish and the finish is quite intact and is not a respray. I have cleaned a very small portion of it and will try toget pics up.


Did you look at Troys video clip? Under recent topics "Arlenes 55 Patrician"

I did see the video and thought the lid was like these except with some dirt and snow. It is very possible there were different finishes offered since Trico supplied many mfgs. Packard probably had a preference but as we have found with other items, if the original spec was out of stock or couldn't be obtained Packard substituted. The lids all came off Packards but there could be differences depending on when the car was produced.