Electric Washer Conversion for my Herald

I should soon have one of my Herald 948s back on the road. This one hasn't been in use for some time, and always had trouble with the screen washers.

The car hasn't been on the road for a few years, the washer system was substantially rebuilt but was always slow to prime after standing for any length of time. Having been idle for a few years, I can feel pressure but there is no movement of water, I suspect the non-return valves in the jets have become stuck in the open position.

The first picture shows the original type installation, albeit with a non-original knob on the pump.

I've never been too happy about fitting a modern replacement electric screen washer system, so I used some spare components to produce my own drop-in replacement.

The switch mounting bracket is an original one, albeit turned 180 degrees. The mounting hole has been opened out to fit a momentary contact switch. The switch itself is one commonly used as a button starter - well over-spec for driving a washer pump! I would prefer something which more closely resembles the original plunger arrangement, but I've not found anything through my suppliers yet. When I find something more appropriate I will replace the bracket with another original one, turned back to it's correct orientation.

The washer pump is currently mounted on a hand-cut piece of flat aluminium sheet. That's not pretty, but it will mount using the same holes as the switch bracket, placing the pump out of sight behind the dashboard.

The ground connection to the pump is made with a ring terminal to the bracket mounting screw, which locates to the lower dashboard's metal rail - a good ground point!

The live feed uses a piggyback connector from the heater blower switch. I need to check the current rating on the switch feed before installing the assembly.

At the moment it's snowing, and the car which is receiving the pump conversion lives about four miles from here along a single track road! When I get the kit installed I'll post an update.