As above, seen a fitting kit on ebay for £50, are they easy to carry out on a MK4?

Simple to carry out

Don't buy a cheap one though. Unless it's from a very well known/respected seller

I had one on the old mk4 and as I was driving down the motorway in the rain, the wipers just stopped

Had a look the next day and this piece of metal (holding the wiper arm to the mechanism) about 7mm thick had snapped

So I converted it back to standard

seems like a bit of a waste of time/money. single wipers wipe less of the windscreen. vw put two there for a reason.

They also don't slam them and put 8inch wide dished wheels on either do they?

Citroen, Jaguar and McLaren are three manufacturers I can think of that build/have built cars with single wipers from the factory. A good single wiper lengthens the arm when it gets towards the edge of the windscreen, I have no idea whether the aftermarket kits do this.

early mk2 sciroccos also had a single wiper

it's easy enough to convert the standard polo wiper mechanism to single wiper. i did my mk1 and it has about 150 degree sweep which is fine in the rain and passes the MOT no probs. there used to be a how to on here somewhere with instructions but i can't find it at the mo

if anyone needs a guide i'll try and get some pics of mine up

ok give me a day or two to dig the pics out and write it up properly and i'll post it here

off the top of my head the only tools required (for mks1 - 3) are a 10mm spanner, a blowtorch and either a hacksaw or grinder. if you have access to a welder there is another method i will also cover

single wipers are a pain tin the arse.....i brought a storm single wiper for my old mk3 1.0 they dont fit great and i couldnt get it to park n e were other than the centre the only good quality single wiper is a bonrath 1 all others are crap.

storm kits are designed to sit centre screen if i remember right? (it should have come come with instructions as to adjusting that though?)

yes...bonrath kits are faultless you don't get a rep like theirs by selling shite


what i'm gonna do is chuck up a couple of pics of how i did mine in my shed for the cost of an hour's time and one cutting wheel

my method won't please eveyone i know but i'm open to constructive criticism and any queries via PM will be answered


just bear in mind i live in a south wales valley and it rains here. a lot. and i've run this conversion on my mk2 goof for 5 years and most of my polos (3 mk1s and 6 mk2s....) with no problems whatsoever

gar

yeh fair play mate a single wiper conversion if u buy 1 already made isnt cheap so if u av a go urself and it works!!! bargain!!!!! yeh it rains alot wer i live 2 in bath next 2 bristol.......can u still get bonrath single wipers for mk3 polo??

Pics please!! I'm wanting to do mine!!!!

having camera issues but will have pics up thurs night or friday at the latest

http://www.bonrath.com/e/go.htm

single wiper! If you can find out if they make em for mk3's be my guest! I'd like one but dont want any old tat scraping my screen

managed to get the camera sorted fugitive666??

camera sorted but had a couple of engine issues which have taken until now to sort out

will pop my linkage out tomorrow, take some pics and pop up a quick how to. sorry for the delay

cool

Hope the engine troubles are sorted

all good cheers mate. running better than ever

yesterday went a bit tits up sorry! but i've just taken some piccies and will post a how to later

ok here we go! before i start though a word of warning......if you are unsure about doing this it might pay to have a spare wiper linkage to hand so if it goes tits up you're not stuck with no wipers


tools you'll need : 10mm spanner, 19mm socket, largeish phillips screw driver,a blob of blu tac, vice and mole grips (or two mole grips) hacksaw or grinder and a blowtorch is optional but does make the job easier

apologies for the pics and the amateur afforts on paint.....

first off remove your wiper arms. there is a 10mm nut under the little plastic cover at the base of the wiper arm. also a small washer (keep them safe!)



then remove your linkage. it is held on with one phillips screw under the bonnet and by two 19mm nuts where the wiper spindles come through the body work



then undo the electrical connections and remove the linkage complete with motor

now you'll need to cut off the part of the linkage you dont need leaving just the spindle that sits in the middle of the screen

my mk1 had left hand drive wipers so i cut off the passenger side spindle here (a points to the linkage cradle, b is where the linkage itself connects)....



if you have right hand drive wipers you'll need to cut off the drivers side spindle here (a and b point to where the linkage would be).......



now remove the spindle by (carefully!) taking off the circlip (a) and popping out the ball joint (b). a bit of wd40 helps here



now to shorten the spindle to give the extra sweep. if you want you can cut out about 5mm and weld it back together. or you can make two small cuts and bend the linkage slightly as i have done. (this is where the vice and mole grips comes in)



WARNING!!!!! DO NOT MAKE THESE CUTS TOO DEEP!!!!! you want just enough to make the bending of the arm easier(about 1mm is fine). a bit of heat from a blowtorch also helps

you can check how much extra sweep you have by assembling the linkage roughly and spinning it by hand. don't go too far. i have about 150 degrees which is fine in the rain and passes the MOT no probs. the closer you get to 180 degrees the more strain you'll put on the linkage and the rougher your sweep action will be

now the really fun part! reassemble the linkage and put back in the car, not forgetting the the electrical connections and the circlip and washers that you've kept safe but don't reattach the wiper arm yet, you'll need to make a few adjustments first (i usually give the linkage i quick squirt of WD40 too)

now pop a blob of blu tack on the spindle like so, pointing in the direction you want the wiper to sit when it's parked (in my case it parks on the passenger side but you can go central or whatever you like)



switch the wiper on and you'll probably find that the imaginary wiper will sweep the bonnet so you'll need to adjust it. undo this nut.....



.....and loosen the arm off the splines. you can now rotate it to where you think the arm will sweep the screen and re tighten it. realign your blutac and try again. it's a little hit and miss and you may need to redo a couple of times but you'll get there in the end.

reattach your wiper arm not forgetting the small washer and you should be ready to rock

this is the sweep i have on mine



hope this is of some help. any queries feel free to ask me here or via pm.

happy modding!

gareth

Thats a good guide. Cheers fugitive66


Shall have to get me some more linkages and give it ago!


Just anotehr quick question, what have you done about blocking the other spare wiper hole?

you can get little plastic blanking plugs. think halfords do them and vw too. eventually gonna get round to welding a smooth plate in

Cool

Cheers

does this guide stand for a mk3 polo... pretty much the same?

yep! i've done this on mk1,2 and 3 polo and a mk1 and 2 golf and they're all pretty similar.

Thanks for the article fugitive666, maybe the mods can sticky this?
Any more "penny pinchin" mods people?

OK SO I've DONT THIS CONVERSION AND IT WORKS GREAT !

BUT THERE SO MUCH PLAY BECAUSE I've CUT THE OTHER WIPER BIT OFF THE MOTOR MOVES AROUND AN NOCKS ? ITS REALLY ANOYING !

DID THIS DO THAT ON ANYONES HERE WHEN THEY DID IT ?

yep mine does it, think its just because the rubber bushes that the bolt sits in to hold the motor are shit, knocks against the bulk head??? try replacing the rubber bush for something more stirdy, crush tube or thick washers maybe?? and a more beefier nut will go down a treat aswell instead of the shitty phillips head screw that was holding mine down also maybe stick some rubber between the motor and bulkhead to absorb the knocking

I've got a bigger washer and a 10 mm nut to hold it place better and I've put rubber behind it already and tbh it still does it and the motor knocks a bit !

Great guide! I will give this a go when I have chance.
Thanks

anyone make this on mk4?

surely this shouldnt be sticky'd as the people who have done it have noticed it clonks and thats not successful if you ask me.....?