Wiper motor repair, Removing mechanism Options

[Ishley]

When I got my 72, 1.7 the fan and the wipers did not work. I knew the fan was likely full of debris as the grill was off on top of the unit. I got the blower out and cleaned everything out and tested… all is good.

Now I’m trying to remove the wiper mechanism as I want to test the motor and checkout/cleanup the mechanism. I can’t get it out. I know there is a back nut to remove under the dash. I think I can feel it when I reach way up under the dash. I’ve searched the forums and can’t find a procedure. I think I saw a post once to remove the gauge cluster to get to the nut. Is this the best way to get to it? Can it be done without taking the gauges out?

Thanks in advance for help from those who have done this.

[nditiz1]

Super easy to see if you remove the speedo gauge. Even more room if you drop the whole cluster fwd. Remove steering wheel to help with that as well. If you want to short cut it, you can do it blindly, but you won't be able to easily put it back without taking out the gauge so it is advisable to just do it right the first time.

Edit: didn't know about the ash tray trick. Maybe I'll use that next time.