pfbz

There are a few other threads on this but I just did it yesterday and thought I'd post up my how to...

I used an Alloy & Carbon kit. Super easy to do, maybe 20 minutes tops. Probably took longer to create this post.

The vendors website is down right now (www.alloycarbon.com) but they have them on ebay as well (here). They had a few styles, carbon fiber, anodized, and many OEM paint to match colors. An out of country vendor (Greece), but shipped promptly. Was about $40 shipped.

Remove old rear wiper arm and motor assembly

Outside car:

1. Pull up plastic cover on rear wiper arm
2. Remove nut. 13mm??
3. Remove wiper arm.

Inside Car:

1. Move front seats all the way forward for more room, climb in back seat area facing backwards
2. Remove trim panel directly under window glass. Work your fingers under an edge and pull straight towards the front of the car. It will take some force but the clips will come undone.
3. Make sure you account for all five clips after removing trim.
4. Unbolt two 10mm nuts holding in wiper.
5. Pull wiper motor down until shaft clears, then towards front of car until fully removed.
6. Disconnect single wiring connector, tuck car wiring out of way.

Install Cap

Outside car:

1. Ensure gasket is in place on cap
2. Thread bent rod into cap.
3. (clean around hole in car if needed)
4. Place cap and rod in hole.
5. Get friend to put finger on cap and say "hold here" .

Inside car:

1. Make sure bent rod is at proper angle, adjust if needed.
2. Place gasket, large machined metal piece, small plastic piece, metal washer, and knurled nut on shaft in that order.
3. Tighten knurled nut.

Put inside trim back together:

1. Take clips off plastic trim piece of they stayed on.
2. Put all five clips on metal portion of car.
3. Push trim onto clips until you hear them all click.

Overall, happy with the mod for $40. Paint match is pretty good, though Arctic silver is notorious for being hard to match. Perhaps a slight bit of texture difference between the cap and my seventeen year old paint. Looks like it will make a nice, tight, weatherproof seal and looks cleaner than the wiper.

I know bumperplugs also has a solution, I think theirs is a plastic cap that is siliconed on to the car rather than a metal cap "sandwiched" into the opening with a fastener. But at $87 shipped for bumperplugs vs $40 shipped, I decided to try the alloy and carbon solution, though I think bumperplugs is a great company with awesome products.

The kit. I ordered the domed cap, Arctic Silver.



Before:



After removing arm:



Trim piece inside and clips:



Two nuts to remove wiper motor. Pull down and toward front to remove motor, only part that was a tiny bit tricky...



Wiper motor:



Disconnect electrical plug, tuck or zip-tie out of the way:



Hole you are left with. Clean if needed:




Place cap, gasket, and threaded rod on outside. Have someone hold it in place:



Put on pieces in order shown above, tighten:



After:



Looks great!

Dock

I just pulled the wiper and associated mechanical pieces and inserted a plug from https://www.bumperplugs.com/ (a Rennlist site sponsor) that is perfectly paint matched and a perfect fit. A bead of silicon between the plug and the body ensures a waterproof installation.

manimal

I did the same as Dock and I'm happy with it, but it is more $ for fewer parts, as OP mentions (though more weight reduction ). The paint match is also perfect as far as I can tell. This looks like another good option.

Dock

Just to clarify, the bumperplugs piece is not siliconed onto the car. It is a VERY tight snap-in piece that fits solidly flush with the surface of the car. The silicon is applied just to ensure that no water passes between the plug and the surface of the car. As tight as the two surfaces match I doubt that any water would migrate under the plug, but the silicon "seals the deal".

The paint color and clear coat on the plug looks like it was painted with the rest of the car at the factory. Eric (Bumperplugs owner) IMO produces great products.

pfbz

I did mention the bumperplug alternative in my oringal post. Eric is a great guy and both he and bumperplugs have a fantastic reputation as well as being a site sponsor. I personally just couldn't bring myself to spend $87 shipped on a painted plastic plug...

I'm not sure why the bumperplug version is so expensive in comparison to some other bumperplug offerings, eg: a pair of front bumper plugs is only $28. Perhaps the wiper plug a custom mold he's amortizing? The original reviews I read said it wasn't a perfect fit and it sounded like an off-the-shelf plug, but they were also much less expensive back then. Maybe a custom mold explains the change in fit description and the 3X price increase?

Plus choices are always good.

Dock

Here is how well the plug fits:

I received my plug from Eric and after removing all the mechanical stuff decided to do a test fit of the plug before using the silicon. The "problem" was this...the snap-in plug fits so tight that I couldn't remove it to add silicon and finish the job. I literally had to destroy the plug to get it out. I called Eric and told him that I had boogered up the plug and needed to order a new one. He said he would send me a new one free of charge.

Dock

It appears that you can see the external gasket under the plug and that the plug is raised above the surface of the car.

The Bumperplugs plug has no external gasket, and fits flush with the car's surface (and lower vertically from the surface of the car to the top of the plug as compared to your unit).

Just pointing out the differences for those wanting to chose one of the two.

Bumperplug plug...

FRUNKenstein

Dammit, Paul, another new project for my list.

And I'll be needing your wheels.

Freddie Two Bs

Wow, you must REALLY hate the rear wiper to want to go through all that hassle. I liked my rear wiper a lot when it rained.

Dock

Oh, I really hated my rear wiper.

P.S. It isn't really any hassle at all pulling the wiper and installing the bumperplugs plug. You can even do the whole job by yourself.

Turbodan

I believe Porsche has a plug from a 944 that is black and fits this hole perfectly and should be much less than $40.

docwyte

Can't say that the rear wiper offends me enough to remove it

Dock

It might if it left two very deep scratches in the paint on your car.

pfbz

Well, it bothered me enough that I bought the plug kit for it, but not so much I minded leaving it on a shelf for a year before getting around to the 30 minute install!

If my Turbo was an all-weather car (which it is supremely capable of) and driven in heavy rain, snow, sleet, lots of highway grime, etc., the wiper makes sense. And while I can't say it's never driven in the rain, if the weather looks rainy or nasty, I will almost always take my other turbo, the 6,000 pound F150 Ecoboost :-)

pfbz

...and on the scratches, the wiper can do a number on the cars, I've seen on several cars.

For example, if the wiper is up, pulled away from the car (like when you're cleaning/waxing), and you then open up the engine cover (also, like when you are cleaning/waxing) it knocks the wiper arm down violently, usually flipping the wiper over backwards. It can impact the body/paintwork next to the rear window.