A Very Clean Wipe: New Port Engineering’s C10 Wiper Motor Upgrade

It was over 30 years ago—at the NSRA Street Rod Nationals in St. Paul, Minnesota, to be exact—that Bob and Linda Galbraith unveiled the very first Clean Drive Wiper, New Port Engineering’s direct bolt-in replacement for 1939-1948 Chevy passenger car vacuum-drive wiper motors. With their motto, “Drive through it, not around it!”, the company has continually driven forward over the last three decades, expanding their line of direct replacement Clean Wipe System wiper upgrade kits that cover more than 180 car and truck applications—including the popular Chevy C10s!

A side-by-side visual comparison of the OE vacuum drive motor with New Port Engineering’s Clean Drive motor—performance wise, there is no comparison!

As mentioned, New Port supplies each Clean Wipe kit with a two-speed wiper switch (shown) that uses either the provided knob or your factory knob depending on what look you prefer. Extensions (shown as well) are available for situations where radios, A/C components, etc. may interfere and clearance is required.

Never having done a wiper motor installation, let alone an upgrade conversion, I was a bit apprehensive at first when this particular job came up on the to-do list. However, no sooner was the deteriorated, non-functioning OE vacuum motor removed and New Port’s new electronic motor bolted in place, factory linkage hooked up, new switch installed and wired, that my apprehensions were literally wiped away! With no exaggeration, the entire job took less than an hour, and now the C10 has a fully modern wiper system able to keep pace with most severe monsoon rains Mother Nature can throw at it!

New Port offers their 1967-1972 Clean Wipe System with their standard brand-new (not reman’d) 12-volt wiper motor with integrated direct bolt-in mounting bracket (which accepts the factory wiper arm linkage) and two-speed wiper switch, mounting hardware, and wiring harness. Available upgrades include a two-speed washer/wiper switch, an intermittent delay wiper switch, switch shaft extensions, and new stainless wiper arms and wiper blades.