It has truly-variable speeds, the highest of which is easily twice as fast as any electric setup on any car. It's constant as long as the engine is running. It is quiet I've never heard any whooshes or hisses that Dan had mentioned hearing on his system.and Frankenstein does not have the bulky noise suppressor that was used on the '67-9 cars. I personally like the hydraulic setup and would never convert to electric even with the now-available conversion, unless it became impossible to repair or replace malfunctioning components.
![1963 ford thunderbird windshield wiper conversion kit 1963 ford thunderbird windshield wiper conversion kit](http://old.earlyfordv8.org/forum/fileattachments/Wiper%20wiring.jpg)
I suspect that, although they did this primarily to accommodate the Lincoln, it made sense to extend that setup to the Thunderbirds for economy of scale, being that both cars were built in the same plant which at the time was exclusive for Ford's unit-body line of cars (not to mention the other relation between the two, in that the Suicides were originally meant to be a T-Bird concept). Thus, the partnership with Trico to develop the hydraulic system, which was already-proven technology. They did not yet have electric motors strong enough to move such long wipers, so they had to come up with something in the interim. But they employed 18" wipers on the '61-5 Lincolns (which would grow to 20" for '66-9), which at the time were the longest wipers ever used on a car. At the time, Ford was resolute in ditching the vacuum-powered wiper motors, which we all know were inadequate no matter how many reservoirs you install. Well, I have a theory on that, based on some information I got from old review articles of the period. The front mounted power steering pump just comes with the territory Compared to the MEL engine that had issues. The FE engine changed many times and was used in cars to the 1970s and trucks even further. And Mercury only used the engine from 1958 to 1960 MEL to fit into the high end big block engine. Both the FE and MEL engine were placed in service at the same time. So a lower production and higher cost item gets put onto a higher end vehicle. VV Carb on the Versailles is another example that I can think of. Many times cutting edge features get placed on low production vehicle lines. LithiumCobalt wrote: Was this supposed to be considered cutting edge back then? Sometimes, some things might pass by that warrant a stare, and the rain on the windshield would block those views.
![1963 ford thunderbird windshield wiper conversion kit 1963 ford thunderbird windshield wiper conversion kit](https://classicautoparts.com/media/catalog/product/cache/1/image/100x/9df78eab33525d08d6e5fb8d27136e95/7/c/7c-17508-e12_1.jpg)
I will admit that there have been times, when I'm sitting in the car in a light rain in a parking lot with the radio on and the engine off, that I kind of wished I had the extra convenience of doing a sweep or two without having to crank up the engine. So what noise was supposed to be suppressed or diffused?
![1963 ford thunderbird windshield wiper conversion kit 1963 ford thunderbird windshield wiper conversion kit](https://www.chevsofthe40s.com/images_product/large/r6558bk.jpg)
Seriously, I still don't know exactly what difference that noise suppressor really made Frankenstein's wipers don't buzz or groan or creak or anything. I think I may have paid no more than $150 for the lot, and not all at once. Price was really good, too, as I remember. They don't look factory, but they act factory. Anyway, all the flexible lines I have now were reproduced at hydraulics shops. Yes, I can see higher cost where that is concerned. I forgot that you had that particular hose, as Frankenstein does not. Well, granted, that one hose with the noise-suppressor link used from '67 and onward is not the sort of thing that a hydraulic shop would be able to fabricate.