the bearings on the ends of the linkage from the wiper motor to the arms are very loose so there is a lot of slop when the arms are at either end of travel, and they stop in a different place when you turn the wipers off. plus they are making some clatter at the ends of the travel, and it's getting distracting.

Is there a way to rebuild those bearings? they look a like a kind of Heim joint, but maybe there's something better to tighten it up? Maybe a replacement linkage from another model car?

thxZ

I measured a number of vehicles in some junkyards to see if they had wiper pivots with the same spacing, thinking the motor and linkage could be adapted to work in the Z, but there wasn't anything the was close so far.

Yo THawk, It would be easier to find someone with a parts car and just replace. The bearings are actually bronze bushings, certainly a replacement could be found and inserted in the arm. You might try a Google search for Wiper Arm Bushings.

McMaster Carr has the bushings. I think the bushings I got from them were brass though.

Autozone and other places list them, but I have not had a change to look at them personally yet.

Does anyone have a suggestion as to the best way to remove the tiny snap rings on the wiper arm shafts? I'm ready to rebuild mine, but all of my snap ring pliers are too big to use on these clips.

Those clips are not very springy, unlike true C-clips. More like a stiff band that is just bent into place. Once you get them off, use pliers to bend them back into place in their slots. I actually replaced mine with a some common generic size of eternal c-clip.

Now as to getting them off, put the arm in a vise, and use two smallish flat blade screw drivers to push the opposing tips of the clip apart. Or one flat blade of "just" the right width that you can use it as a wedge between the two tips.

Well, if you careful, you should be removed with 2 small flat head screw drivers to open them up, and clamp them back on with a pair of pliers.

See the pictures below. The rubber bushings can be replaced with rubber orings with high speed grease.

It takes about 2 hours to get it cleaned and repaired.

http://jdm-car-parts.com/restoration/Details.html