I did a search and couldn't really find the answer other than they are not supposed to be black, I knew that already. Years ago one of my wiper arms failed at the point where it attaches to the drive spindle and I "temporarily" used an Audi wiper arm that I had laying around just to keep from being pulled over for a "missing" wiper (don't drive in the rain anyway). I am ready to replace it and the other one which was apparently the wrong part (for RHD?) as the bend at the end of the arm was in the wrong direction causing the blade to point somewhat upwards when parked as apposed to being parallel to the bottom of the windshield. I was able to bend it to the correct angle soon after I acquired the car but if I am replacing one why not both. My arms are a brushed silver finish with the little flip up caps covering the attachment point, same finish on the blade holder. Most suppliers list arms as "long" (440mm) an "short" (400mm) but as for the blades themselves there seems to be some discrepancy over length. Some list one @ 18" and one @ 15" while others list both @ 18" or both 15". I'd like to acquire the correct ones for my car if possible, I understand that they may be NLA but at least find a replacement of proper dimensions. Any guidance on what is "correct"? My car is a 1977 US spec version. mike
Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Wiper arm colour varies , black for LHD + silver for RHD Superperformance sell both . View attachment 3794895 Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
According to the parts manual, the wiper blades are the same, but wiper arms are different. In the 1974 parts manual for the 308 GT4, the part number is 104174, and in the 1976 and 1979 parts manuals the part number is 40273906. When I look either of those numbers up most sites show them as 18 inches, but a few do show the earlier number as 15 inches. However, most places do note that 104174 has been superseded by 40273906, thus 18 inches would be the correct size. My car is a 1975 model, and I just measured both blades at 18 inches each.
I finally found my wiper arms and blades packed away in cold storage, I have stuff stashed in about 5 locations! I found both wiper blades are 18" long and both wiper arms are 18" long. My passenger side arm appears to be for a RHD car as the kink at the end is angled opposite of my driver's side arm which positions the blade parallel to the bottom of the windshield as it should be. I had bent my passenger side arm kink enough to keep that wiper blade from parking partially below the bottom of the windshield (onto the paint). The blade's erroneous position is obvious in the photo as the car came to me. One can see that the ends of the arms splay in opposite directions. As for the mounting end of the arms both have the flip up cap hiding the retaining nut. On my driver's side arm the lug that attaches to the drive spindle had broken (I don't remember how it happened, it was 15-20 years ago) and coincidentally a spare wiper arm from one of my Audi's at least bolted in place as a "temporary" fix. I haven't found any replacement arms that come with the cap, only arms with the exposed mounting nut. I might try to put the old cap on a new non-cap arm, IMHO they look better. Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
Great that you found them! However, yeah, one of them is definitely not right. The wiper blades are correct at 18-inches each, but the wiper arms should be different. The left arm (driver side) should be 20-inches in length, and the right arm (passenger side) should be 18-inches. And, of course, both should be angled the same direction. Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
I haven't seen anyone listing a 20" arm, only 15" and 18", my 18" arms are more accurately around 17.25" depending on what one measures to. I guess the wiper department at Ferrari measures wiper arms in the same manner as the horsepower department rates horsepower. Looking at your photo the driver's side wiper blade overlaps the passenger side drive spindle by the same amount as does my car indicating that both our cars have the same driver's side arm and blade. From what I have read the 15" arm (passenger side only) was a series 1 configuration that changed to a 18" arm sometime during the run, series 2 and 3 all had both arms at 18". My car (13834) is a series 2 built in OCT 1977 (black on black originally, I'd love to go back to it but I no longer have access to a free body shop).
Good point, I'm probably not measuring from the correct end-to-end points. Regardless, the left arm should be a bit longer than the right arm, at least that's what I surmise by looking in the parts manual part numbers and measuring mine, and the blades are the same for both. Since your car is a Series II car, you'd use the 1979 parts manual. All three parts manuals have different part numbers for each arm: Arms and Blades 1974 Parts Manual Blades - 104174 Arm (R) - 104172, 106862 (RHD: 107050, 107052) Arm (L) - 104173, 106863 (RHD: 107051, 107053) Arms and Blades 1976 Parts Manual Blades - 40273906 Arm (R) - 40280109, 40274003 (RHD: 40280307, 40274201) Arm (L) - 40280208, 40274102 (RHD: 40280406, 40274300) Arms and Blades 1979 Parts Manual Blades - 40273909 Arm (R) - 40274003 (RHD: 40274201) Arm (L) - 40274102 (RHD: 40274300) I think your driver side (right) arm is correct, but clearly you need the passenger side (left) arm since your current one is for a RHD car. Fun fact: None of the parts manuals (1974, 1976, 1979) show an illustration of the arm with a flip-up cap. Definitely looks better with that, and definitely came that way, curious why it's not shown. If you need/want the parts manuals (and other goodies) you can download them from my site: https://308gt4.com/resources/