I highly doubt you will find any of the old porter rinse devices lying around. It was surpassed by technology just like undercoating and rust proofing cars at the dealership was.
Like most of the antiquated steel mills around Great Lakes and northeast, I’m sure the rinse devices were turned into scrap metal and sent overseas to make new cars back in the late 1980’s.
If you are trying to make a rinsing device with one degree of freedom, movement from point A to B along a track, I would considering using an existing design and adapt it to your purpose.
For example, the rail tubes of old D&S 5000 have shape of upside down U and mount to floor.
To use water to power, linear motion must be created. For example, when water is forced through a rotating union, it creates rotational motion. Here, union is one component of a sub-system (wheel blaster).
A moving rinse device “above car” also needs to change direction. This can be accomplished by feeding water to both ends of rails.
This is why OEM’s use a circuitous route of hydraulic oil to power carwash equipment.
To use water to power, you would need a similar system.
So, does it make sense to strip carriage naked, mount a spray bar and use electricity to power?
