In the latest Chassis mag of the Essex A7 Club there is an item about 'R' Pins, or to be precise that the 3/16" 'R' pins I suggested using in another article (see below) are the same as 'brake pad retaining pins'.

So, any Essex A7 member who is wondering what the context of the 'R' pins is, without waiting another month to find out! then.....

My original article in the Cornwall A7 Club's mag. suggested using 3/16" 'R' pins in place of split pins in non-critical places, such as the (manual) distributor and carburetor linkages, if nothing else I don't seem to impail myself on pin ends any more, and they are easier to get on and off.

The suggestion for the 'brake pad retaining pins' (bprp) is because at present you seem only able to buy a pack of 4 'R' pins, of which only 2 are 3/16" size. The bprp's are available in quantity, I'm sure the local garage will have a box of them for you to be able to scrounge a few, I bought a pack of 50 for a couple of quid.

Sandy

I have been using them for years. One of the trade names are "R" grip clips. Come in all sizes . The best result on the 7 was those two blind split pins on the clevis pins on the front end of the rear brake cables.Normally a S** to, get off. Completely reuseable.Can be fitted wherever a split pin is at present used.Imagine the letter R . using the appropriate size push the straight part of the R through the split pin hole the round bit will grip round the diameter of the pin, shaft or rod. They are sprung steel so cannot come off, A must.

.

Mac,

From where do you get your supplies of R clips? I have found some on eBay but wonder if you have a better source.

If only for those rear cables they must be worth ninety guineas an ounce!

Mike Mike

I Rang my usual supplier Maccess today and they now do an assorted pack.32,40,45,50 and 75 mm (they have gone metric) about 150 items in all, for about a tenner. I will look at them the next time I go to see if they are o.k. and firm up the price. and mail you and any one else who is interested.They are made by Draper. Incidently I no longer use the castillated split pinned big end nuts. I use self locking aerotite nuts over a plain washer.

.

Thanks for that Mac. 150 for a tenner sounds like my sort of deal. Better than the Buy-it-Now prices current on eBay.

Interested to hear about the big-end nuts, perhaps you should let BMW know about this they might like to try.

Perhaps this will re-open the splendid talk rench discussion of some months back !!!!!!!!!

Mike

Mac, 'self locking aerotite nuts' >> can I assume you are thus using either UNF or metric threads, as I cannot find BSF's anywhere.

Hey Sandy, caught myself too with split pins many a time, so a good idea, but it seems our Peer, Mac, has been there long ago, although I do not recall seeing it written up before.

Phil.

www.namrick.co.uk
They list BSW 'Nyloc' nuts in the size range 1/4" - 1/2" BSW. Not sure about BSF sizes though. They do however stock a good selection of other Imperial items. Can be phoned on 01273 779864

Re self-locking nuts, 'Aerotight' and 'Nylock' differ fundamentally in their design. 'Aerotight' are all steel,the 'locking' action achieved through the use of steel cantilevered threaded arms. 'Nylock' as their name implies achieve 'locking' through the use of glass-filled nylon inserts. Whether the nylon would in any way be affected by conditions within the crankcase I couldn't say, although 'Aerotight' being all steel can be used in conditions up to 300 C. Note that whilst 'Aerotight' nuts can apparently be reused, 'Nylock' nuts should never be reused. Consequently 'Aerotight' are much more expensive than 'Nylock'.

I'm surprised to read that people have been using split-pin type nuts in recent times. I thought they would have been outlawed 30 years ago. You can use a close-fit Metric Unbreako bolt (measure the bigend holes, they don't always remain standard !) with the appropiate Nyloc nut and you'll never have trouble with your con-rods. Some Unbreako bolts may require some trimming of their head height to enable safe clearance. Whilst many years of hard service in the crankcase will not harm the Nyloc, it's true that you definitely NEVER re-use the nut, wherever it's been used.. Cheers, Bill.
PS : As I'm a computer illiterate, would someone explain what ICQ means, please?

Bill, go to http://www.icq.com/info/icqstory.html where the full story/creation of ICQ = "I seek you" is fully outlined and thus hopefully will show you what it's for....

Sandy in his original item at no time suggested that the 'R' pins should be used in critical positions, like the steering drag link etc. I know he uses both Nylocks and the steel aero nuts as well for critical conections.

Naomi

MERTIC !!!!

There is nothing worse than using metric nuts and bolts on an imperial fitted car !

Shame on you !

BSF Nylocs are still available so why not use them ???

Have you ever tried a 'breakdown' repair only to find metric nuts and bolts have been used and only imperial spanners are to hand? Nightnmares are made of this, if nothing else it means that two sets of spanners need to be carried on trips adding to the burden of our poor little motors.

Am I the only one who feels like this ?

And NO I am not a member of 'UKIP'

I use BSW, BSF and BA all over the car. So I'm beside you here Malcolm. They are available from people like Namrics and I find plenty of Imperial fittings in my local marine chandler's. That's why also, we keep our cars on 6 volt systems, rather than the more practicle 12 volts for which spares are available from any Halfords etc when a bulb or whatever goes.

However we must remember that on a Staurday afternoon, up to the elbows in grease and you've run out of the right size Bolts / nuts and you promised the car for a special event on the Sunday, then you have to buy what's available.

Sandy

Any B.S.F ;WHIT; B.A.etc for you car can be got from Bernard Wade By post 01226370860.

I'm with Malcolm as well in strictly using only imperial on pre-war cars. I even made Phoenix cranks put the special Austin non-standard thread on all the cranks I got from them in the early 1990s instead of the UNF or whatever they wanted to use instead.

I went on the 750 Brooklands Centre run to Monte Carlo in 1980 with a friend who had built a Special, and he had used imperial, AF, metric, whatever he'd had to hand, and it was fairly unreliable as well. So not only did we have to carry THREE sets of spanners, but we were forever rootling around trying to find the correct spanner to use. Urgh - never again!

David

I fully understand and appreciate the sentiments about using Imperial bolts, etc. I now, due to lack of time, pay ,or build a body etc as a swap, experts to rebuild my mechanicals with the strongest things available. But my use of metric big-end bolts was in the past of necessity - no BSF unbreako-type bolts available, even though I worked at the Caterpillar dealer I had access to UNF strongest bolts available, but metric more available. With Unbreako you only have to carry an Allen key and one spanner extra. My need for strength came about because a couple of brand-new genuine Austin b/e bolts let go whilst touring, not racing, and wrecked a very expensively-built engine. In both racing and touring I got over the masochistic bit of constantly rebuilding things and plumped for repairs that would outlast me. You'll notice I didn't mention sizes for metric 'cos my brain refuses to remember, cross-reference, or recognise anything but Imperial sizes, so I'm with you there !! Cheers, Bill