Friday 15 January 2021

One Last Throw of the Morgan Hood Stay Dice...

 One Last Throw of the Morgan Hood Stay Dice...


While making my own versions of the Hood Stay above it was difficult not to let the mind wander towards a simpler method that could be used by those who may not want to go the whole way to buying materials and making those tricky measures and cuts.


Here is the outcome of the idea.

The Hood Stay is an old 1/2" Whitworth Spanner (But could equally be a12mm metric) and the Top Lug could be a matching 1/2" Nut but yesterday I could not be bothered to try and find one so just used a piece of the same 12mm Aluminium Rod I used for the Hood Stay Support.


The Old Steel Spanner in the vice.


Cutting off the unwanted end to a measurement of 11cm from the top edge.


The rough end corners filed round.


A 6mm Hole drilled in the rounded end equidistant from sides and end.

Note! It is not possible to use the countersunk bolts on this version due to the narrow shank and its thin cross section.
The Dome Head Bolt has a Stainless Washer on the outside and two Nylon Washers between the Stay and the countersunk hole it is to fit into.


Making the Top Lug from 12mm Rod - could also be a 1/2" Nut.

The hole drilled through the rod is 6mm


The Rod Length is just 12mm


The completed Hood Stay , Domed M6 x 25mm x Bolt and its Washer Set



The Top Lug along with its own M6 x 25mm Domed Head Bolt and Washer.


Using the Near Side to test the Hood Stay Set

The Top Dome Head Bolt and the lower nearest Countersunk Bolts will be removed and replaced.


The Countersunk Bolt Removed.


The Top Dome Head Bolt replaced by the 12mm Rod Top Lug, Bolt & Washer.


The Spanner Hood Stay fitted using the other Domed Bolt with is three washer is place.

Permanent fitting will require some Thread Lock to be applied to the bolt thread to prevent its loosening during use.


The Hood Stay in place and functioning well.

Frank


The Morgan Hood Stay - My Own Version.


The New Hood Stay Support 

This version of the Hood Stay Support was introduced by purchasing 1.2cm Aluminium Rod, cut to length and Drilled to suit the Wood Screw.
The Chrome Cap Cap and Threaded Washer sets were purchased on eBay

The full set of parts on my Kit.

The Aluminium Bar was purchased via eBay.

The Hood Stay is made from 2.5cm x 0.6cm bar cut 10.5cm long and cut to the tapered shape for design.

The Spigot is made from 2.5cm x 1cm bar cut 3.5cm in length.

All Bolts and Metal Washers are Stainless Steel.

Nylon Washers are of Polyester material. 

The diagrams were supplied by Designer colleague David Owens

Some Tools I used

Two Stays under construction

My Corner Shaping Rig.

For Detailed Cutting and Shaping

The Drill Set & Countersink Tool

Centre Punching the Drilling Positions


I started on the wrong foot by purchasing 2.5cm bar instead of 2cm so I set out to cut the width down while deciding to form a taper.

I preferred the finish so continued to use this wider bar.

Preparing the Spigot piece first.


I marked off the end of the short length of 1mm thick bar, donated to me by David, as per the drawing and drilled 2mm pilot holes after spot punching the locations.

I formed these Vice Jaw Protectors out of Perforated Aluminium Sheet which was all I possessed. 

While an odd choice, they did protect the surfaces 


After cutting to the lines using my small hacksaw and filing and smoothing with emery cloth this was the result.

At this point I realised that the nose of my piece was larger that in David's photo but decided to progress.


I marked the position for the fixing hole, centering on the 2.5cm square part of the spigot.


Next I spot marked the position with my spot punch.


The photo record here jumps a lot as here I have drilled a 6mm hole in the Spigot which I have not countersunk,
I realised that using the existing bolt type would not require one for me. 

I next filed the rounds on the top corners and smoothed the whole surface using emery cloth.

Working from a center line I marked out the recess in the Support Arm using the Spigot as a template for the recess. 



I then marked and drilled 4 x 1.5mm pilot holes along the base of the recess with difficulty controlling their verticality. 

These allowed me to break out the infill once the two sides had been cut.


It was then a case of file fitting the two parts so that they meshed together well.


I then center marked and drilled another 6mm hole in the base of the support arm. I used the sides of my small grindstone set in my hand drill to round the lower corners 

I used a series of drill heads to countersink the hole to fit the screw head of the longer 2.5cm x 6mm Stainless Steel Bolt (sent to me along with the Nylon Washers by David)


A final rub over with emery and I was ready to Trial Fit the parts.


At this point all is well. The 2cm Spigot Fixing Bolt needed to be exchanged for a 2.5cm Bolt that I had in stock.


The alignment between Stay and Spigot appears to be good.


Unfortunately, not having a pillar drill to keep the pilot drill holes vertical has left me with a small groove in the side of the prop recess.


I failed to purchase a small piece of Aluminium sheet with which to fabricate the prop support in David's design. 

However, I utilised this tapered part of an old aluminum door knob and replaced this with the Aluminium Rod purchased for the next set made.. 


The converted door knob.


The support fitted to the inner wall. The Chrome Cap was introduced following this plain version.


The prop in its supported location.


It was then just a case of refitting the prop with the recommended Thread Lock.
Thread Lock will prevent loosening of its fixing bolt during frequent use.

Best Wishes
Frank

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