Harmon Collins Rotors ?????
 

I have 5 Harmon Collins here at the shop going together for customers. Looks like two of them need a new replacement rotor. They are beyond repair etc ( one is totally missing ) any one hiding a couple you would like to trade for some work or sell outright????:eek:

Re: Harmon Collins Rotors ?????
 

Jim. probably not much response because as I understand it, there aren't any, anymore.
Whoever could mold up quality replacement rotors would have the world by the shorthairs. I'll take a couple for mine.
Maybe we should do a Fordbarn query to see how many are needed. GIve us a talking point if we find someone to mold them up.

Re: Harmon Collins Rotors ?????
 

My family's busines has a lot of injection molding done. I don't know how many they have to do to do it. But they do good work. They mold our rod guides.

Re: Harmon Collins Rotors ?????
 

I would like to find a spare or two myself, but in reality, finding someone willing to tool up an HC rotor and make the small quantity to fill the pipeline of real need, might be more difficult than finding Jimmy Hoffa's body.

Re: Harmon Collins Rotors ?????
 

Jim,
Dennis Carpenter would be prospect.....his business started with inj molding
dash knobs.
Hmmm tooling cost est $15000....sell price $100 each.....firm orders for 200
would cover the margin and overhead....maybe.
Back in the day there was no such a thing as CAD-CAM.....today it might be
possible to knock these things out from high dialectric 'plastic' round stock...blank
them out on big multi axis HARDINGE chucker and then on to a comp mill.
I'm dreamin'.
Charlie ny

Re: Harmon Collins Rotors ?????
 

Sounds like a perfect part for the new computerized 3D "printers"

Re: Harmon Collins Rotors ?????
 

I need 2 H&C rotors for my cars and would cover the cost if $100 ea

Re: Harmon Collins Rotors ?????
 

My understanding about 3D printing. Is its not that durable. One of the biggest cost of injection molding. Is color. We went from having blue guides to black. The cost had gone through the roof. The way we did all this. We had the molds made. We own them. And the company uses them to make the parts. We can take the molds any time and use another company.

Re: Harmon Collins Rotors ?????
 

I'll take 2 rotors and 2 inner caps as well.

Re: Harmon Collins Rotors ?????
 

I have an extra rotor. But the day I sell it I'll find out that the rotor in my distributor is no good.

I'm also up for some new $100 rotors. Who's gonna make em?

Re: Harmon Collins Rotors ?????
 

Well, so far from these responses we could probably place an order for maybe a dozen pieces :). The tooling required to make this part in a thermo-set plastic material with insert capabilities for brass terminals/contacts, plus the expense of tooling the brass terminals and contacts, would be quite expensive. I think this would wind up costing way more than $100.00 per rotor, but lets keep dreaming :D

Re: Harmon Collins Rotors ?????
 

Well i had to ask didnt i????

Re: Harmon Collins Rotors ?????
 

There is an outfit that goes by the name Protomold that will do small runs of plastic parts but whether they can do it like it should be, I don't know. The cost may be out of sight.

A person that has access to a milling machine might be able to make some out of glass reinforced phenolic plastic block (Glass reinforced Bakelite) but it would take some time to figure how to get the brass parts to stay in place and fit a carbon brush.

Accell uses alkyd molding compound ( a polyester based plastic) to form their caps & rotors but Echlin's mix of a similar polyester compound has glass fiber and mica in there for a better dielectric. These are all thermosetting type plastics that are generally pressure molded. It's too bad someone didn't make something similar that could be adapted to work.

The other option would be to make them look original but function as an HEI type setup. That old Chevy stuff works real good. Most folks agree they work as good or better than any magneto does.

Re: Harmon Collins Rotors ?????
 

send me a sample ,Broken one ?

Re: Harmon Collins Rotors ?????
 

Flathead Ted. I will check with Pat Mason, at MRI and see if he has one that is not fixable. Many times cracked or broken ones can be put back together with epoxy. If he has one, and wants to part with it I will email you. Pat would likely be good for a few also, as he is repairs, buys and sells vintage ignition systems like H&C, Spalding and Scintilla Vertex, for whom he worked in the past. Come to think of it, we just sold a late '40's Spalding ignition that used a stock Ford rotor with an extra contact attached to it. Have to check with the buyer and see if we can get photo of it unless someone on the barn has one.

Re: Harmon Collins Rotors ?????
 

Will these work?

http://www.vmsnow.com/dzus3/HnC_rotor.jpg

I've got a mold made....needs finishing touches. There are just some samples I made up in black bakelite. A friend emailed this post and I we put this one together yesterday so maybe there's hope.

Re: Harmon Collins Rotors ?????
 

Looks like an original one .to me

Re: Harmon Collins Rotors ?????
 

The one on the right is. The black one is mine, I was going to put the harmon collins writing on it but with copyright law it would really stink to put all that work to end up with a lawsuit....so, it (the black one) is as identical as possible.

Re: Harmon Collins Rotors ?????
 

SHOW US THE BOTTOM, THE TOP LOOKS GOOD......:eek:

Re: Harmon Collins Rotors ?????
 

Had to post as attachment, in the shop today. Hope it helps....

The scariest part was making sure the inner dimensions were precise. Big sigh of relief getting that right. They fit like a glove.