Broken control rod spring replacement
 

Has anyone attempted to replace the little spring inside of the cap that attaches to the ball on the advance control rod? Parts suppliers were showing control rod sets out of stock when I ordered parts last week but today Snyders appears to have them back in stock. Problem is that it will likely cost as much to ship them as the rods cost themselves.


I am thinking I can cut the advance rod in half, replace the springs (I have a lot of small springs saved from gunsmith projects), and weld it back up possibly even adding a half inch or so as it currently rubs the ignition cable going to the distributor.

Re: Broken control rod spring replacement
 

Some repairs and alterations are worthwhile but the rods can be found used. I've lengthened them to change one length to another or to replace a bad ball socket coupling end. Used ones may be OEM or may be old reproductions so a person has to look them over carefully to see what they want. If new ones are available then it saves the work it takes to modify or repair. I do save the old usable parts just in case. Look the little arms over well on the steering column and make sure they still have enough of a ball for the spring socket to capture. I've brazed those little devils up too.

Re: Broken control rod spring replacement
 

I wish that were the case over on our side of the country. I scrounged the Luray Swap meet and only found 1 Spark Control rod worth buying. Most either have a weak spring on at least one end,the rod is rust pitted, or the end of the cap is worn. The costs of having a group of them Cadmium plated means that it takes a nice one to start with to have something worthwhile in use. The new reproduction ones have been out of production for more than a year.

Re: Broken control rod spring replacement
 

I think that's rackops's music I hear playing.... I know he's setting up a plating arrangement for small parts, but he's also looking for candidates for reproductions. The demand for quality control rod reproductions would be very high.

Re: Broken control rod spring replacement
 

Mine has one spring broken and has no tension on the ball stud. I found a new advance control rod on Ebay for $20.55 shipped. The seller states 9 available if you need one, or a spare.

Re: Broken control rod spring replacement
 

How would one un-crimp and re-crimp the sleeve that holds the spring?

Re: Broken control rod spring replacement
 

There is a coupling available that can be used to change the length of any control rod. If the control rod was cut the coupling could be used to put it back together. See https://www.snydersantiqueauto.com/p...9546&cat=41663

Re: Broken control rod spring replacement
 

I fabbed my own connecter/adjuster for my control arm.

https://www.fordbarn.com/forum/attac...8&d=1755109876

Re: Broken control rod spring replacement
 

If the demand would be high how many sets and what would the price point be for identical to original as compared to ones that just worked but were obviously replacements.
If you needed a order for 5000 of each length and you had to pay for the 5000 up front
And the market is 300 sets a year ( how many do you think?)
If a perfect reproduction cost 12$ each to make .
A metal one that looks different but usually works is 6$
And a metal rod with molded on plastic ends costing 3$
which one would you make and how much would you sell them for?

Re: Broken control rod spring replacement
 

Y-Blockhead, I am planning to do this. Were you able to buy a coupling nut ,or did you tap a tube?

Re: Broken control rod spring replacement
 

Perry, I tapped a piece of stainless steel tubing, I forget what size it was as I made it years ago.

Re: Broken control rod spring replacement
 

Here's a "coupling" made using setscrews:

Re: Broken control rod spring replacement
 

OK Kurt, I'll bite...

5000 sets means ROI over 16 years if 300 sets annually are sold. For someone who has the expendable Capitol to make this $180k order will be how old will John Doe Investor be when they see the ROI?

The next thing is, -will 300 sets of annual sales be accurate? If the manufacturing costs for each one is $12.00, then retail at minimum will be $24.00. This is because someone needs to pay to ship them to the warehouse, and then for the warehouse space. Next we need to factor in a profit for the Person who made the investment. So lets say we are at $2.00 each for shipping (-for both overseas and trucking from dock to warehouse) and $2.00 for warehousing. Now we are at $16 each by the time they are ready to distribute. Let's just say the person selling these would like to make $4.00 profit off of their $240k investment (-I wouldn't risk it for 25% profit!!). So now the sets are distributed to the Vendor who will sell them each for $24 which means they must pay the freight from the Warehouse to their business, then inventory them, -and wait for them to sell for a $5.00 profit minus the freight, warehousing, and advertising costs.

So what did I miss in this synopsis??

Now imagine the greedy/selfish Business person that says, I am going to make a cheaper Control Rod where I can undercut John Doe Investor by $2.75 because while mine won't be the same quality I know I can sell it because it will be cheaper and Model-A ppl will buy it because of the lower price.

So what did I miss in this second synopsis??

Re: Broken control rod spring replacement
 

Has anybody looked at summit or speedway for multiple carburetor linkage rods?
My old Fords have multiple linkage rods all the way into the 1960s.

Re: Broken control rod spring replacement
 

Also check into McMasterCar , they have control rods for boiler burners

Re: Broken control rod spring replacement
 

Brent-

As usual, you nailed it.

I'd like to get some quotes on making the control rods from my sources - just need to get the drawing first (sadly, it doesn't appear to be available for free).

I was able to get quite a few from a couple of collections recently and have had them cadmium-plated. I'll have to see what I have available if anyone needs them. And this was after digging through ones that were rusted beyond use, didn't have broken springs, and that survived the cad plating process.

As far as getting parts made, I'm in the process of doing that. It's not an immensely difficult process, but if it's being done as a business, it gets very complex, and the fees add up quickly. More daunting are the up-front costs...nothing is free.

For me, having parts made is just a side gig, and I run it as a single-person small business. I don't have overhead except for my house, and my storage is in my shed. So those don't cost me. I also don't plan on wholesaling items, so that's helpful too.

That said, what I'm doing is very low-profit. I don't need to pay to keep the lights on, nor do I have to pay employees, so my margins can be really thin. I also look at this as a fun part of the hobby, and I see it as an opportunity to help out fellow Model A owners.

Unfortunately, when I have things made, they are not in sufficient quantity to qualify for massively reduced prices. I'm having parts made in the hundreds, not the thousands, so I'm paying a premium for what's being made. I also don't want to be stuck with some of these parts forever, so there's a balance between buying in mass quantities and having a stock that I'll eventually sell out of, with a decided variance in profit margins for me.

The other massive headache is tariffs. These are big in the news right now and for good reason. I'm having to pay around 30% tariffs depending on what country I'm working with. That doesn't include the other import duties included on goods coming from overseas, so I'm averaging 50% import fees on what I'm buying.

When I had my dash light contacts made, it cost about $1200. Not too bad, but having to pay almost $600 in import taxes and tariffs made my contacts $1800. :( So now I have to figure that added cost into the dash lights, which were already expensive because of the time needed to properly plate them.

As the tariffs have gone up and down, the amount I have to pay varies. At one point, tariffs went over 100%...and unless I was willing to pay double for my parts, it wasn't worth getting them made, sadly. (And no, the people with the skills and the tech available to produce these old-school parts, and produce them in limited quantities, are non-existent in the US...so having parts made overseas is my only option.)

I enjoy helping the hobby and like being able to offer parts no longer produced or reproduced, but the journey is definitely a roller coaster at times!

Dave

Re: Broken control rod spring replacement
 

Rackops, I am asking this because I don't know the answer. Would it make sense making the parts yourself? Say you had a numerical controlled machining center? And other machines that would automate the process?

Re: Broken control rod spring replacement
 

It’s sort of impossible to answer this because you’re assuming into existence a couple million dollars in equipment. The cost structure to acquire and operate that equipment determines the answer.

Re: Broken control rod spring replacement
 

When I said 300 sets it was what I thought was a high guess—
say the 3 larger dealers committed to 25 sets each initially and 10 other dealers committed to 5 sets each and there is a market for some of the V8 ones— the manufacturing process would have to be length flexible —
What do you think the market is for them?

I make a 35-36 Ford convertible sedan and cabriolet part.( the metal part under the front header )
It is something I needed for my car and have sold a few.
I can make over 100$ a hour installing brake pads with a small investment.
I have over 100 hours making fixtures patterns and some tooling .
It take 3.5 hours to make one in lots of 3.
The material and delivery postage is 45$
How much should I sell them for?—- compared to what will the market pay for them.
I doubt there is a market for more than 100 over 10 years so it isn’t something that would make a large machinery investment to speed production viable.