Boyce MotoMeter Mounting Nuts & Fine Screw Threads

[Capt Quahog]

Find myself with four Boyce Moto-Meters and just one (1) mounting nut. The threads on these old original Moto-Meters is an oddball size and not easy to find. Somebody mentioned along the way that hardware dedicated for electric lamps may fit. Will need to do more scouting when opportunity permits. In the meantime, does anyone have a source for mounting hardware for these ancient contraptions? Thanks in advance . . .

[Mike V. Florida]

You mean like these?

http://www.snydersantiqueauto.com/motometer-nut

[tinman080]

Contact them before ordering. Most if not all replacement parts available new (other than face plates) are for the Junior size. I used a brass plumbing fitting for mine, then poured the cap base full of epoxy.

[1wonton]

I made the brass nut for my mm on my screw lathe.

[BILL WILLIAMSON]

Originally Posted by 1wonton

I made the brass nut for my mm on my screw lathe.

Wonton,
Are they a common diameter & thread pitch? I had a BIG "Universal" MOTO-METER on Minerva & it already had 2 nuts on it I just cleaned it up & it worked PERFECT
At swap meets, just test them with a BIC lighter. If the RED separates on the car, cover part of the radiator, when the red connects to the upper RED, it'll be like new!
TIP#181: If it cycles UP & DOWN regularly every 2 minutes or so, while cruising steady, YOU'RE LOW ON WATER!!!!
Bill W.

[SeaSlugs]

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i cant judge how big they are but like electrical toggle switches have a oddball nut size that may fit. Or lamps like suggested.

do you have a thread gauge you could figure out what size they are? im sure someone in the vast internet someone has some. or if we have a size and a thread pitch we could look in our assorted coffee cans of stuff.

[redmodelt]

They are not a very common thread size. The nuts from Snyders etc will not work. I have been down that road. The tap I got for doing these is a 7/16 27 NS thread. I bought some brass nuts that were large enough but had small threaded holes then drilled and tapped for the JR Motometer I had.

[BILL WILLIAMSON]

Originally Posted by SeaSlugs

i cant judge how big they are but like electrical toggle switches have a oddball nut size that may fit. Or lamps like suggested.

do you have a thread gauge you could figure out what size they are? im sure someone in the vast internet someone has some. or if we have a size and a thread pitch we could look in our assorted coffee cans of stuff.

Remember, most tap & die sets come with a THREAD GUAGE.
Bill W.

[John Duden]

if anybody needs one i could probably make them,
john

[d.j. moordigian]

Originally Posted by Mike V. Florida

You mean like these?

http://www.snydersantiqueauto.com/motometer-nut

Mike,...it's a different thread! The originals are fine thread, were as the
repops are coarse..

Dudley

[Capt Quahog]

if anybody needs one i could probably make them, john.

John: If you manufactured correct nuts / hardware for the antique Boyce Moto-Meter, you'd likely sell a lot of them. The four that I have are all "Junior" size with the exact same fine thread. Larger model Moto-Meters look to have a thicker pipe shaft and no doubt different nut size.

[John Duden]

what is the size, pitch, and thickness of the nut? i could make about 10 to start

[d.j. moordigian]

Originally Posted by John Duden

what is the size, pitch, and thickness of the nut? i could make about 10 to start

John,...I'm not sure, my NOS Motometer is at home. There are a number of us,
here on the Barn that have originals, and I'm sure someone will have the size.
If no one comes up with it I'll measure the one I have. Mott (Tom) should
know..

Dudley

[Bob-A]

John Duden,

If nobody comes up with the correct size for the original Junior Moto-Meter nut. I'll take one off of one of my display meters and mail it to you.
I would like to have at least three more extra correct size nuts.

Bob-A

[John Duden]

Is 7/16 27 the correct thread pitch? im gonna make a few of them
john

[George Miller]

Sounds like a straight pipe thread.

[MikeK]

7/16-27 was an old gas lighting fixture thread size.

[Terry, NJ]

I just measured mine with a thread gauge. It's 7/16X 20, the same as a head nut. In fact I was able to screw and old head nut down about four turns. If yours is the same as mine, Try lowes or Home depot. Use stainless if brass is unavailable.
Terry

[redmodelt]

The thread on an ORIGINAL Jr Boyce Moto-meter is 7/16 27. Someone in the past may have "cleaned" up the threads.

[5window]

Mac's lists a Motometer nut, but just from the picture it looks like coarse threads. I did a Google search for 7/16-27-zilch. Can you just redo the threads on a different nut?-kind of patchwork. John Duden may be your best bet.

[redmodelt]

Read my 7:57 am post above.

[BILL WILLIAMSON]

GEEZ, wish I could find a small Bench Lathe, with enough tooling to HURT myself!
Bill W.

[redmodelt]

Bill:
I just got one of those (Craftsman 109) and it's hurting my pocket book!

[John Duden]

ill be making about 10 or 15 of these nuts as soon as i get the tap, had to order one the size is kinda hard to come by
john

[Terry, NJ]

Wish I could find about 18"X 6-8 Clausing Colchester or Monark at a price I could live with!
Terry

Originally Posted by BILL WILLIAMSON

GEEZ, wish I could find a small Bench Lathe, with enough tooling to HURT myself!
Bill W.

[Mark W.]

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This might sound "nuts" but I took some brass 5/16-18 heavy-hex Jam nuts, used a standard metric tap that was real close to the Boyce threads, annealed the brass nuts to make them a bit more pliable, and then ran them onto a junk Moto-meter to get the fit perfect using some very fine abrasive compound.

It does require a lathe, but once set up you can pop out a few dozen really fast, and they seem to disappear when other guys in the club found out about them...

[Terry, NJ]

Really! If you can find an 11 mm (.437 - .440) dia X 1.0 TPI pitch. it will probably work. The nut is about 3/16 thick or about 4-5 turns. If you figure a 1mm pitch is about 25 TPI and we're looking for 27 TPI. On a nut 3/16 thick, that's barely an interference. If the nut were 1" thick, it would jam. A little fine lapping compound and a few turns up and down the thread and I think it will indistuinguable from an original
Terry


!

Originally Posted by Mark W.

This might sound "nuts" but I took some brass 5/16-18 heavy-hex Jam nuts, used a standard metric tap that was real close to the Boyce threads, annealed the brass nuts to make them a bit more pliable, and then ran them onto a junk Moto-meter to get the fit perfect using some very fine abrasive compound.

It does require a lathe, but once set up you can pop out a few dozen really fast, and they seem to disappear when other guys in the club found out about them...

[John Duden]

Tap came into today, should get them made tommorow!

[Capt Quahog]

Tap came into today, should get them made tommorow!

Holy Moly . . . you're fast!

In the meantime, I mounted an expedition to investigate the electrical related parts. Rumor had it that the nuts for lamp fixtures were the same size. Upon investigation, non of the electrical component nuts would fit the original Boyce Moto-Meter.

So . . . if possible, I could also use five or six correct thread nuts.

[John Duden]

well i got them made

[Tom Wesenberg]

John, you keep up that nice machine work, and you will mess up the meaning of "farmer fix".

[5window]

Originally Posted by John Duden

well i got them made

I predict you're going to have to make a lot more!

[Terry, NJ]

They look nice!

[Terry, NJ]

The thread size of electrical threaded tubing is 1/8 x 27 Straight pipe. Not that hard to get, I have several brass ones myself. This thread is 7/16 X 27. It's a odd ball, very rarely used. Honestly, I never heard of it and I've been playing around machinery most of my life and I sort of collect weird taps and dies. This one eluded me.
Terry

Originally Posted by Capt Quahog

Holy Moly . . . you're fast!

In the meantime, I mounted an expedition to investigate the electrical related parts. Rumor had it that the nuts for lamp fixtures were the same size. Upon investigation, non of the electrical component nuts would fit the original Boyce Moto-Meter.

So . . . if possible, I could also use five or six correct thread nuts.

[Mark W.]

Originally Posted by Terry, NJ

Really! If you can find an 11 mm (.437 - .440) dia X 1.0 TPI pitch. it will probably work. The nut is about 3/16 thick or about 4-5 turns. If you figure a 1mm pitch is about 25 TPI and we're looking for 27 TPI. On a nut 3/16 thick, that's barely an interference. If the nut were 1" thick, it would jam. A little fine lapping compound and a few turns up and down the thread and I think it will indistuinguable from an original
Terry


!

Took me a while to find the tap, but that is what I used. The original nuts that I have were only 1/8 to 3/16 thick so it does work. Any thicker than that and your interference is too much.

[John Duden]

Originally Posted by Mark W.

Took me a while to find the tap, but that is what I used. The original nuts that I have were only 1/8 to 3/16 thick so it does work. Any thicker than that and your interference is too much.

but now there are correct ones made

[Mark W.]

At $3.00 plus shipping ($4.00 on eBay) I'll keep making my own...

[Capt Quahog]

At $3.00 plus shipping ($4.00 on eBay) I'll keep making my own...

Four bucks on eBay? Where's this?

John D. looks to have solved the elusive oddball Moto-Meter nut quandary. At this point, all this nut discussion is starting to make me nuttier that I already was before going off my nut

Nuts!

[Bob-A]

I think $3 a piece from John is a bargin. I ordered three of them from him. I can't wait until he starts whittling out new counter balanced cranks
and cams.....LOL!

Bob-A

[walt jones]

I was told years ago that the threads on the Motometer were Whitworth threads but have not checed this out. Maybe some reserch is do here. Dont mean to confuse the issue further just relating what I was told.

Cheers,

[33pd]

Is anyone still around with a source for these nuts for the Motometer?

[33pd]

Are any of the nuts still available?

[redmodelt]

No not off the shelf for the original meters. Go back and read what has been posted. There are good leads there.

[33pd]

Thanks, I messaged Jon to see if he has anymore that he made

[redmodelt]

Just as a heads up, if you click on the posters name a drop down box will show up. Click on public profile and it will show the last time the person was on line. Jon was on line yesterday.

[33pd]

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Thank you I will try that

Al