Dzus Fasteners

[DMatt]

I'm not sure if I spelled it correctly, but I want to make the dzus fasteners on my RF look like the originals. Does anyone have one of the original fasteners with the tab on it that could post the profile? This is the best picture I could find and it is not enough for me to get the correct profile. I suppose I could just draw something up and it would be ok, but I would like it to be as correct as possible.

Thanks.

 

[Chris Martino]

Are these what you are refering to? It appears that they used a standard set of dzus and braised on the 'L' handle, probably easier and faster to remove on the race track than reaching for a dime in the pocket to unlock...

Chris

 

[Lynn Larsen]

Check with Bisco Industries in Orlando they carry the Dzus product line. When I got my Dzus TL300ASS Toggle Latches for the front and rear clips from them, I talked with a real nice lady there named Yolanda. They also are in Tampa which is closer. BTW, I graduated from Haines City High and my two sons and one grandson live in Winter Haven. Honestly, I had no clue where New Slough is until I looked it up on MapQuest, even though I have driven 60 through Mulberry hundreds of times going from Tampa (USF alum and used to work for GTE there) to my wife's parents house near River Ranch. Small world, idnit?

Orlando
(407) 381-7446
(407) 381-7460 Fax
5840 S. Semoran Blvd.
Orlando, FL 32822

Tampa
(727) 548-6800
(727) 548-6815 Fax
7411 114Th Ave, Suite 305
Largo, FL 33773

Regards,
Lynn

PS: you might find these at one of the usual racing retailers, but Bisco carries the complete line and were easy to do business with even though they are a pretty good sized distributor/supply house.

 

[DMatt]

Chris, Who makes the ones you posted? They look perfect.

Lynn, I found Bisco by doing a Google search, but did not find the specific thing am looking for. I will call them tomorrow and check them out. Thanks.
You have a P/M.

 

[Chris Martino]

Dan,

These look to be a custom job, specially made for the GT40's. See www.racingicons.com, awesome site full of excellent photo references and text - and if you use Mozilla Firefox as your web browser (as you should be, Microsoft junk indeed /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif) you can right click and save the images.

Lynn - I concure with Dan, cannot find the 'L' shaped fasteners shown above - either that or I'm not looking where I should be...

Chris

 

[Lynn Larsen]

Dan and Chris,

I don't know for a fact that they do have them, but if these aren't custom made and Dzus does make them, I figured Bisco would have a better than even chance of being able to get them.

Regards,
Lynn

 

[DMatt]

My original thought was to cut out the tabs and have a friend of mine weld/braze the tabs to the dzus fasteners supplied by RF, and then have them plated, but it would be nice to find them premade.

Chris, I don't use foxfire, but I can save the image with this old clunky system I have. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif

 

[Phil]

Dan
I have made those from original Dzus fasteners for an original car. They are not hard to do for someone that is familiar with silver soldering. The joint if done correctly is practically invisible except for the slight yellow/gold color. I would think you could find someone near you that could duplicate those easily. The silver solder and flux are readily available at any welding supply, and although the silver solder is rather pricey (about $60.00/ounce) it will go a long way if used correctly. The flux is called Stay Silv, a white water based paste that is relatively inexpensive for a rather large container. Also there is a flux borne silver solder that works quite well, and requires only the pasting of the parts and heat. The trick is the heat, but with those small parts a plumbers torch will work quite well.
Hope this helps
Phil.
P.S. Chris, Mozilla is definitely the right stuff, I never use Internet explorer.

 

[Sandy]

How about we find out how many folks might like a set of the 'blades' do some simple CAD work to a .DXF file and get some waterjet cut? I was thinking of stainless, but on the other hand the silver solder technique sounds simple, just hate to have anything chrome plated.

I did some laser cuts on a fuel injection timing wheel a long time ago and it was not all that expensive due to the group buy getting the price down. This is a very small part and a bunch could be made from a small sheet of steel. Thickness would have to be determined by the size of the Dzus fastner and I found out below, but would be a good idea to see what the sizes are on some cars.

Dzus Slot Width from DFCI's site, not sure if other manufactures are the same (Hartwell, etc).

0.050 (Size 4)
0.062 (Size 5)
0.081 (Size 65)

http://www.dfcis.com/racecar/rccat.html
http://www.dfcis.com/catack.html

Any interest? If I can slack off of work I have a simple cad package that I used before and I can do the drawing. Just need some best guess on sizes etc.

Sandy

 

[Bob Putnam]

I've got a drawing for the handle. E-machine wants $4 each in quantities of 100, $6 each in quantities of 50. I would be willing to trade the drawing for a couple of sets of handles.

 

[Sandy]

Bob -

Excellent, now we just need to find out who might want them. I'm in for a few sets since I'm sure I'll ruin one while brazing...

Question were they going to water jet cut them, or what was the machining operation? Laser would be second choice since the finish is a bit rougher then the waterjet. I'll poke around and see if I can find some better quotes, seems a bit high but it has been a while since I priced this type of work.

Definitly interested if no one else is, and I'll get back to you and let you know if I have found any other lower cost place then E-Machine which btw was what came to mind. The problem is most will reqiure a setup fee and that might be somewhat costly for small runs.

Sandy

 

[Sandy]

This is a rough draw of one of them that I came up with based on some dimensions from the DFCI site. This is probabally way off but here it is any-a-ways. I need this at least for getting some quotes The info I used was this

Head size 0.75", Slot Width 0.081", the rest is just a guess.


Kind comments?

Sandy

 

[DMatt]

Here is a mock of Sandy's drawing.

Here is Sandy's drawing with about 1/8" off of the length and height.

Personally, I like the smaller version better. but I think Sandy's profile looks great. My slot is only .70. Sandy's drawing calls for .81 which would be a bit thick for my existing dzus, but I could always file it a little bit. Maybe .81 is needed for strength. A friend of mine strongly suggested that they be made from chrome moly for strength. I'm in no way an expert on that, so others might chime in here.

It will be interesting to see how closely his profile matches the originals that Bob has.

I will take 4 pieces of what ever we all agree on, either Bob's proposal or Sandy's, which ever works out. I will try to do some checking around here to see if someone can produce them.

Sandy, did you slack off of work to do this??? /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif

 

[Sandy]

Dan, yes, it is Friday, why wouldn't I slack off? /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif

I modified the drawing a hair to potentiall make it a bit more universal and easier to make if you want to do one by hand. I rounded up the drawing units slightly and extended the height a bit incase it was too close to the hood line, see if too tall now (Dan if you can...)

I was thinking of using 14Gauge, which is about .074" not sure if Chrome Molly (4130) sheet is needed. If not would be about 1/3 the price for materials I'm guessing. (Comments!) I think some of the DZUS tools are alum so not sure if needed.

Here is the revised version

 

[Chuck]

I'm interested in two sets.

 

[Bill Musarra]

Have you guys thought of modifying(grinding) the butterfly Dzus latches to look the same way, or are they too far out of align to look that way??? Most auto supply stores cary them.

Bill

 

[Sandy]

I think they are too short and would be a funny shape since they look smaller. I was just going to use them, but then got wound up on this thread. Something to do until the car gets here in any case, and if it helps others then everyone wins

Sandy

 

[Sandy]

Bob -

I sent you a pm a couple of days ago, not sure if you got it. If not can you let me know a few folks so far were interested in the levers, and would be better to use the orig design vs. my guess.

Sandy

 

[John Ross]

I would be interested in 3 sets, that will give me the chance to mess one up. Send me an email when you are ready to go.

 

[Sandy]

I have sent the rough drawing I did to a water jet place, but they have not got back. I have not heard anything from Bob Putnam so not sure if he is around to help out, but if not, I'll do another hack at the leaver and make it a bit thinner and see what some quotes come out like. The first place mentioned something like a $50 setup, + $80/hr for machine time + materials. Will check back with them as it seems like a good price, but he had not seen the CAD to give an estimate on how long it will take, which should not be too long since it is small and simple.

Sandy