Broken control rod spring replacement

[bobbader]

Interesting discussion folks. Don Snyder is a manufacturer of many items. I don’t want to burst any bubbles, but the rods have been out of production for more than 2 years now and retail prices have not changed significantly on these parts for several years. If this were that doable and Don saw the demand, don’t you think this might already have been (or might be) in the works. Read & reread Brent and Racktops posts here. See what you come up with after further digesting.

 

[BRENT in 10-uh-C]

While some people might say "I'm willing to pay double to have it made in the US"...most people don't feel that way and those people most definitely don't number in the hundreds or thousands. I'm sufficiently rententive enough to pay good money for parts for my Model As because I want them to be in accordance with the JS, but the vast majority of Model A owners aren't concerned about fine point and would rather buy a part that looks mostly correct, particularly if it's half the price.

I honestly feel like leadership of the National Clubs are partially to blame in this. It used to be the Mission Statement of both clubs was 'To promote the Restoration and Preservation of the 1928-1931 Ford Model-A as it was originally manufactured'. Over the past several decades it seems the Clubs have chosen to remove that statement, -AND they have effectively encouraged their membership to modify their Model-As to 'make them more reliable and tour-worthy'. They did this by publishing articles in their magazines and offering awards for 'modified' vehicles which ultimately encouraged the mindset of the Model-A Hobbyist to say "I'm never going to Show my car. I just want a Driver and I don't care about authenticity.". I think that is fine to allow/accept that 'modified' mindset, -however not promote that mindset. Kinda like a Church should always welcome a Prostitute to attend with the hope this person sees the harm in their lifestyle however the Church leadership really should not promote that behavior or bend their views just to have a larger membership.

One other point of irony is the Model-A club members during the 1960s & 70s used to constantly discourage a restorer/repairer from using inferior parts like those available from Warshawsky and JC Whitney supply stores. And then there was Rick Freeman and the infamous Rick's Antique Auto Parts (-home of the Rick Pack). Now it is almost like the accepted mindset is to encourage the use of the cheaper parts or promote hack-type repairs instead.

 

[jak]

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.

I think the repo ones are available again. Bratton's received a nice supply of the a couple of weeks ago.

 

[mcorrell]

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.

Don’t waste your money. Mine arrived today and the end wouldn’t fit over the ball stud. Not even close. When I tried to enlarge the opening the spring pulled over the dimple at the end of the rod. Fortunately I was able to get the original to work by cleaning and oiling both ends. There isn’t a lot of tension but will do until I can get a better repo.