Brake rod wing nut

Have you tried Ken McIntosh? They are listed on his website (brake rod wing-nut garden gate & pre war) although with no price against, but probably worth a try if you haven't already?

The size is given in the WD parts book as 9/32" x 26tpi...I only realised this when I ran a 1/4" die down to clean the thread up...

I have a Ken McIntosh brake rod now. His dull chrome work is brilliant and postage costs from NZ were a pleasant surprise.

I know of no UK source for the 'Mickey Mouse Ears' wing nut - no other manufacturer used them. Russell's stock is mostly ex-WD and they changed over to a lock nut and trunion at the rear with a circular adjuster at the front when panniers were first fitted in 1941. The army must've thrown tens of thousands of the wing nuts in the scrap bin when converting the earlier bikes

David, my nut is as per the picture in the 1946 thread. The nut has a rounded 'base' which detents in the circular rear of the operating arm and it cannot come undone once there is a certain amount of pressure from the return spring.

I had a box of WD BSA nuts but they had smaller ears and were 1/4". The Norton one is a devilish item to find.

They're yellow metal (presumably bronze ?) and usually seem to have been black-enamelled.

I'll undo it and measure and photograph tomorrow.

I can't remember what I specified with Ken McIntosh. Could it be that the racers used more dull chrome (fortunately for me, the early WD bikes did as well)

I think that I'd want a thread insert there if using brass. The front brake is not particularly outstanding which means the rear pedal can get stood on quite hard at times.

I've been in the garage tonight and the camera went flat after one photo. I haven't forgotten it though.

I think I have two or three 9/32 26 TPI wingnuts in a really huge box of Norton genuine parts / spares I bought last year for £1 at an auto jumble. I will have a look if they are still there if so you can have one with pleasure.

Failing that get a brass wingnut from a narrowboat chandlers Boat people love brass), drill to a tapping size for 9/32 26 TPI and make one.

The thread and wing nut on my 52 ES2 are both very tired and ideally require replacing. Is there any technical reason why the 5/16 rod is threaded 9/32 at its end? It would be easier to thread 5/16 cyc. and make a suitable wing nut. Yes I know it wouldn't be original but you haven't seen my bike! John

We can only really guess at the technical reason...I suspect that it is to reduce the chances of the thread being damaged by the slot in the brake arm if lowering the brake pedal to give access to the primary chaincase.

Nortons were quite well thought-out and this sort of clearance and taper is just the sort of thing that they liked....and I can imagine that the fastidious Edgar Franks quite enjoyed specifying 'specials' when it came to fasteners.

Yes, I like your reasoning Richard, I think that is very probable. Think, for my purposes, will make a new one with a 5/16 cyc. thread. John

Previously John Tickell wrote:

Yes, I like your reasoning Richard, I think that is very probable. Think, for my purposes, will make a new one with a 5/16 cyc. thread. John

Wingnuts are now available for purchase in the NOCShop!

Cheers,

B

Now that's been threaded 1/4 BSF. Anyone see any problems with that? Without checking I doubt if the rod threaded 9/32 would clean up sufficiently to re thread 1/4. John

Morning,

I was told these are supplied with a pilot hole only so the end user could tap as per requirements. Mine is coming this way. Perhaps the description is a typo?

Previously John Tickell wrote:

Now that's been threaded 1/4 BSF. Anyone see any problems with that? Without checking I doubt if the rod threaded 9/32 would clean up sufficiently to re thread 1/4. John

Previously Bryon Harvey wrote:

Morning,

I was told these are supplied with a pilot hole only so the end user could tap as per requirements. Mine is coming this way. Perhaps the description is a typo?

Interesting. Will wait and see what you get. John

The nut available from the spares scheme is listed with a post-war part number and may be correct for some models but my understanding of the earlier machines reflects David's comments about form and threading. There is no trunnion mentioned in the Spare Parts Lists. A half-round one was fitted to WD models with a fixed nut when the adjuster was moved to the front to allow pannier fitment.

For comparison purposes, these images show a used (and worn) original nut and the currently available article.

Well after some thought I have compromised and this morning made a new 'top hat' style nut with a rounded end and taped 5/16 cyc. will pick up some 5/16 rod from our local steel stock holder Monday. John