$3.15 Widow Regulator Pivot Pin
 

My pivot pin in my regulator broke last weekend. I couldn't locate a replacement on the catalog on-line here so I called Pelican and was surprised that Weltmeister is the only source and they coast $31.95 ea. Now I usually don't cut corners but $32 for a little piece of metal that doesn't need to be within very good tolerances? I decided to make my own.

First, here is the Weltmeister one:
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1149719342.jpg
The one I needed was 26mm long with a parallel slot, there are also 23mm ones and either may have perpendicular slots. So your solution may differ.

My first idea was to model it on emachineshop.com and just see what they would charge for a small run.
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1149719411.jpg
Well that was fun, and I could get the price down to about $20 ea, but it wouldn't be cut as nice... so off to try another option.

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1149719489.jpg

So here we have a 1/2" allen bolt, a regular 1/2 bolt and something labeled as 1/2"x3/4" 3/8"-16 Thread Socket Shoulder Screw. This last part was the closest fit and cost just $3.15 at my local Ace Hardware.

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1149719630.jpg
Now you can see the measurements. The head of the new bolt is 3/4" (19mm) and the shaft is 1/2" (12.7mm). So the head of the new bolt was about 2mm to big in diameter and 2mm too short. But really the way it is used the larger diameter makes no difference. The shortness of the head may be an issue and I suppose you could weld a 2mm thick washer on there to extend it but I didn't.

I used an angle grinder with a cutting wheel. Chopped off the threaded part, cut a slot in the top, and then cut the two relief cuts in the end leaving an 8mm strip.

Here is the result:
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1149720078.jpg
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1149720092.jpg
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1149720106.jpg

I installed it and peened the 8mm end onto the regulator. I have no idea what kept the old one in place so I'm guessing it was pressed. :confused:

If I were to make another one, I'd make that slot around 8.5 for a tighter fit and I'd make the other slot about 2.5mm for the same reason.

But the results were great. I put it back in the door and ran the window up and down a dozen or so times with no problems. In fact it never felt so good (probably because it was cleaned and lubed)

So, I haven't done long term tests yet, but initial ones look promising.

Pat

That's the way to be enginutive! Great job!

Excellent job! These solutions are always the best,

ianc

Pat, way to go. Hope all is well with you. I see you moved from Colorado.?
Ben

Thank guys,

<off topic>
Ben, good to hear from you. As you noticed I did move from Colorado also... however I moved somewhere way more cool than you... Dayton OH... the vacation capital of the US ;) Okay, well maybe not.
Things are good here though. I just searched your ID and noticed you seem to be having a killer time out there. Nice grouper you speared there, looks tasty. Hope all is going well!
</off topic>

Pat

Ther is nothin like the feeling of making an overly expensive part yourself!

(even if the time involved makes your pay rate 2 cents/hr -- it's a psychological feeling of independence.)

A guy on my PhD committe was famous for this - he once made a $20,000 sonic anemometer out of a discarded old-timey TV [ultrasonic] remote control and $2 worth of electronics... but that was long ago.

Pat, too bad you moved man, but duty calls ;-) Sweet little fab you did with that part, not as sweet as the deep-as-hell socket, but sweet none the less ;)

matt

Great job of sticking it to the man (Weltmeister).

Nice work!
A couple of questions.
What were the symptoms of the broken pin?
Where is this pin located?
The reason I am asking is that my driver's side window is very hard to crank up and down. I read somewhere that a bad pivot pin would cause that to happen. I also read that there are different designs of the same pin on different year 911s.

It was difficult for about 2 seconds, and then SNAP! Basically it holds a wound spring in place and holds the arms that lift and lower the arm. When it goes, turning the crank doesn't do anything you can move the window up and down by hand.
Here is a photo of a whole regulator from another thread. The pin is the part in the middle of the spring. The crank would be the part to the left.

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1078023497.jpg

If your window is difficult to use, that would place additional stress on this part, but I don't think the part itself would cause it to be difficult to use.

Yes there are 4 different types. 23mm & 26mm in length and slots cut either parallel or perpendicular to the tab on the opposite end.

Pat

Yes, if you have a lot of time on my hand. I like to fix things myself like this too, but in order for me to find the shoulder bolt and modify it correctly, that would probably take me several hours. I value my time at more than $30/hr, so the price for this particular part doesn't seem too unreasonable to me, personally.

Of course, I guess I'm biased, since I'm the one selling it...

-Wayne

ha ha ha, good one ;)

I value my time too, but like Pat I don't like to take it in the rear when I don't have to and the pricing by Weltmeister on this part is nothing but a rape.

Hopefully the other $4000+ of Pelican receipts I have make up for this one little part ;)

The time argument should be considered, but I really enjoyed finding an alternate solution. I got to play with some new software (e-machine shop) then got to take a trip to the hardware store--I mean come on who doesn't like that? Then I got to make lots of sparks by grinding. And in the end I had something that actually worked and I didn't have to wait for the part to be shipped.

Pat