Re: Door Pull 1947 Custom Super Clipper
Posted by HH56 On 2019/9/28 13:10:18
Believe it was clear hard plastic originally but most have yellowed over the years. Many including myself have taken the old broken pieces off and replaced with a wrapping of clear tubing such as used in aquarium air lines and other machines that used small diameter tubing. Once the window molding is off the car the pull can be unscrewed from the molding on each side and then further disassembled by removing a screw at each end which holds the bar to the ends. Once the screws are out the long bar is free to work with.
The trick is to pull and kind of stretch to wrap the tubing very tightly around the bar to completely collapse it and also at the same time keep the loops tightly touching one another so the appearance mimics the original -- all while keeping the starting end from unravelling. I was able to use a screw and washer in one of the mounting holes to trap the tubing under the washer while doing the wrapping. I would practice a bit before cutting the length of tubing needed for the final wrap because if you wrap and then find it needs to be tighter any creases formed on the tubing by the bar will be noticeable if the tubing is moved and the creases land in a visible spot. Also take note that the wrap slant is different left and right sides and is always kind of leaning forward so you need to start it differently on the bar depending on the side you are working on. Once the wrap is done the next trick is to get the wrapped bar screwed back into the end pieces with the tubing still tight without one end coming loose.
I used Tygon B-44-3 tubing purchased from an ebay vendor but Amazon also sells it. It has been several years so ebay no longer has the order archived and I cannot remember the specific size bought. The most important dimension is the OD so the wrapped and collapsed width is flattened near to the original look. The tubing I have measures out about .158 OD when round so close to 5/32 which makes me believe I ordered a 3/32 ID clear tubing with 1/32 walls. The walls need to be fairly thin so there is not a lot of bulk when wrapped but still not paper thin like some of the vinyl tubing.
If you find something at a local pet or fish store check the outer diameter and try to get something close to 5/32. Some aquarium tubing is 3/16 and IMO, while 1/32 more width is not much, when I tried it I thought it looked just a tad large when wrapped as compared to the original. What I found locally was a very thin wall vinyl like tubing and that might have also made a difference when compared to the more cushiony thicker walled Tygon.
Here are a couple of crappy photos of what I wound up with but overall I am happy with the job. The slight cushion of the tubing feels good, is not too bulky and closely duplicates the look that was on my Custom.
Attach file:
(45.71 KB)
(26.17 KB)
The trick is to pull and kind of stretch to wrap the tubing very tightly around the bar to completely collapse it and also at the same time keep the loops tightly touching one another so the appearance mimics the original -- all while keeping the starting end from unravelling. I was able to use a screw and washer in one of the mounting holes to trap the tubing under the washer while doing the wrapping. I would practice a bit before cutting the length of tubing needed for the final wrap because if you wrap and then find it needs to be tighter any creases formed on the tubing by the bar will be noticeable if the tubing is moved and the creases land in a visible spot. Also take note that the wrap slant is different left and right sides and is always kind of leaning forward so you need to start it differently on the bar depending on the side you are working on. Once the wrap is done the next trick is to get the wrapped bar screwed back into the end pieces with the tubing still tight without one end coming loose.
I used Tygon B-44-3 tubing purchased from an ebay vendor but Amazon also sells it. It has been several years so ebay no longer has the order archived and I cannot remember the specific size bought. The most important dimension is the OD so the wrapped and collapsed width is flattened near to the original look. The tubing I have measures out about .158 OD when round so close to 5/32 which makes me believe I ordered a 3/32 ID clear tubing with 1/32 walls. The walls need to be fairly thin so there is not a lot of bulk when wrapped but still not paper thin like some of the vinyl tubing.
If you find something at a local pet or fish store check the outer diameter and try to get something close to 5/32. Some aquarium tubing is 3/16 and IMO, while 1/32 more width is not much, when I tried it I thought it looked just a tad large when wrapped as compared to the original. What I found locally was a very thin wall vinyl like tubing and that might have also made a difference when compared to the more cushiony thicker walled Tygon.
Here are a couple of crappy photos of what I wound up with but overall I am happy with the job. The slight cushion of the tubing feels good, is not too bulky and closely duplicates the look that was on my Custom.
Attach file:
(45.71 KB)
(26.17 KB)
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