Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

Delrin is a very nice nut material as well. The sound is good and it self-lubricates for easy tuning.

Delrin is a nice hard white-colored nylon. They make a variation called "Cortron" which is silver gray in color and is actually impregnated with graphite. It is used for self-lubing bushings with low load.

I see what you mean John.

Paul wrote:

... Delrin is a nice hard white-colored nylon ...

Sorry Paul, but this is not technically accurate. Delrin is a polyacetal resin, whereas Nylon is a polyamide resin. These are chemically distinct polymers (an acetal is formed from the reaction of an alcohol and an aldehyde, whereas an amide is formed from the reaction of an amine with an acid) and have different physical properties and chemical resistance.

John is right about Delrin's lubricity. As I recall from my time at the plastics warehouse, Delrin was very easy to cut, with only Teflon (polytetrafluoroethylene) and Nylatron GS (Nylon containing molybdenum disulfide, an inorganic lubricant) being easier.

One of my errant graduate school experiments resulted in what was probably some sort of polyacetal, as the reaction gave a viscous goo that was not what had been planned.

You got me, Gary. I was posting off the top of my head, and I should have said something like "Nylon substitute", because that's what I use it for. It is easier to lathe-turn (softer), and smells like cat pee when you work it. Acetal.

Also, when I said "Cortron" I meant to say "Nylatron". Memory failure that I could have easily checked on the Web. I apologize if I've caused anyone any confusion!

It is Nylatron that I lathe-turn for low-load bushings. What do you think about this stuff for a nut material? Too soft?

Teflon (PTFE) is way softer than either of these, IME.

The one on my 4001 is water buffalo horn. No lie.

Paul, as I recall (and my time at the plastics warehouse was more than 30 years ago), the pastics warehouse carried two Nylatrons, 'regular' (just called Nylatron) and Nylatron GS; the former was brown or slightly greyish-brown, the latter was dark grey or black (hard to remember, but I think MoS2 is black - yep, the CRC says it's black). Both were used for wear strips/plates on machinery, so both had good lubricity. The GS was better because it had the MoS2 as an added lubricant. As long as it is hard enough (and I'm remembering that it was about as hard as regular nylon), it should work well for a nut.

Yes, Gary--

I used GS (with the moly disulphide) when I was restoring my Sunbeam about a decade ago. Previous owner had rebuilt the "A" frame front end and front anti-roll bar using stock bushings which were rubber and Buna-N. In only five years, both had perished.

I installed a bigger a/r bar and could not find bushings. So, while the front end was apart, I bought a quantity of GS Nyatron bar and lathe-turned new bushings for all areas. I also put in lowered HD springs to drop the front end 3", and fitted low profile tires. The difference in handling and ride was like day and night.

The tops of the front fenders were only 22" off the ground! Still, ground clearance was practical and the car was a gas to drive--all the comments on the BOSS 303 thread on this forum, about Boss 302s cornering well, would be put to rest with one ride in this car.

The motor was a blown 3 litre V6 with nitrous for those "need for speed" moments. The car outran many a V8 Camaro and would run neck-and neck with a new Corvette up to about 80, when the short wheelbase made it a bit itchy.

Nice, Paul! That one sounds like one sweet car.

My "pocket rocket" was my 1970 Dodge Dart Swinger 340. With a factory 3.91 Sure-Grip differential, close-ratio 4-speed manual, and after-market headers and a Holly 750 double-pumper (manual secondaries), it could beat big blocks. With open headers on an eighth-mile dragstrip, I managed an ET of 8.85 seconds (0-85 mph).

Gary:

I had a double-pumper on mine, too. The blower ran at twice crank speed and made an ungodly howl at its full 7psi boost! 3 litre V6; 7MPG!!!

Worse than a Hummer...

Alpine or Tiger, Paul?

Started as an Alpine body in parts. (Same body as a Tiger). Tiger has of course the V8, which was a shoehorn job, if there ever was one. There was no room for the steering rack in back of the rront crossmember on them, so it was moved to the front and the result is "reverse Ackerman" effect, which makes the car a somewhat squirrely handler, along with severe front weight bias.

My car had a V6, proper steering, narrowed Shelby GT350 rear axle with big drum brakes, C6 automatic and all the other stuff mentioned above. Plus handbuilt instrument panel, done RIGHT, handmade console that looked factory stock, hardtop, leather seats, upgraded suspension, two radiators with cooling lines running through the door sills, 500W stereo hidden away...it started out a driver and ended up a show car.

It would outrun Tigers, and the Tiger guys snubbed it. Basically, it was, unlike most modified Tigers, NOT built from catalog parts with bad taste. It was tasteful, hand-built by me and every part except the headlight and taillight lenses had been massaged or custom-made.

OK, talk about off-thread: I wouldn't want to use up Peter's bandwidth with non-Ric nonsense, so here are some links to pics of said automobile:

[img]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v693/jingle_jangle/frontalp.jpg[/img]
[img]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v693/jingle_jangle/rearalp.jpg[/img]
[img]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v693/jingle_jangle/interioralp.jpg[/img]
[img]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v693/jingle_jangle/motoralp.jpg[/img]

Enjoy!

Very, very nice indeed!

My ex-brother-in-law and I restored an Alpine back in the 70s but it was back to stock-standard, not like yours. The only non-standard items were leather seats. Luckily there was/is? a business here in Melbourne that specializes in Sunbeam bits & pieces, so parts weren't a problem - just dollars!!

Unfortunately he rolled it only about 4 months after completion. Scrap metal!!

BTW, I've posted some fairly average pics of my guitars in the 'New Arrival' thread if you're interested (just to prove that I actually own a Rick!!!)

Cheers