72 Only Door Screw, Washer, and Spacer reproduction

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In another thread Bhelton was looking for some screws, washers, and spacers for his 72 without paying $25/set for take offs.




I piped up and said I would look for some at Automotive Fasteners (AF) because I drive by it several times a day.

Well, the screws are no problem, AF was out of them, but Lowes has them hanging on the wall in the fastener section. They are #10 self tapping oval head screws, 2 inch. The originals are 1 7/8 inches long but the 2 inch seem to be fine, if you wanted, you could grind off 1/8th inch, but they fit fine in my truck at 2 inches.

The spacers and washers? Not so easy. The guy at AF had never seen anything like the spacer, he was able to find concave washers that he could order for me...if I wanted 1000 of them.

So I just made washers and spacers...here is how.

Here is the original screw, washer, and spacer. They were all chrome from the factory.



The stuff I came up with is all stainless, not an exact match, but looks pretty close to the original when installed, the spacers are hidden inside the door and covered by the washer so you cant even see it.

I used stainless fuel line I had replaced on my truck years ago, 5/16 inch od to make the spacers, flare one end slightly and cut to proper length, which is .582 inch +/- a couple thousandths.






I bought #10 flat stainless washers and bent them to the correct amount of concave by smacking them with a hammer.

I chose a nut with an opening slightly smaller than the washer, then put washer with screw centered in the nut sitting on the vise, then smacked it with a hammer. Came out looking very much like the original.

Original on left, new flat in the middle, the new one after a swift smack with the hammer on right.









Original set on the left, reproduction set on the right.




Hope this is helpful.