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I had to take apart the bows on my 2015 Vintage Speedster. But now that I’m going to reassemble them I’m not sure where the black adjuster lever (which pushes up the rear bow) goes.

It can either be between the metal cone-shaped base and the front bow, or between the two bows. I think it’s the first (see photo), but I want to be sure.

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  • Bows
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wombat posted:

I had to take apart the bows on my 2015 Vintage Speedster. But now that I’m going to reassemble them I’m not sure where the black adjuster lever (which pushes up the rear bow) goes.

It can either be between the metal cone-shaped base and the front bow, or between the two bows. I think it’s the first (see photo), but I want to be sure.

The photo is correct. I also confirmed it on my VS built car.

I always thought those cones were a little "Cheesy" so I made a couple out of aluminum, drilled and threaded them, and drilled two holes for a spanner wrench to hold them while I tightened the bolt out in the fender well. This way they can be tightened adequately without binding the bow assembly. If the bolts are shortened a little, the pretty acorn nuts can be tightened until the bottom out without binding up the bow connected to it. They look nicer all polished and match the finish of the acorn nuts............Bruce

Wombat.....I don't have photos on this computer. I'm in Mexico for a while but I drew a picture of what it looks like for you and just took a phone picture of it so here it is. Also I sold my Speedster last year. I made them out of aluminum and polished them up to look nice. The plus is that it became a nice tightly mounted stud on which to attach the bows instead of a bolt all the way thru the fiberglass on which the whole mechanism  was dependent on being a sandwiched between the bolt head and the acorn nut. Just a more thorough way of mounting and you never have to hold that bolt head out under the fender whenever an adjustment was made. Also the "cone washer" never gets flattened out with more tightening.

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  • IMG_2486: Aluminum cone nut for Speedster top bows

My bows are stainless steel from Vintage Speedsters.  I made threaded inserts from 1/2" OD aluminum round bar.  They are about 1 3/8" overall length with 1" of length turned down to 7/16" diameter.  The 1" long, 7/16" diameter slips into the inside diameter of the bow tubing.  The inserts are drilled thru and tapped 5/16-18NC for the rod ends.  I epoxied them into the bows using JB Weld.

The rod ends are 5/16" stainless steel rod ends from McMaster-Carr (not Heim style rod ends, although they could be used)

https://www.mcmaster.com/2434k37

Align the hole in the rod end with the existing hole in the bow, leaving room for adjustment, mark and cut the bow, deburr and install the threaded insert with the JB Weld.

Hope this makes sense!  

James

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