Topic: Cotter pin - 67 San Jose

[rocnhrse]

67 gta s code fb April SJ
Putting  my front  suspension  together  and was wondering  if  there was a accepted  practice  on how cotter pins were bent over

[J_Speegle]

I know I did a survey for someone else on this - hate when you can't find a file but have lots of them.

Will look through all the originals and report back 

[jwc66k]

On a six slotted nut with two holes thru the bolt, grab the longest side of the pin and twist it perpendicular to the bolt around the nut, then grab the short side of the pin and go the other way around the nut.
I can do it faster than explaining it.
Jim

[J_Speegle]

Ok found at least 20-30 original examples and stopped there since it was pretty consistent

The big things appears to be to have the right length cotter pins so that the ends are not too long.

It appears in a effort to save time the workers (most of the time) only bent one "leg"  of the pin - over the nut and onto the top of the stud. We can see that some have gotten tilted or loosened over the years possibly by twisting or someone hitting or the pin grabbing someones shirt, arm or what ever while servicing the car. At the a arm I found allot (maybe one or two of the regularly assigned workers fro that position)where the one bent leg of the pin was just bent upward - again someone saving so effort - not likely what Ford wanted but that is the way it turned out

What I found - on unrestored 67 Mustangs built at San Jose through the whole production period

Hope it answers your question

[jwc66k]

On a six slotted nut with two holes thru the bolt, grab the longest side of the pin and twist it perpendicular to the bolt around the nut, then grab the short side of the pin and go the other way around the nut.
I can do it faster than explaining it.
Jim

I should have said the "military" way, not an assembly line procedure.
Jim

[rocnhrse]

Thanks for your input  , I tried to copy the most common  way as per the pictures, I never like leaving  a sharp edge exposed ,they always  seem to bite you

[67gtasanjose]

Looking at the Hardware Spreadsheets:
I will need:
(4x) 72025-S,  3/32" x 7/8"
(2x) 72026-S,  1/8" x 7/8"
(5x) 72035-S,  1/8" x 1"
Quantity of 11 Cotter Pins

Is there any orientation tips and bending practices commonly seen or expected?
November 66, San Jose built if relevant.

[J_Speegle]

I thought we had covered this in an earlier thread as far as typical direction and method of securing. Might have been 65 or 66 San Jose will take a look and share either way.

[J_Speegle]

Found this older thread - Just used "Cotter" in the search

https://www.concoursmustang.com/forum/index.php?topic=13449.msg82798#msg82798

Thought I recalled one 

[67gtasanjose]

Found this older thread - Just used "Cotter" in the search

https://www.concoursmustang.com/forum/index.php?topic=13449.msg82798#msg82798

Thought I recalled one 

Duh. I might have known to do a better search first.
Thanks.

[KevinK]

Jeff,

Would it be correct to say the longest leg of the cotter pin was folded over the top?

[J_Speegle]

Duh. I might have known to do a better search first.

Yes but what your looking for doesn't always turn up with your choice of search words but worth a try. Bottom line is hopefully someone will recall the thread and be successful in the search. Will be merging this one and that one in a moment

Would it be correct to say the longest leg of the cotter pin was folded over the top?

In a number of pictures it's hard to compare how different in length two were originally but in a couple of those shorts above it does appear that the longer leg is the one inserted into the hole on top and then bent over the stud

[jwc66k]

Would it be correct to say the longest leg of the cotter pin was folded over the top?

In almost every set of cotter pin instructions produced, the longer leg was the first to be bent (I'm stating the obvious). In an assembly line scenario, time is the critical factor, not reliability or neatness. If you look at several of the pictures, there is a bent cotter pin leg (the long one) going in several different directions in each picture. The other leg might not be even touched. The idea was to keep the nut from coming undone. My take is to not be too neat, but don't go overboard.