Mending a Split Screw Post With a Brass Insert

Early in my return to slot cars I discovered that my beloved tan childhood Thunderjet Hot Rod roadster had a stripped screw post. Tan styrene has a reputation for being extremely brittle, as age is not particularly kind when stressed. At that time Road Race Replicas was a lifeline of support in the hobby, and Phil Pignon suggested that the screw post could be replaced with one from a junker. My resources consisted of the seven surviving cars in my Pit Kit as a boy, and I could simply not donate one to the cause. Phil suggested that I take a look at the brass inserts found on Rick Terry's web site, http://rt-ho.com/ which offered a pretty much bombproof solution. Rick machined brass inserts for use with a fine threaded screw with a head like the original ones used by Aurora to secure the chassis to the body. The center of the split screw post was reamed with a 7/64th inch drill which I hand held and slowly removed material until it was deep enough to place the brass insert, which at this point press-fitted into the reamed-out screw post. Once in place, a small amount of JB Weld was wiped over the outer edges to fill any voids between the insert and inner post. If the screw post is split, the bottom of the split is enlarged with an X-Acto chisel-point blade just enough to prevent the split from migrating under pressure, and the split is filled with additional JB Weld and wiped flush to the outer screw post with a wet paper towel. Once set, the post repair is complete. The nice thing about this type of repair is that it provides a firm mount for vintage brass weight pans and is a neat and permanent solution. Rick no longer pictures these on his site, and if enough folks express an interest I am sure that they can be made available. I will be happy to drop him a line. God Bless! Tonymgbbrown