well workin on Donzie's car today i discovered that the window cranks and door handles have a differnt size horse shoe clip than most of the newer (60s and 70s) GM vehicles i've worked on. i had a tool for the newer (and smaller) clips but it would not fit around the crank base to push the clip off and release the crank from the shaft on the 50 Chevy. whats a boy to do?? well i could swear at it a while (and did), i could risk messing something up while i fish around and pry on it with screw drivers OR i could build my own damn tool to remove these clip. now, while trying the other tool i did manage to get one window crank off by some stroke of luck and thats when we figured out exactly what the problem was. soooo, here is the tool i made and a step by step photo montage (or whatever) of how i did it... well, first we start to cut out the shape leaving extra metal to fold under to stiffin the handle and a couple edges we can fold at a 90 to stiffin the "blade" of the tool... here is the sample tool (the one that is too small to fit around the shaft of these cranks) and the sample part we need the new tool to fit... i bent the edges of the handle in the brake as far as i could then i hammered em the rest of the way over to make a nice stiff handle (i will later round the end of the handle and maybe even wrap it in electrical tape for a grip)... then i bend the 90 on the edges of the "blade". gotta make sure the bends are far enough apart to fit around the outside of the handles and cranks it'll be used on... then i bent a little "Z" in the handle so you can have room between the door panel and the handle for your hand . make sure you bend it UP in the same direction as the blade edges... close up of the notch i cut in the blade useing tin snips, a cut off wheel and some hand files for the final touches. it has to fit the crank snuggly so as to catch both edges of the clip at the same time. the two "fingers" that i made in the blade are the parts that will actually push on the ends of the clip. i can put the blade of a regular screw driver in there to bend them in slightly if tollerence is too loose (like if the tool wears or if i made it a bit big)... the finished tool fit to the window crank. nice and snug... alot of work for something i can PROBABLY get at the parts store for 5 bucks but it was sunday, i was broke and i'm not SURE they make them for the bigger clips as i've never actually seen one before. but now i have one and i can say "I MADE IT" ....
I hate to tell you this....but a shop rag works every time. loop it behind the handle, pull back a forth a few times and it will snag the clip and pop it right out! Nice work on the removal tool, though.... Brian
Kustombuilder, JUST WHEN YOU THOUGHT YOU HAD THE WORLD BY THE *** SOMEONE USES A SHOP RAG AND PUTS YOU DOWN. hahaha!!! Frank
i don't think that woulda worked on this one. the clip is VERY well shrouded and even with the tool it is hard to get the clips off. they do not come off as easy as the smaller (newer) ones i am accustomed to. i believe 56 has the smaller ones but don't quote me. i have one in the garage i will check it tommarow...
Not trying to be a smart ***, but it's worked on every '50's chevy I've ever fooled with...you just have to push the door panel in to work the rag down to the right spot... Brian
At the upholstery shop we just use a BIG hammer I mean, hey, it ain't my car!!! Great lookin' tool you made...we have a draw full of similar home made stuff. You did make sure to charge Donzie for the labor to make it right!?
A shop rag!! I use the old fashioned way. Take a good little screw driver, **** it all up, and curse and swear for an hour while you go fishing behind the handle!
While it is hard to beat Kustm52's hop rag trick, I have made and used an even simpler method. Get a paperclip, the big ones are better than the little ones. Or a piece of fairly stiff wire, needs to be about 0.045 diam or larger. Straighten out the clip and then use needle nose pliers to form a little hook on the end. To use it, just push the door panel in and hook the retaining clip in the center, away from the ends. You might need to grab the wire with pliers, but just pull and it works every time. Cheap and effective.
done all those before but, the shop rag has the least chance of scratching anything. I've also heated the end of an awl to bend it into a hook. sometimes getting the clip out is the easy part, the pot metal handle can bond to the steel shaft and it can take a BFH and prybar to get off. of course to reinstall, the clip goes on the handle first then the handle goes on the door
Those cheap dental pics with the 90 degree bent end you find at the swap meet work great too. Stick it in there behind the clip, turn it 90 degrees to snag the clip and yank it out. Hardest part is finding the damned pic in the toolbox when you need it. Oh and the red shop rags work better than the terry cloth dish rag ones. Making that tool was great, but most of those I've tried to use tend to slide by the clip and you have to monkey with them too much.
I used a piece of bent coat hanger wire to yank 'em off my 67 Nova. Of course, that was after an hours cussing because I had never seen one of them clips before and could not work out why the **** the handle wouldn't come off the door Speaking of clips, I met this young Scottish lady at a tattoo convention recently. Unlimited source of clip material?
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