David JLM Posted May 16 Share Posted May 16 Hello! I've a new 420 - the Dzus fasteners at the bottom of the nose cone are a right pain to do up. They're tricky to locate, very stiff and make the nose cone a pain to take off and put back. Of course, the dry sump is under the nose... ergo checking the oil is also a pain... I'm sure I saw someone here fitted wing head dzus fasteners but search hasn't thrown anything up. Any good reason why I wouldn't do this, or that people haven't? For those that have, can I just replace the dzus bolt with a dzus winged bolt - or do I need to remove the whole thing - and what size? I'm not expecting others to get their knees and check and measure - but if someone's done it already it would be helpful to know 😊 . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Vine Posted May 16 Share Posted May 16 Discussed here. JV 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Drumster Posted May 16 Share Posted May 16 See my posts on this thread, there is a link to the race team I purchased mine from https://www.caterhamlotus7.club/forums/topic/272475-which-dzus-tool/#comment-271963 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Area Representative paul richards Posted May 16 Area Representative Share Posted May 16 Simply cut a suitable washer in two and solder or glue into your existing dzus fasteners to turn them into wingnuts. 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Mirylees Posted May 16 Share Posted May 16 Haven't used the lower nosecone fasteners for about 40 years. They are always a pain to use and it is guaranteed that you'll be on your knees when it's filthy and raining. I removed the fasteners from the nosecone and bent the chassis tabs such that one 'hooks' the nosecone under the tabs and rotates it into it's correct location for fixing the upper fasteners. The nosecone will not be going anywhere plus the bonnet gives it extra security (obviously you can adjust the tabs to make it as tight as you like if you wish to). Doddle to remove and replace 👌 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
graearea Posted May 16 Share Posted May 16 (edited) 1/3 washer+epoxy=win Edited May 16 by graearea 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StevehS3 Posted May 16 Share Posted May 16 Sounds good! Does epoxy resin hold the washer in place well enough? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Jonathan Kay Posted May 16 Member Share Posted May 16 I thought that probably meant two-part epoxy adhesive... Jonathan 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David JLM Posted May 16 Author Share Posted May 16 Thank you all very much. I've had a squiz through and it's nice to know that I'm not alone in my travails, although clearly need to up my site search game! I'll get out to the garage tomorrow night and ponder my options - remove them sounds like the easiest, but we'll see... I'll probably end up with some two-part epoxy and a washer. I owe it to you all to let you know what I eventually do anyway! 😄 Again, thank you! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Jonathan Kay Posted May 16 Member Share Posted May 16 13 minutes ago, David JLM said: ... although clearly need to up my site search game! See you over here? Jonathan 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dan R Posted May 16 Share Posted May 16 I have looked at fashioning something with some thin ally as reinforcement on the underside of the nosecone and then attaching the Dzus style latch to it with the bobbin mounted to a stand-off where the S-spring currently is. I think this may be a far better solution, if a little more complicated to achieve and offer simpler latching rather than having to locate the current fastener blind. I am not sure if it is just mine but they can be a pig to locate and line up at times. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StevehS3 Posted May 16 Share Posted May 16 1 hour ago, Jonathan Kay said: I thought that probably meant two-part epoxy adhesive... Jonathan Apologies I did mean two part epoxy adhesive. I just didn’t type it 😀 Another option would be metal epoxy putty such as this which has extremely strong adhesion. There would also be the option of shaping a fillet to potentially add strength. http://EVO-STIK Hard & Fast Metal Epoxy Putty, Sets Steel Hard in 10 Minutes, Colour: Grey, 50g stick https://amzn.eu/d/6M68lNv Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guy Lowe Posted May 16 Share Posted May 16 Never use them and not had a problem in 22 years, I don’t think many race cars use them either. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David JLM Posted May 18 Author Share Posted May 18 (edited) The nose does appears to be steadfastly secured without the bottom fasteners. Nevertheless, following some advice here, I decided to take the two-pack epoxy and wing nut route. What follows is overkill so feel free to get back to what you were doing 🤪. I ordered the resin as well as some putty. The resin arrived first, and as I had an old fastener lying around I thought I'd use that as a proof of concept. Resin: https://amzn.eu/d/20k9Suc Degreased an m8 wing nut and the fastener, mixed the resin and applied it to both before joining them together. Here it is the next day - the first two photos in case they're not inline with the text. Sturdy as a sturdy thing, success! I then moved onto the fasteners attached to the nose. Removed nose, inverted it on a table. Mixed up the resin then stuck on the fasteners. Not the tidiest job and by the time I did the second one the resin I had mixed was stiffening... but hey ho, it hadn't set. I'll use them 'in anger' tomorrow. Or I'll just leave them undone 😁. Edited May 18 by David JLM 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigCol Posted May 18 Share Posted May 18 Nice… I have the units as described above: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David JLM Posted May 18 Author Share Posted May 18 Looking good Col, you flash so-and-so 😁. Just put the nose back on... the biggest problem is locating the fasteners then fighting to latch them as they're so stiff... that's not been solved, but at least I'm not also trying to keep a tool located in a slot as well! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guy Lowe Posted May 18 Share Posted May 18 Just bin them, they are not needed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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