FI Air Cleaner Straps

[Larry M.]

Re: FI Air Cleaner Straps

Dan - thanks. John DeGregory says above that he also has some GM replacements. So these have the stamping...right?? Which means they are made by Whittek..right??

[Dan H.]

Re: FI Air Cleaner Straps

Dan - thanks. John DeGregory says above that he also has some GM replacements. So these have the stamping...right?? Which means they are made by Whittek..right??

Bad news Larry, they say Wittek etc. but don't have the Pat. Pending stamping. All other parts are the same.

[Larry M.]

Re: FI Air Cleaner Straps

OK, but they are still a source of correct brackets and U reinforcements...right?

[Michael G.]

Re: FI Air Cleaner Straps

If the banding was originally bright silver, but dulled to grey, it's likely that the grey was the result of cadmium plating oxidizing to grey with time. The fact that it's still grey after all these years says it was not likely to have been zinc or tin, as both of these platings would have reached the red rust stage long ago.

[John D.]

Re: FI Air Cleaner Straps

Dan - thanks. John DeGregory says above that he also has some GM replacements. So these have the stamping...right?? Which means they are made by Whittek..right??

Larry, I am going to email you a large amount of photos shortly. Sending you pics of a NOS scrathee and a NOS SR clamp with the hex head.
Let me tell you a tidbit of info now. (Have to wait a while to send pics as the I-phone battery died.)
The hex head clamp does not have any roller/scrathie marks in it. I have looked at a ton of them over the years and never saw any roller marks.
The hex head clamp and the NOS original Scratchie have the same Whittek logo. Looks like it was done by the same equipment. Identical.
The ends of the clamp where the bolt is appear to be identical. Now I am not into the detail as much as you are. I admire you eye for detail.
The length of the two clamps is identical. The width is also. But finish on them was probably the same.
RJ thinks the clamps were plated first. And then they were machined. Once again no reguard for beauty. Seems manufacturer's were more concerned about usuage instead of beauty.
Larry, Why don't you write an article for "The Restorer" on these clamps. You have dived head first into the project. Go for it as it will open peoples eyes.

I have been playing with you guys so now it's confession time. I have been a horder & collector (not as bad as Jorjorian) since the mid 70's. IN allll the years I have never seen any correct hose clamps for the FI cars. You know what I do so one would think I would have had the chance to buy some clamps. Or you would have thought when fellows wanted me to buy a large amount of NOS FI parts the correct clamps would pop up. Welll they never did.
Now for the truth.
Ken Reuben used to reproduce fuel injection parts. He and I were close friends in spite of the fact that most could not get along with him. But that not nice to say since he's not here anymore.
When Ken died I was given the chance to buy out his estate worth of FI's and parts. And so I did.
I got a lot of stuff but only one part impressed me to the point that my heart was racing.
The part that really turned me one were his collection of NOS scratchies. Never in all my years had I ever owned any. Yes I had junkers and the usual but never had any NOS ones that still had the GM yellow tag on them. They are absolutely priceless and they turned me on more than all the other parts and units.
That's how rare these clamps are friends.
I kept a pair for my neglected 63 trailer queen called the LWC (Little white car). A car that I plan on working on as soon as I get over a sciatica nerve issues.
Now don't go writing friends as all I have left is one pair for my car. My buddies cleaned me out of the others. True story for sure.

If you are restoring a car today you would do well to buy the repros from LI. I supplied the sample for Richie and he did a decent job on them.
And Dan I am quite sure that Dennis Pacy said the fold was about 3-1/4".
Enough on clamps. Sorry to ramble. It's a fun thing though.(for a few of us) Thanks very much. John

[Larry M.]

Re: FI Air Cleaner Straps

John asked me to post these 9 pics of an NOS original clamp versus a GM replacement. I'll do so in three posts so as not to overload.

[Larry M.]

Re: FI Air Cleaner Straps

Second set

[Larry M.]

Re: FI Air Cleaner Straps

Last set.

I haven't studied these yet but my first comment is that the service replacement does say Pat. Pend. Dan, you said they didn't which tells me that there are two versions of the service replacement.

[Larry M.]

Re: FI Air Cleaner Straps

Just a couple of comments. The middle pic in post 37 shows the reduced width of the strap end very well.

Also, a pic on the LIC web shows their stamping. The text is correct but their font is larger. But the good news is that John shows a pic of a GM replacement which the correct font.

[Larry M.]

Re: FI Air Cleaner Straps

I found this part for sale. Being a reasonable guy I thought about it awhile....maybe a nano second...and then bought. The guy only had two which is what I needed. $55.00 each....sometime a blind hog finds an acorn.

He MAY actually not have the part but his web showed two...I bought one...then it showed one...I bought it also....for some reason I couldn't get both on one order. He sent me order copies and invoices twice and took my money via paypal twice.

I'll sit on the edge of my chair until I get shipping confirmation. These are the real deal. He had five pics on the web.

[Larry M.]

Re: FI Air Cleaner Straps

For some reason one of the pics above won't display so I'm trying it again

[Larry M.]

Re: FI Air Cleaner Straps

I know I've beat this subject to death but I wanted to share this last observation. The pic is of the U Reinforcement from my original clamp. Note that the hole is near the lower edge. This is extremely important. This reinforcement along with the strap form a four layer stack the screw goes into. So with this feature and the one layer of strap which passes below the U reinforcement there is not much "mass" below the screw. The result is that the stack can be pushed over the lower strap (folded back end) without a lot of resistance. On the Corvette Central/Paragon units I have the "stack" is larger and the hole is in the center which contributes heavily to be clamps being useless. Dan says the LIC units work so they are likely better in this regard. The folks who did the ones I have couldn't have done much more wrong; I don't think they actually knew how this thing cinched up.

[Michael G.]

Re: FI Air Cleaner Straps

I don't think any of them are close to the original. Even the LI part is different than the original.

LI is in the RH pic, original in the LH pic:

Screen Shot 2014-09-21 at 7.12.47 PM.jpgScreen Shot 2014-09-18 at 6.23.18 PM.jpg

Notice that the u-spaed piece is much thicker on the original. Also the layering of the band end with the u-shaped piece is different. On the original the u-shaped piece is oriented such that its bend is close to the leg of the bracket; its just the opposite with the LI clamp.

[John D.]

Re: FI Air Cleaner Straps

For some reason one of the pics above won't display so I'm trying it again

Larry, You are extremly lucky to get those rare clamps. Let us know if you succeed. Nice find and dirt cheap. John

[Larry M.]

Re: FI Air Cleaner Straps

So I received the new straps. There is a variance which is on the one hand a disappointment and on the other extremely interesting. They are exactly like the pics John sent including original GM tags as in John's pics with the 3749810 correct part number; the tags are not fakes. But the number stamped is not 20; it is 22. The straps measure 20 inches as they should. The logical conclusion is that Wittek had a stamping error which GM either did not catch or choose to accept. I know some have never see originals so this may be a useless question but has anyone ever seen this before? There is no chance these are one of one.

Also, the term "Wittek" is vague to non existent for the first letters on one. Can't see the other due to the tag. My originals both show this same issue so I'm fairly sure it is common.