I have an old Testor's McCoy .049 I have been wanting to get running, but to do that I needed a 1/2A glow clip. I didn't want to spend twelve bucks on a glorified clothespin, so I made one myself. You can make one too with just a few materials. I used a clothespin and a piece of 1/32" brass stock to make mine.
To start, I measured the width of the glow head on my engine to know how wide to make the 'fork' of the glow clip. I made the center of my fork about 1/2" wide. I sketched a fork shape with this dimension onto the brass stock and then cut it out using tin snips. I then filed and sanded the edges round and smooth.
To make the piece that touches the center pole of the glow plug, I cut a 3/8" wide strip out of the same brass stock. I bent it a little to fit my needs. To make the little 'cup' shape that the center pole of the glow plug can rest in, I repeatedly used a center punch.
The next thing I did was solder a wire to the fork piece and a wire to the strip piece. I then hotglued the fork and the strip piece to a clothespin. If you build one, now is the time that you decide what kind of connector you want on the other end of the wires. I just left my wires bare because I have yet to decide what I am going to use to power it. I have used a regular glow starter by holding the wires to it and the new glow clip works really well. I think it works just as good as a commercial $12 version.
If you would like to see more projects like this one, check out my website! http://www.backroomworkdesk.com/
Log In to reply
Log In to reply