expensive piece of plastic

[thehomeengineer]

Hi All
I recently had my van broken into with the lock being damaged. Not to much of an issue to get a replacement and not that expensive. However there was a plastic push rod connector that was also broken that connects the central locking. When looking to purchase the £5 item (this is the price I had in my head ) I was shocked to find this small piece of plastic costing £60 plus.

So decided to make one from a piece of scrap aluminium I had lying about in the workshop.

There is nothing complicated about the push rod link apart from the moulded hole to attach it the the barrel lock. As i was going to secure with a grub screw I just drilled a hole and positioned the grub screw in the correct orientation to lock on the barrel end. An hour and half later push rod link was finished and fitted.

Even if I do say it myself I think this is a much better repair than the 'not so cheap' plastic lever.

The photos below show the old push rod link and the new aluminium replacement.

Scrap piece of aluminium with the original lever

Milling and drilling.

Aluminium lever.

I didn't bother with the radius on each end as there was plenty of clearance so the lever wouldn't foul on anything.

Fitted to van and works as it should on the new barrel lock

Hope this helps others to have ago rather than paying extortionate prices for car/van spares.

The Home Engineer

[Frank S]

In my book aluminum beats plastic in many applications. This would be one of those applications. Good job