That old chestnut !! cotter pins

[goodwoodweirdo]

Hi Chaps, 

I'm looking for buy a qty of cotter pins for both my Austin projects. Having searched the forum, there's plenty on the subject. 

Normally I would buy from our trusted supplier and that be it, however being over in Belgium and the post office wanting min €30 admin fee for UK shipments, will make a expensive cotter pins. 

So a few questions;
Can i replace all the cotters on the car with something Approx Length 1 3/16"
5/16" OD 1/4"BSF ?

Push bikes seem to all 9mm :-(

(The cotters I've just removed, Axle to rear spring where just through and once knocking them out, both useless)

If I buy a qty then i'll replace all / most of ... they are '30 & '31 SWB cars.

Can anyone recommend a supplier in the UK who might offer shipped (final price) or another model car which use them, eg series LR then I could find them through local suppliers or even a European supplier. 

Last resort will be UK supplier, delivered to my parents and await collection...

Many thanks for sharing your experiences....... 

Kindest regards and great '23

[Hugh Barnes]

Could you not just have them delivered to your parents who would them post them on to you? Would that not get round all the complications?

[John Cornforth]

Hi

Is this company of interest ? They have old stock 7.8 mm cotter pins (which are probably 5/16 inch diameter 7.94 mm)

https://bankruptbikeparts.co.uk/products...e-size-nos

English bicycles used larger 3/8 inch diameter (9.53 mm) cotters which these days are described as 9.5 mm. European bikes use a smaller 9 mm diameter.

I always call these tapered pins "Cotter Pins" and split pins (for locking castellated nuts etc) "Split Pins". In the USA split pins are called Cotter Pins, and this seems to be creeping in to the UK now - confusing !

[goodwoodweirdo]

Thanks Hugh, but no the BE post have a flat handling fee !! tried that ... 

thanks John I have seem them advertise on ebay will take another look 

many thanks

[Chris KC]

Could you not make a friend on the other side of the Dutch border? 

In my experience cotter pins generally need a bit of fettling to fit anyway. I guess the nearest metric one could possibly be filed to size, but then you're into metric threads and tbh I'd rather pay £30 than get into all that. 

I would add that I generally have no hesitation in re-using old pins as long as they can be extracted intact.

[Tony Griffiths]

Some interesting data here that might help, possibly. The newest cotters (from China probably) are just "smashed" into shape which means they need some "fitting up": https://bikesmithdesign.com/CotterPress/cotters.html

[Martin Baker]

Hi, if you are still desperate I may be able to arrange a delivery to Belgium of any small parts. My daughter is going to Brugges for a few nights at the end of January and could bring them with her. Just PM me if I can help.