53 HJ hood ornament

[larryk]

I have the hood ornament disassembled  for cleaning. It came apart relatively easy, except for the broken/missing nose piece.
Is the pin keeping the plastic from un-screwing a stock item? It almost looks like someone epoxied a ring nail in there.
The pin is ferrous (steel).

[Fid]

Is the pin keeping the plastic from un-screwing a stock item?

Yes it is. It's even listed in the parts book.  The '53 Henry J ornament tip has fins so it has to be positioned properly if you're going to use the pin. I don't on my '53, don't want to damage it or get it in crooked.
The '53 tip is now being reproduced. There's one on ebay now.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/1953-54-Henry-J-3-finned-hood-ornament-spear/264272886246?hash=item3d87e439e6:g:Fz4AAOSwwrlcXQ~7

 

[larryk]

The '53 tip is now being reproduced. There's one on ebay now.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/1953-54-Henry-J-3-finned-hood-ornament-spear/264272886246?hash=item3d87e439e6:g:Fz4AAOSwwrlcXQ~7

Yes, I am the proud owner of the 1 of 2 sold.
I will probably take my time with a fine dremel tool to get the pin and the remaining plastic out.
Thanks for the information.

[Fid]

Just to tack on, here's a NOS '51 HJ hood ornament tip on ebay and you can see it comes with the retaining pin/screw

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Henry-J-hood-ornament-plastic-nose-piece/143218189037?hash=item21587822ed:g:s~0AAOSw0d1b33d0

[larryk]

Got he screw pin and the remaining plastic out last night. After being there for 66 years, it did not come out easily, the screw pin was lightly rusted and the plastic was really stuck in the threads. Lightly ran a tap down the threads (5/8" - 10) and the new nose piece fits perfectly. I too am not going to put the pin back in, but might use a little clear silicone to keep the orientation.

[Fid]

I remove the tip on mine when I put it in storage so no, I don't use the pin either.  What's interesting is I have Edgar Kaiser's Henry J here and it has a '53 hood ornament on it with a '51 tip but it has the screw in it so whoever changed that tip took the time to put that screw in it.  Maybe it was made that way as it seems to have been put together with parts from a few different models.

[51]

Wondering what the pin does? And why you take out the tip during storage?

[Fid]

Wondering what the pin does? And why you take out the tip during storage?

The pin prevents the tip from being easily removed or stolen and also if it's the '53 tip, it keeps it in the correct position. I remove the tips from mine when stored because I keep them in a shared shed with car covers over them. If someone else is in there and decides they want to see what's under those covers, they fling it off and the tip is easily snagged and broken. Heard/seen it happen too many times. 

[51]

Will the airplane tip (like the e bay one posted) screw onto a 51 ornament?

[joefrazer]

Yes, it will.