Is anyone aware of a source for decent Cheney clamps, either repros or originals? I picked up a handful from one of the usuals and went to install them today and the quality is atrocious. I followed all the usual tips of putting a little lithium grease on them first and pre-threading before install, but out of the 6 clamps I tried, 3 would strip just starting the thread, 1 stripped part was into threading but before it had even taken up the slack, and 1 stripped as soon as it started to get tight. The final of the 6 worked OK but I sure didn’t have any confidence it would continue to hold after the experience with the others.
It seems it wouldn’t be that difficult to make reasonable facsimiles. Even just taking the same design as a decent clamp and replacing the screw with a round slotted head instead of a hex head and then a galvanized plating would look very close to original (probably fool most judges) and would be structurally solid.
Yeah, pretty amazing. I’ve been used to the marine industry where I could get very high quality stainless clamps for about 1/3 the cost of these Cheneys. I understand part of it is a numbers game, as the global demand for old style hose clamps is pretty tiny in the clamp world so it is difficult to get a manufacturer to produce at a rationale price, but I know there are quality manufacturing sources out there and the collector car market could bear higher prices if needed. Quite disappointing.
Fenner
(Ferman Wardell 1971 E-type Series 3 2+2 V-12)
6
Same problem here with Cheneys from one of the big suppliers. And I found they stretched a bit after installing, requiring additional tightening. Hopefully, the eBay guy has some decent ones.