Larry: can you or any of the other forum members tell me if the flute "valleys" of the red handled BDS screwdriver is the natural wood of the handle showing thru a clear coat or are they painted some off white color?

Thanks

Greg

Larry. I'm sending you a PM.

Greg

Looks like to me that the flutes are not painted. The wood is fairly light in color. I don't notice any clear coat as far as original goes though for a display piece, it might be a good idea.
Larry

Here's another that might be a little better.
Larry

http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b2...psifihqwpt.jpg

Thanks Larry. Crisper and brighter. I'll see if I can get some decals printed up.

Cheers
Greg

You know, as I'm working on this screwdriver project, I wonder what AC or Shelby was thinking when they supplied that "big" screwdriver?
There couldn't have been that many slotted screws on the cars or places where you could access such a long screwdriver. Maybe it was just a pry bar in disguise.

Cheers
Greg

Could be.
I was thinking the decal would be best as a water slide but I'm no decal expert. What are your thoughts?
Larry

Can someone tell me the exact TOTAL length of the original screwdriver?

Thanks.

Jack

Hi jack. As you can see in my post earlier in this thread, the catalogue calls out an 8" shaft and my pics show a handle and ferrule of 6" = total length of about 14".

Cheers
Greg

Hi Larry. Water slide may be better as it is so thin and may conform better to the "tulip" above the ferrule.
But if I can find a thin enough adhesive backed vinyl - we'll see.

Cheers
Greg

I was asking a friend if the triangle could be curved a little to make it fit the handle. He said yes but doesn't have the program to do that. I'm not sure what would be original.

On the length, original cars have been found with a couple different screwdrivers. The most common (as far as I know) screwdriver, at least from the small block car, is about 10.5" overall. (see the photo I posted from 2337) I don't know if there was a difference between the leaf spring cars and the coil spring cars as far as the tool kit is concerned though.
Larry

Larry. I've been using the "screwdriver in hand" photo as a guide. Sure looks like a big/long handle and long shaft so I'm guessing the 427 roadsters used a bigger screwdriver.

Cheers
Greg

That very well could be. Bigger screwdriver for the bigger engine!
Larry

If any body is interested here is a link to some tools I posted on the SAAC forum. Tom Buckus who was mentioned earlier on this thread is the owner.
I merely posted for him.

Cobra Tools

Cobra tool kits
 

The screwdrivers were all about 10.5" in length, no difference between the kits for the 427 and 289 cars. The screwdriver had to fit in the tool kit bag, which is only about 11" wide. There were two different tool bags that I know of, one style only coming to my attention in the last year shown to me by the original owner of his car. The old bag was carefully preserved in a plastic bag. I couldn't believe it was truly a factory supplied bag until I saw another one in a 13k mile car just 3 months ago.

The kits were all basically the same with a simple steel rod tommy bar, Elora 5 wrench set BSF/BFW sizes, Thor hammer (cooper and rawhide heads), pliers (2 styles), the brake bleeder wrench and the screwdriver.

The grooves in the screwdriver handle were cut AFTER the handle was painted, amazingly. The wood was european birch, if I recall correctly from my timber expert.

The decals were water slide. The lack of the bottom of the triangle on the decal on that screwdriver is because it has chipped off over the years.
Getting a water slide decal to conform to the contours of the handle is a real trick----I have tried it many, many times. Decal Set liquid helps the decal soften and mold to the shape, but then it becomes fragile, so... lots of luck!

The shaft of the screwdriver is 7mm in diameter, in my research a very tough diameter to find. Most modern ones are 8 mm.

Thanks Jim! Appreciate the info.
The one I have is 10.5" overall and the shaft measures .276". Also has "FOREGIN" stamped in the shaft.
Larry

My screw driver came from a known original owner of one 289, one street 427 and one comp 427. The screw driver that he gave me is marked "MADE IN ITALY" and the flutes in the handle are bare wood (note knot)....

.....flutes

Here's what mine looks like:

http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b2...ps8az8vpst.jpg

A little hard to see but it says "FOREIGN" on the shaft, about 2" up from the tip. Overall length is about 10.5" and diameter is .276".

http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b2...psgslwiwit.jpg

Larry

Great info guys. Could we get a little more?

Shaft length: from bottom of ferrule to the tip of the blade
Handle length: from the bottom of the ferrule to the end of the handle
Handle major diameter

I'm trying to tailor the screwdrivers I have to match if I can.

No, they won't be originals, they'll be "re-creations" as CS calls 'em.

Cheers
Greg