Screw Jack Retaining Clamps

With Thanks To Jim Cheatham For Major Input

I am frequently asked if I know a source of the screw retaining spring clamp that fits to the bottom of the outer screw in the base of the jack body as shown in the 2 pictures below. The clamp primarily stops the screw rotating in the jack body when the winder is operated. All the jacks listed in my databases are now at least 25 years old and stocks of spare parts have long been exhausted, so it is up to individuals to improvise.

Jim Cheatham from Amelia, Virginia, USA contacted me with his engineering solution for the missing clamp in his King Dick B1077 screw jack that was supplied with the likes of the MGTF, MGA and some Austin Healey cars. His words explain it:

I ordered a pack of 1” constant-tension spring clips from McMaster-Carr.

I used a bolt cutter to cut the ends off of one and then bent them to give “wings” to make them so they won’t rotate.

The ones I bought are a little too thick to get past the bottom of the main screw so I ground them a little until they fit, indicated by the arrow.

The modified one in the picture was my first attempt and I could not get it to go over the bottom of the main screw into the grove so I made another one with a wider opening that went on. It was not easy to get the clip on and I may never be able to get it off but it works

Good innovative work by Jim and all by trial and error. It shows what can be done. I checked for the springs on UK Ebay and all were listed as coming from the USA. Please let me know of any UK suppliers.