I’ll never forget meeting Ted Dzus on Hot Rod’s Power Tour many years ago. Ted was driving one of his always awesome hot rods and when I met him I was blown away that he was THE Dzus in Dzus fasteners. Ted’s Grandfather invented and patented the famed quarter turn fasteners and they have been a staple in the racing, hot rodding, and aircraft world ever since. It is hard to believe that the Dzus fastener has been around for nearly 90 years. That’s awesomeness. We’ve even got a cool old black and white video at the bottom of this blog item that talks about Dzus fasteners and where they were originally made.
But while actually using a Dzus fastener is easy, choosing the right ones, installing them, and keeping them nice, is not always the easiest thing. That’s why we are sharing this series of videos from Tim McAmis Race Cars on Dzus fasteners.
In this series of videos you’ll learn about the different types of fasteners, plates and springs, along with how to pair them, install them, and maintain them. Along the way you’ll see some tools that also just might help with a successful install on your project.
My first job in mfg was working with turret lathes and around Davenport screw machines as shown in the last video. Boring stuff after the first few weeks I’m afraid, I was happy to learn it and move on. I would later contract to Dzus in Anaheim for prototype and low-volume work until Southco bought the place and closed it down some years ago. Memories.
Oh and thanks for the explainers! Those things get confusing when just looking at part numbers.