The International Cessna 170 Association

blueldr wrote:The pictures of assist straps shown are differfent tham the ones that were in my airplane. Mine had a steel chain inside the "upholstered" outer cover.

On your airplane, Dick, it was probably from the aviation department at Ace Hardware...

FWIW, mine are the braided type like n2582d's photo titled "Assist STrap Fitting", but upholstered.

Assuming you still have the original ends available and the tools, here is how you can repair your assist straps for under $8 a pair.

Buy 4 Raco Cable Protectors at less than $0.50 each. Home Depot may have them. I found mine at the local hardware store. Buy 3’ of 5/8” Black Poly Rope at Home Depot for less than $2.

Buy two packages of 3/4” – 3/8” black heat shrink tubing SKU #032076077655 at Home Depot for less than $4.

Cut the ears off the cable protectors. Grind a pair of recesses into one end of the cable protectors. Bend the cable protector off center so the teeth on one end will fit into the recesses of the other end. Sear the end of the rope and smooth it out with a wetted gloved hand. Slide a trimmed piece of heat shrink tubing over the rope. Thread the cable protector onto the assist strap end. Place the rope into the cable protector and onto a pair of the teeth. SEE NEXT POST FOR SECOND HALF OF DIRECTIONS...

REPAIRING YOUR ASSIST STRAPS continued...

Bend the teeth of the cable protector in a manner that allows good penetration of the rope. Crimp the cable protector onto the rope. Slide the heat shrink up around the joint and apply heat. Install in the aircraft and apply a test load.

Corey,
That is very creative!

My assist straps consisted of a steel chain inside of a piece of rubber hose covered by the upholstery material. The guy that reupholstered my interior recovered the straps to match.

Nice work and innovative thinking, Corey!

A recent request makes me think some of us are still trying to find the handle attach ends or something similar and yes it might have something to do with age.

A note of caution ---- make sure the assist straps you attach to the front door posts have a cable or chain inside capable of handling enough weight for a oassenger to pull themselves up on it, I saw a guy take a nasty fall backwards when an assist stap broke.

n2582d wrote:Jere and Marge Verdone at http://www.verdones.com will make the end fittings out of stainless for $40 each. Marge suggested contacting Restoration Specialties Corp for making the cord grips. Like Forrest Walton, I bought a pair of new assist straps from J.W. Duff in Denver for $65/ea.

P1010645.JPG

If anyone needs a sample to make reproductions from send me a PM. Interestingly, I tried googling the number stamped on the cord grip. Turns out it is a patent number.

Cord Grip.jpg

The only thing I couldn't find online was where to buy these fittings.

I am looking for anywhere I can find some of the assist brackets. The link for the Verdone's does not seem to work, and I can't find them in the member directory. Can anyone suggest where I can get an original, or better yet, and steel reproduction of the assist strap bracket?

If you have a mounting bracket (even a broken one) to use as a pattern and feel industrious enough, you can fabricate some from 1/8inch SS plate. It takes a while using a hack or band saw, drill, numerous pattern files and crocus cloth. I made a pair that went for $30 at the convention silent auction. Also made one for my 170 that broke a few years ago. The stainless steel shines up just as good as the chromed originals.

Here's my solution. Bought the leather strapping, and lacing from a leather supply house. I then took the materials, including the attach fittings, to a shoe repair shop and they laced them up. They are very sturdy. Those of you who have met me would definitely agree to how strong they must be.

Was the '52 B model the first 170 to come with assist straps? I seem to remember getting in more than one 50/51 models that did not have them. Seems you used a hand hold in the top of the glare shield (don't remember if it was on the side or in the middle) like the C-140's.

My 1951 A-Model has them, as well as the inst panel hand holds.

The 48 IPS does not have them. They are listed in the A model IPC. No telling when they were made available. My '49 doesn't have them so it was either a '50 or '51 year addition.

Here is another option if the casting brackets are broken like they were on my 180. Make the part that bites into the rope like I detailed a few posts up, then go to the hardware store and buy a ring and some pre-drilled brackets. Put the ring in a vise to make it oval and bend the pre-drilled brackets around the ring. Assemble like detailed in the posts above and this is what it looks like: