Singer 500 hinge pins
 

I recently bought yet another Rocketeer. Actually, I found it on Craigslist and when we went to look at it, my wife bought it for me for Father's Day. This one had the left-hand side door (sometimes called the nose door, I guess it's the nose cone on the rocket) separate from the machine. The hinges on the door and the machine were intact, the pins were broken off.

The lower broken pin was still inside the hinge on the machine. And at first, I couldn't figure out how to remove it. Luckily, I found a way to remove the lower pin in the service manual at the Yahoo Singer Slant group. When I removed it, I used a small finishing nail to push it out.

I had planned to either order a set of pins or try to find a suitable replacement tomorrow at a hardware store or auto parts shop. However, I had a little brainstorm. The finishing nail's head was just barely larger than the hole in the hinge. I cut the nail short and gently tapped it into place with another nail. I was gentle because I didn't want to accidentally expand the hinge too much and have it crack. I also cut the nails shorter than I think the original pins were so I could lift the door out if I ever want to do so.

It works quite well and I thought I would post this on here for anyone else who has had this problem. The finishing nail is size 4D. The brand I used is, I think, out of business, so be careful using other finishing nails, their heads may be a bit larger. I'll post a photo of the repaired door and the nails, I hope you will be able to see the nails in the door hinges.

By the way, I've heard it speculated that sometimes the nose door gets broken by people trying to lift their machines out of the cabinet by grabbing the left-hand end. Then the door swings open and - snap!

Tate

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Oh! How clever, I like the simple fix.

Cool idea! Would the same thing work for the flip top? I saw one of these for sale locally but shied away because both the nose door and the top door were broken off.

Tate, I saw your post on the SSS group. I think (like 99.98% sure) the doors always did lift off, so your repair is correct.

I would check but my 503 just walked out the door this morning - finally!

That is correct, the nose pieces just lift up and off. Both my 500s are like that as is my 401.


Joe

My BIL fixed one with a pop rivit - don't ask me how.

IIRC the Touch & Sew machines are the same way. You can lift them up and out.
Good solution.
My only comment is to use caution and make sure the replacement pin is the correct diameter or you can break the door when you put the new pin in.
Rodney

A pin is one thing those little hinge holes are hard to repair.