Lofrans Tigres Windlass

[MILLPOND]

I serviced my Lofrans Tigres windlass last week. All going well until I reapplied the small bolt which acts as an oil filler cap and seals the gearbox from the outside world. The bolt is plastic and in my vigour to ensure a watertight seal I over tightened it and the head sheared off. I removed the entire shaft of the bolt easily by tapping it round with a screwdriver. But the bolt is sheared. I have temporarily replaced it with a SS bolt which is way too long and not really the right thread pitch, and covered the whole thing in a big blob of grease to keep the water out, but I need a new oil filler cap bolt. From the website the part number is [635442] OIL PLUG TC0 1/4, but despite an online order and several emails to the website, no reply from Lofrans.

Does anyone know a UK distributor of Lofrans, or how I can get a replacement bolt. Does anyone have a wrecked windlass that they could take the bolt out of?

Any help gratefully received. Thanks!

 

[nigelmercier]

Lofrans were all on holiday until yesterday, give them a few days.

Did you by any chance take pictures as you disassembled it? Or did you have another reference to do it?

 

[MILLPOND]

There's an exploded diagram on the website which is quite useful. But it's pretty simple. The clutch cone assembly is all along one central shaft. This was the bit which had seized. I separated them, cleaned them with a scourer and WD40 and reassembled on the shaft with lots of grease. I didn't take the motor off the gearbox though. All would have been well were it not for my over exuberance with a 13mm spanner at the end!