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latest addition to my collection a fairly good condition Zusatz 40 [Zus(40)]

J

jedifox

HONOURED MEMBER RIP
hello to all you fine collectors out there , i scoreda Zus(40) in fairly good condition,however i would like some advice from the more experienced collectors on this great forum as to do any restoration work on it. here are some pics of the Zus(40) in question, thanks in advance for any advice that you can give me.CIMG5371.JPGCIMG5372.JPGCIMG5373.JPGCIMG5374.JPG
 
Going by my own experience with these i would leave it as it is,i got one last year much the same as yours in nice unmessed with condition..then i messed with it and it broke :banghead:
 
Same as what others said, i messed with one of my ones and wished i left it alone,,,,,,, Dave
 
thank you to all that have replied to my forum thread , as i now have the Zus Z(40) in my possession i have found that after very careful investigation of the fuze,that i have discovered the following,the striker system needs a good soaking in pen-oil to possibly loosen up the parts , or can vinegar be used on the zink alloy parts to get rid of the corrosion ? any suggestions are most welcome .i am not going to force any parts loose as that will damage the Zus40.
 
jedifox said:
thank you to all that have replied to my forum thread , as i now have the Zus Z(40) in my possession i have found that after very careful investigation of the fuze,that i have discovered the following,the striker system needs a good soaking in pen-oil to possibly loosen up the parts , or can vinegar be used on the zink alloy parts to get rid of the corrosion ? any suggestions are most welcome .i am not going to force any parts loose as that will damage the Zus40.
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DON'T start with chemicals or vinigar, once you have started that chemical process it will be difficult to stop. Also; do not try to take it apart. It will end up with the marks of pincers and screwdrivers all over. It is now in a good condition with it's Original patina. Tampering it will shurely dercrease the value.
Regards, DJH
 
as i have access to a fully equipped machine shop under my house ,i make or modify tools to suit the needed purpose ,and pzgr40 i understand your concerns but i do examine these fuzes very carefully to see how they are put together and only use the smallest amounts of pen-oil over a very long period of time [i do not however use WD-40 that stuff is to damn feral for my liking and besides which i cannot stand the smell of it yuch! and besides it was developed for the us military to wash down their icbms ]
 
The consensus of opinion is to leave it as is.........the zinc material does not take kindly to being 'messed' with.

Advice was asked for, and has been given by those with great experience, wether the advice is taken is of course up to you jedifox, you own the item, it is up to you what you do with it.

please keep us up to date as what your final outcome is

regards Kev
 
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If you are going to go ahead even with the advice given, then have you considered trying an ultrasonic bath, a method that they use to clean carbs with. Rather than take it apart you could free up the mechanism. Not sure if the sliding bar that is held by the gaine would normally move from side to side, I assume it would free up the 3 grip bits as well.
It would be interesting to see how far you got taking it apart. How far did the rest of you get when it broke.
 
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Hello! In my opinion - just stay away !!! How bzgr.40 already said the part is 75 years old and so it should.
 
jedifox said:
as i have access to a fully equipped machine shop under my house ,i make or modify tools to suit the needed purpose ,and pzgr40 i understand your concerns but i do examine these fuzes very carefully to see how they are put together and only use the smallest amounts of pen-oil over a very long period of time [i do not however use WD-40 that stuff is to damn feral for my liking and besides which i cannot stand the smell of it yuch! and besides it was developed for the us military to wash down their icbms ]
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WD40 is the stuff that won't hurt, exept for stencilled markings and paint markings. WD40 must be different down under; I can only say I like the sweetish smell of WD40; in fact I use it as a deo to lure ladies who love a guy with a technical attitude.

"pzgr40 i understand your concerns but i do examine these fuzes very carefully to see how they are put together"

As to be seen by the drilled out screws in the baseplate it has been taken apart before to remove the detonator. Here a cutaway picture to show you the inner workings.
Please do not get infected with the cutaway virus. Zus 40's are damn expensive over here, and down under even more I assume.
 

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pzgr40 said:
.........I can only say I like the sweetish smell of WD40; in fact I use it as a deo to lure ladies who love a guy with a technical attitude.
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........... does it work?..................maybe you are onto something !!!!!!!! LOL !!!
 
i've found an australian made natural pen-oil that doesn't harm metal but eats oxides its called INOX MX-3 , it was developed to stop the corrosion on bauxite mining equipment used underground
30 years ago, i'm going to try that and see how it goes. as to pzgr40 using WD-40 well change to INOX MX3 as it doesn't remove paint it preserves it very well,
update : i just used INOX MX3 on the Zus40 and its beginning to penetrate the parts that i put it on without any damage to the metal.
 
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jedifox said:
i've found an australian made natural pen-oil that doesn't harm metal but eats oxides its called INOX MX-3 , it was developed to stop the corrosion on bauxite mining equipment used underground
30 years ago, i'm going to try that and see how it goes. as to pzgr40 using WD-40 well change to INOX MX3 as it doesn't remove paint it preserves it very well,
update : i just used INOX MX3 on the Zus40 and its beginning to penetrate the parts that i put it on without any damage to the metal.
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Hi Jedifox,

Could you please keep us all updated as well as adding photos of progress to this thread. This pen-oil you are using is new to me and I would like to see how it works. I hope you can prove us all wrong.

regards Kev
 
update, condition the same as the posted pics ,looks like it may require a few more doses of INOX MX3 pen-oil to get rid of the corrosion , and un jam the zink on zink contact with the striker release slider , it may take some time for it to work.here's hoping that it works.
 
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