55J14 historical zippers?

[jack aranda]

Hi, all:
My 55J14 needs a new zipper. I purchased a Conmar, represented as historically correct by the seller, took it to Johnson Leathers here in SF to be put in, and discovered the Conmar zipper is 2" inches too short. The Conmar is 21" long; the jacket takes a 23" zipper. The Conmar has not been altered, so it originally was intended for something other than a G-1 type jacket. Phooey.

Alan at Johnson's has two models of old Talons available. One is a 'selector zipper' with a slider that tapers to a point; the other Talon tapers to a more rounded end. I'm wondering which of the two is closer to historically accurate; maybe not perfect, but, serviceable and not outright blasphemy. Thoughts? And, thanks.

 

[bazelot]

Ben, do you have pictures of the the zippers Johnson has?

 

[jack aranda]

Nope, no pics. I'm going to stop by on Saturday and make a choice about which of the two Talons to use.

 

[MikeyB-17]

Hi Ben, I just had a quick scan through John's CD, the only 55J14 he has on there with a factory-fitted Talon is a B-G Inc, and that has an unblackened brass one with an oval hole, marked only on the stopper box and the puller, not the slider. All the rest have blackened Conmars. Dunno if that helps or not. Hope John will forgive me purloining his pic-it's this one.

 

[deeb7]

Annoying as it is, I'd be looking for another Conmar.

 

[Dr H]

JC has Conmars...

 

[jack aranda]

Hi, Mikey:
The Talon in your 'purloined' pic is exactly as described by Alan at Johnson's as one he has available. If it is, I will go with that. I'm not interested in spending large amounts of money on a zipper. I'm no a reeanactor (sp?), or even a reanimator (!); at the end of the day, I just want my jacket to zip up without a lot of nonsense.

 

[watchmanjimg]

Hi, Mikey:
The Talon in your 'purloined' pic is exactly as described by Alan at Johnson's as one he has available. If it is, I will go with that. I'm not interested in spending large amounts of money on a zipper. I'm no a reeanactor (sp?), or even a reanimator (!); at the end of the day, I just want my jacket to zip up without a lot of nonsense.

Ben, I think you'll do just fine with the type of zipper in Mikey's pic. It's a good period replacement.

 

[Jaguar46]

or even a reanimator (!);

Great movie. Well, sort of. (Only if you enjoy seeing snake-like internal organs strangling folks.)

 

[jack aranda]

The talon was a match to Mikey's pic. The new zipper is being put in now. I now have a slightly blackened CONMAR brass pull from the old, broken zipper, and the 21" CONMAR replacement. Both have the slightly flared trapezoid shape. They look like the kind used in M-41's, as shown below. Both are available. Send me PM if you are interested in either or both.

http://www.mash-japan.co.jp/oversea/cgi-bin/prd-eng.cgi?itemno=95-03-4230&ck=