Club Obi Wan

Title basically says it all. I've been using my Nowak jacket in regular wear since I got it circa August 2008. It's held up really well, but this past winter when I was zipping it up, the tab that I use to pull up the zipper broke in half in my hands. I can still zip it up, but it's a bit annoying having half a zipper tab, and it kind of ruins the screen accuracy. Does anyone have any advice on how or where I could get it fixed? Also, knowing how much it's likely to cost would be nice too. -M

I'm sure you've already thought of this, but contact Riley and see if he will honor his Dad's guarantee of free replacement of zips and snaps for the life of the original owner of his jacket......at least that's what Tony told me not long before he passed away.

Tony may be gone, but it's still called 'Tony Nowak Original' jackets, so the company still exists.

Just a thought.

Regards! Michaelson

Thanks, Michaelson. Do you know how I could contact Riley? I've heard mention of him on the forum several times, but I've never actually seen a link, and iirc, Tony's original website is down. Thanks for the advice, that'll most likely be what I end up doing. -M

Yeah, the zipper pull does feel fairly light weight compared to the rest of the jacket on mine. Only real weakness I can find with it.

Same, I remember thinking that when I got it. It didn't occur to me at the time that the constant flexing of zipping and unzipping would cause it to snap though. -M

It's essentially not a hard repair, you need to get a same sized zip and swap out the slider. There is a little metal clip at the top of the zip that you need to take off so you can take the slider off. And you need a new clip to replace the one you took off. Look at the slider, often it will have a little number on it to tell you the size.

A heel bar may be able to do it for you.

You can also get off the peg clip on slider tabs, but they are not going to look exactly like the one that broke off. Heck at a pinch a paper clip will work!

Most cleaning/alteration places could do it for you quite inexpensively.
It may be cheaper and less hassle to have it done locally rather then send it back to Riley.

Thanks, Todd. At least we now know the answer to THAT question.

Regards! Michaelson

_ wrote:Mine broke as well. Riley quoted me $50 to fix + S&H. Bates fixed it for free while I waited. Tony said he guaranteed the HW...

Like father, like stepson? Not quite...


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk...

Who's Bates? Is he one of our fine vendors, or should I just shop locally? Thanks, -M

Riley charged to replace my zipper as well. He didn't even ask me. He did it without asking & I had no choice but to pay if I wanted my jacket back. Needless to say, take it to someone local.

Thanks for all the help guys, I'll be doing that. Plus, the advantage of shopping locally is I don't have to go without my jacket for 4-6 weeks. -M

One more thing. My zipper worked just fine when I sent it to Riley. Best I can tell, it didn't need replacement.

When my zipper broke and I told Tony, his reaction was "It's that G** D*** screen accuracy!" He recommended that I let him switch the zipper to a heavy duty version he used for his own CS jacket, but I preferred to keep my jacket as screen accurate as possible. Like others have said, he fixed my pull free of charge and sent me a couple of extras in case it should happen again. He also sent me two free jackets to make up for the problem. What a guy. "Only the good die young."

Jack

He put a heavy duty version on mine just before he left on his final trip. I can see it lasting the life of the jacket.

Regards! Michaelson

eazybox wrote:When my zipper broke and I told Tony, his reaction was "It's that G** D*** screen accuracy!" He recommended that I let him switch the zipper to a heavy duty version he used for his own CS jacket, but I preferred to keep my jacket as screen accurate as possible. Like others have said, he fixed my pull free of charge and sent me a couple of extras in case it should happen again. He also sent me two free jackets to make up for the problem. What a guy. "Only the good die young."

Jack

Sarge said essentially the same thing when the zipper on my US made Legend broke earlier this year. He said Schott's hate putting the smaller zip on the Legend line but is a screen accurate spec.

That's true. It was one of the biggest sticking points between David and Roz Schott when it came to creating the Legend too. She finally relented, but under protest.

Regards! Michaelson

Yep, SA zippers are tiny and fragile, totally agree. But you should be able to order up the antique brass #5 zipper head pretty cheap online. And as KT said a little pic and needle nose pliers will carefully open those stops off the collar end of the zip. Slide the broken head off and the new head onto the left hand side, then crimp on stops again. All done and pretty simple repair. Maybe $5 in parts and 1/2 hour or so of your time.

I remember a post by _ in another thread that mentioned the jacket that the zipper on the Raiders jacket that Lucasfilm has in their archives is also broken. Also I think he mentioned that the zipper had been changed at least 5 (?) times. I wonder why such a delicate zipper was used in the first place? Actually I do remember years ago when I went to Peter's store and bought my first jacket - a Wested. I looked at the zipper used in the off the rack jackets and thought they looked way too small. I actually had no clue about screen accuracy back then but I did ask him for (and received) a much bulkier zipper.
best
Canada

Those zippers were also made of aluminum, as a matter of fact.

Regards! Michaelson

Michaelson - which zippers? Not the CS...those are antiqued brass ykk.

Canada Jones wrote:I remember a post by _ in another thread that mentioned the jacket that the zipper on the Raiders jacket that Lucasfilm has in their archives is also broken. Also I think he mentioned that the zipper had been changed at least 5 (?) times. I wonder why such a delicate zipper was used in the first place? Actually I do remember years ago when I went to Peter's store and bought my first jacket - a Wested. I looked at the zipper used in the off the rack jackets and thought they looked way too small. I actually had no clue about screen accuracy back then but I did ask him for (and received) a much bulkier zipper.
best
Canada

I was replying to this post directly above mine.

Regards! Michaelson

Got it, thanks!

Thanks for the advice, everyone! I took it to my local leather-worker's shop and for $10 they were able to replace the tab with a sturdier YKK tab. -M

Not only the fact you got it fixed is great news, but you also supported your local economy! A win-win!


HIGH regards! Michaelson