Here’s an interesting EBay find. Its a homebrew double-lever bug that was converted to single lever somewhere along the way. The buy-it-now price was very low so I bit the hook. The design elements suggest an early build, around the first generation of Vibroplex double lever bugs. After clean-up, the bug looks quite nice and performs very well on the air 90% of the time. Some of the adjustments become loose after a bit of operating so I have to periodically check them on-the-fly. All the parts are nickel plated.
Note some features of this bug which hint on it’s vintage:
- Full hinge style pivot like a pre-1919 Vibroplex, vs post 1919 dog-ear hinge
- Square frame, like an early Norcross Vibroplex (pre-cloverleaf), without lower ears for mounting screws
- Mounting holes on the terminal side of the frame exactly like an early Vibroplex Double-Lever, but converted to single lever
- Shorting bar and dash contact location between the frame and terminals just like an early Double-Lever
- Lever spring mount on the side of the frame like an early Vibroplex Double Lever
- Early style dampner just like a pre-1909 Vibroplex
- Square dot spring like a 1905 Norcross Vibroplex
To view more detailed pictures of this interesting bug, click here.