Faulty zipper of an old jacket

[twistdh]

Hi,
i pulled out again an old nylon (cafe racer style) jacket after 10/15 years...
I prefer leather jackets and want to wear my hooch hauler all the time, but I like it and for some spring/summer days is perfect for me.

it's an old Laverda jacket in good condition (i used it for like 6 years almost exclusively).
It has a problem though, in fact the zipper doesn't work well.
it's difficult to start closing because the terminal part is worn out, but being careful this is not a great issue and it's usable.
the main problem is that some time i pull up the zip but it doesn't close...attach some photos.

I've already try to lubricate all the zip with some graphite and now it is smoother, but the problem remains. With a lot of care i'm able to close it up, but is there a possible solution or the only way is to change the zipper completely?

The other factor is that all the zipper has some "wave", it's not flat and this accentuates the above problem:

Is it possible to improve the reliability or i have to keep it like this?

Thanks a lot

 

[l0fielectronic]

I've repaired a couple of zips which have done this quite basically, with some superglue glue and thin plastic - where the tape has gone from the latch to add rigidity there. I have seen people post on here that they've done this repair with some kind of tape, maybe it was sailing tape, I can't quite recall.

Where it has come undone you can see the latch part isn't properly in place, probably because of the tape issue, so its not seated correctly. I'm sure if you can reinforce the area where the tape has gone it will work a lot better.

 

[raf]

Do a search on repairing zippers here and on VintageFlightJackets.org.

At the same time, you might also look for appropriate replacement zippers and skilled persons to install it.

 

[twistdh]

thank you, make sense...maybe repairing the latch part fix everithing (more or less)...maybe don't engage properly and slide up...and this cause a misalignment that cause the issue.

The zip in general seems pretty sturdy and the teeth are perfect to my eyes.

 

[l0fielectronic]

Yes, it looks fine apart from the tape. I add if you do use glue/plastic you just need to be careful not to get glue on the latch part and that the plastic is thin enough that it all still fits.

There are some more photos/tape repair suggestions on this thread here - https://www.thefedoralounge.com/threads/zipper-fray.113887/#post-3077293

 

[AeroFan_07]

@photo2u - any thoughts on this one?