That's 3 "51"s now! This is a navy grey one I picked up on the 'bay for £26 I got it a while ago, but it was unrestored and the hood wasn't sealed on so I had to wait for some shellac to arrive before I could use it The collector was quite inky!






The hood is different to all my other "51"s. It's very rounded, but all seem to be different. Can anyone shed some light on this?

Yeah, that doesn't look like a 51 hood to me at all. Could the hood be from a 45??

Cheers,
SG

I would concur with that, looking at my 51's they all have a more pointed hood than the one in your pic

The 51 shell (hood) is quite prone to chipping at the tip. My guess is the your shell was chipped, and someone sanded it down to eliminate the chip, leaving the rounded end with rather more nib exposed than one would normally expect.

I agree -- that hood has been modified to eliminate the tip. I have one that has the point chipped off, probably when it was dropped nib down as the nib was rather bent when I got it.

Other than looking strange, it won't affect the operation of the pen much, but if you want David Nishamura may have a replacement. It may not match the color as closesly as yours does right now, though.

Peter

Yup, for collectability, get a replacement shell. For usability, forget it, just use it like it is, no diff in performance. I think Ernesto at Parker51.com still has shells for under $10 a throw, postage included, depending on color. If you send him the modified shell, he will match the color for you if he can, I believe.

While you're at it, you might want to look into a new jewel, because MAN, is that one beat. I had one like that. The pencil still shows the original, but the pens was trashed. New ones are around and rather cheap

The pen is just a user so I won't bother about the hood. I think I will get a new jewel because this one is really bad!