Front brake stay collar?

[Husbyb86]

A few months ago I had the bolt attaching the front brake stay/arm to the fork lower fall out when riding. I didn't know this until I went to grab the front brake and the cable snapped and preceded to wrap itself around the front hub and lower fork, digging in and chewing away at the aluminum as I came to a stop at the side of the road. I spent a good 25 minutes with a pair of pliers trying to unravel what was left of the cable, lodged in between the front brake hub and fork lower.

Luckily, I was able to limp home using only my rear brake. Once home, I quickly learned I was lacking the upper tongue/lock washer that stops the bolt attaching the brake stay to the fork lower from backing out under vibration:



I've since bought the washer from classichondarestoration.com and went to install it today. To my dismay, I noticed I was missing another piece; the brake stay collar:



My question is, how important is this piece and what purpose does it serve? Where can I get it? I don't want something like this to happen again. And yes, I have the lower brake stay tongue washer as well. If you have a big brake CL, please check to make sure you aren't missing these on your bike!

[mike in idaho]

The stepped part of the stay collar fits into the upper hole of the brake stay and, when the bolt is tight, creates a stronger anchor point than the bolt would by itself. A replacement can be turned out on a metal lathe from a piece of bar stock. After drilling an 8mm hole a step can be machined to suit the hole in the brake anchor arm, then the washer can be parted off from the end of the stock to form the opposite side. In a pinch, you could drill the bolt head for safety wire and do without the tab washer. Of course, if you have to pay machine shop rates to make the part, it may be cheaper to try and buy the part somewhere first.