Metric and US Standard Cross Over

The 11 reasons I did it.

Store closed.

The clerk couldn't speak Southern English!

The store was out of nuts.

I Had the nuts and the tap.

My wife said it couldn't be done.

I had to prove it could be done.

It is 15 miles to the store.

Obama couldn't prevent it.

Sometimes I refuse to be defeated.

What would MacGyver do!

Your "reasons" are mostly typical redneck.

If the store was closed, how did you know that:

1. The clerk couldn't speak Southern English!

2. The store was out of nuts.

3. Obama couldn't prevent it. (Really says a lot about you) Trump would have flown a nut in for you on one of his 5 helicopters?

Most importantly, not everyone has a 1/4 20 Heli-coil tap in their tool box.

If it worked for you, great.

Was your wife really impressed?

I was in the vast Lyn-Door Ind. warehouse, and I noticed the lack of 1/4.-20 Heli-coil taps also. I took the liberty of ordering 2 gross of them from China. Your welcome.

Thanks, I appreciate that.

It's almost impossible to find 1/4.-20 Heli-coil taps in metric sizes.

that's 10 reasons. what is the 11th reason?

#11. I had the tap!

A <...1/4 20 Heli coil Tap...> is difficult to find in metricated and semi-metricated countries, whereas a <...8M 1.25...> can be found almost any hardware retail outlet there.

Be more careful, and don't castrate the equipment in the first place, perhaps?

"Vive la difference" - Anon.

Got it!

Thanks.

My next post is how I fixed the Kubota Starter for $5.00.

They want $600.00 for one from the dealer.

Interested?

Tom Silver

War stories always welcome.

If your not going to do it right then you should leave it alone. Someone some day will have to come behind you. They will have to fix what you messed up. Because the thread is loose it is not making sufficient contact for the torque need to tighten properly. Which will cause the threads to distort.

Hey Fliptop,

Overall I agree with the other posts, do it right if you can, however I believe most of us have been in that situation where we need to "jury rig" to make something work for awhile. Your outside the box thinking is a win by me, and I will keep that tip deep in the grey matter for a later use I am sure.

On that note, a query to others: What is the most outrageous rigging you have done to get something completed or running? I can remember late one night pulling into a gas station with my 82 CJ7 and a trailer full of blacksmithing equipment on it. Almost to the pumps ( by the way the gas gauge didn't work ) and I ran out of fuel. Of course it was uphill, and of course the fill nozzle wouldn't reach the tank. Put it in gear, hit the starter, and smoke pours out from under the hood. Solenoid is on fire!! Get the fire out, four people push it to the pump, we fuel up, then or course it wouldn't start. Rig the hot wire from the battery to the solenoid post direct, dig around the trailer for a piece of metal, jumpstart the starter and made our way home, what an adventure. When we got home, we couldn't shut off the engine until I disconnected the battery jumper. The light of the next day revealed that wiring was fried, and how we made it another 20 miles without burning up I do not know, but we did. How about it, who else had to do something crazy to complete a project?

Cheers!!

Here it comes!

Apart from all the other points. The thing about it being a bit loose is a key point. A bit like your brain. Please Tell us where you will be driving so I can avoid the area

I was driving home one night from out of state,and in the middle of nowhere,my '76 LTD simply stopped running.

I coasted to a stop and opened the hood.

I pumped the accellerator a few times,and did not see any gas getting to the carbureutor.

I removed the fuel line ahead of the carb,and had plenty of pressure there.

The carb had an in-line filter that screwed directly into the carb.

I removed it and could not blow throught it.

Not having a spare filter,I drove a small phillips screwdriver through the filter,then blew through it to remove any dislodged trash.

Replaced the filter and fuel line and she started right up.

Problem free the rest of the trip.

When I got home,I added an in-line external filter,it was much cheaper than the OEM,and easier to service.

Also when removing an old exhaust manifold,the original nuts had rusted and a standard 9/16" 6 point box end wrench would slip before breaking them free.

I used a 14MM 6 point box end wrench on them,and it was tight enough to remove the nuts.

I could go on about duct tape and baling wire fixes,but I will stop here for now.

OK, here's mine.

I was 16 years old and had a 1940 Ford with no hood or front fenders. (boy, how I would love to have it back today)

My buddy and I out driving around on the highway. Flat head V-8's had a 1/8 or 3/16" oil line coming out of the top of the intake manifold.

We're doing about 60 and the line breaks. Windshield is instantly black with oil and I'm blinded.

Pulled over and found a newspaper and wiped the windshield off, sorta.

I had nothing to fix it with, but finally found a pencil. Drove the pencil into the fitting with a rock, and limped home.

No permanent harm done.

Good story and what makes it good is it is real life.

Tom

1964, per cell phone and the nearest house was 3 miles away.

Those were fun times.

The only external oil lines on that engine is to the bypass oil filter and to the gauge on the dash.

When I was young and wild,I plunked a 67 Z28 engine into a "55 Chevy 2 door coupe body.

There was very little clearance between the distributor and the firewall.Sometimes on a very hard shift,the distibutor cap would hit the firewall and tilt enough to shear the rotor button.(I fixed this problem later by chaining the motor to the frame with just a little slack.)

Anyway,this resulted in an immediate backfire due to timing error.

On one particular hard shift,the car backfired,oil pressure went to zero, and I knew I had a probelm.

It was not simply the rotor button,which I always carried a spare.

This time it was the roll pin located on the end of the distributor shaft that that locked the oil pump drive to the distributor.

I did not have a roll pin in my tool box of the proper size,but I did have a finishing nail that fit the hole snugly.

I cut it to the proper length,flared the end with a screwdriver,reset my timing and drove on home with no more problems.

I fixed it properly the next day and reset my timing using a timing strobe light.

Those were the days:Points,plugs,condenser.

Anyone could fix their own vehicle without a computer(what was that?).

I don't think fuel economy is much better with the new computer controls,not when you consider how everything else has advanced exponentailly.

We should be getting much better milage,and batteries should be light weight and store many megawatts when paired up with super capacitors.

I have adapted to the changes and still do all of my own servicing on my newer cars.

I only take cars back if a recall is issued.

I don't trust dealerships of any ilk.

I used to "do it all" too.

No more, too old and weak.

I did put new pads on my truck, last month, but even that was a physical chore.

Distributor on the back side! What do you do! NASCAR made a rule change several years ago and made everyone move distributor to the front of the engine.

They all have the same exhaust pattern for the headers and everyone runs the same headers. Same Holly Carburetor. and what else except the decal set.

Tom

Oops.

Sprint Cup cars are fuel injected now.

This engine was from a 1967 Z 28 Camaro,302 CID.

.030 overbore,12.5 pistons,Isky 550 cam,sodium filled exhaust valves,Hooker Headers.

780 Holley dual line,gear drive double pumper modification.

Distributor at back on that era engines.

Muncie M22 rock crusher tranny,11 inch finger type Corvette clutch.

Turned 11.55 @118 mph in 1/4 mile.

Still it was street driveable.

There was just too much power for the old chassis,kept breaking things.

Finally sold it.

Wish I had it back.

Now the engine is worth a fortune.

Hard to find a factory 302 from 1967.

4 bolt mains,oversized journals were standard on those.

Citation please. I can't find any source that confirms your assertions on NASCAR distributor and exhaust requirements.

Regarding carburetors, NASCAR has long mandated specific models of Holley carbs for some race series, but Sprint Cup (what most people think of when they hear "NASCAR") changed to fuel injection a few years ago.

Still not sure,

Exhaust System Technology: Science and Implementation ...

"Moving rearward, the NASCAR Cup rulebook provides some interesting insight into additional exhaust system challenges. The rules include the requirements that the exhaust system for each bank of the V8 engine must be completely separate and may not connect in any location except for a single "X" or "H" pipe in a tightly-constrained region of the tailpipes, and must end with two tailpipes which exit under the frame rails within a tightly-constrained area on the right side of the car. Further, the pipes from the collector to the exit must be magnetic steel, no larger than 101.6 mm (4.0 inches) ID, and may have a circumference no greater than 336.5 mm (13.25")."

My guess is that they are not identical.

First one.

Worked in a service station in NYC. We had an old Clark airplane tug with a porta power rigged to a plow blade to plow snow when needed. It started to snow, and I sheered the key holding the rear axel shaft to the axle hub. Late on the overnight shift Sunday night.

Tapered key. Took a square file, smoothed the teeth off and ground to fit. Hammered it in and plowed before the boss got there. Barely. It remains that way to this day as far as I know.

Next one.

A 56 ford early OHV V8. We are on the NY Throughway and oil is leaking from the valve covers. HEY, why not cardboard gaskets? Two hours later, the leak was gone and we were on our way. Should have checked on them sooner. Out of oil, rod knock. FAIL.