Thanks for all the replies re TD running board strip attachment - seems
to a bit of a divergence of opinion, but it looks like the answer might
be nuts and bolts for TFs and rivets for TDs and earlier - of course any
change over might not have coincided with the TD/TF model change so
there might be a blurred boundary. I note that Moss sell a nut and bolt
kit for this purpose so I will go with that I think.
There was also some debate over the origin and use of Phillips screws in
cars. By coincidence I have just finished reading "One Good Turn - A
natural History of the Screwdriver and the Screw" by A University of
Pennsylvania academic who goes by the wonderful name of Witold
Rybczynski. A surprisingly readable little tome - the female friend with
no mechanical leanings who bought it for me a junk shop started to read
it and finished it in one sitting. Worth getting hold of a copy if you
can - published by Touchstone in 2000.
Anyway, assuming this is the definitive authority on all things threaded
and pointy I can tell you that the Phillips screw was patented in 1936
by one Henry F Phillips of Portland, Oregon. It was first used in the
world of automobile manufacture to hold together the 1936 Cadillac.
Phillips did not actually make screws - just licensed the technology, so
it was quite likely they were manufactured in Scotland - but they are a
US invention. Us Scots invented most of the World's useful things, but
we can't lay claim to that one. The Phillips screw was widely adopted
internationally during WWII so quite likely some found their way into
post-war MGs. There was a much earlier socket screw - the square socket
Robinson patented in 1907 and widely used by the Canadian automobile
industry ever since - and it is my screw of choice for woodwork - no
slippage and great with the power screwdriver. Seems to be much used by
builders in New Zealand these days.
So there ye go.
Cheers
Douglas
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