In article <OFA5EEC494.9A8D8FA0-ON80256A26.002D21C1@enron.com>,
Dean.Dashwood@enron.com writes
>I know that many listers have vast amounts of experience in engineering,
>automotive or otherwise, and can confidently go into a hardware store and
>buy exactly what they need, but my attempts to do this in the past have
>usually fallen flat. Often this is because I can't find a part that fits.
>Do many stores stock only metric bolts now?
Retail outlets in UK tend to carry nothing but Metric fasteners (usually
in low-grade materials). Specialist industrial fastener suppliers can
supply just about anything you care to name, in any material, and there
is normally at least one in every town.
>
>I did once manage to find a nut for the exhaust manifold-downpipe, only to
>have it fall off a couple of weeks later - apparently I'd bought one in the
>wrong material (can't remember what) and it expanded due to the heat. Ok,
>stupid I know, but I'm not an engineer (well, I'm a computer engineer, but
>this isn't very relevant). Of course I know that exhaust manifolds get
>hot, but I *don't* know which materials expand more than others.
And that is why metallurgists get paid as well as they do! Not only do
you have to consider maximum operating temperature, you also have to
consider heating cycles and other thermal stresses, torsional stresses,
longitudinal stresses and a whole host of other things.
>
>What would be really cool is a list of all the nuts, bolts and other common
>parts that go into our cars, and a spec for each one - something that I can
>take into a hardware shop, show them, and without any more questions be
>given the correct thing.
That would be nice. Rimmer Bros list the basic dimensions in their
price list, but they *don't* specify materials - and you can rarely
guess them. Even high-tensile/high temperature fastener materials such
as Gr.12.9 may be inadequate for some applications.
>I'd also appreciate some pointers from UK listers on where to go to get
>these parts. I tend to try places like B&Q, but as I said, I often
don't
>have too much joy.
You wouldn't. Whereabouts are you? I'll try to dig out the name of a
local industrial fastener supplier for you.
ATB
Mike
--
Michael Hargreave Mawson, author of "Eyewitness in the Crimea,"
published by Greenhill Books on 28th March, 2001:
http://www.greenhillbooks.com/booksheets/eyewitness_in_the_crimea.html
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