At 11:44 21 March 2009, The Real Doctor wrote:

You think that;s bad? Try getting specialist fasteners for old Polish
gliders. Or, on the ground, getting fasteners in the odd 5mm-but-not-
M5 thread that Citroen used. I've seen refurbished original Citroen
nuts and bolts at =804 per item - not per set!

I have to keep my Whitworth wrenches on hand when working on my
Austin-Healey 100. Some of the basic stuff that came out of the parts
bins, like suspension and transmission, uses Whitworth hardware, while the
rest works with SAE stuff. It's still possible to buy Whitworth threaded
fasteners, but you have to know where to look. Are there any British
gliders left that are old enough to have used Whitworth hardware?

Jim Beckman