Re: [T3] Leaky oil cooler

[Jim Adney <jadney@vwtype3.org>]

On 13 May 2004 at 18:18, Toby Erkson wrote:

> Black anodized, 4mm hex button heads with stainless steel washers 
> underneath...looks good against my bright orange engine tin ;-)

I assume you mean 6mm.  ;-)

Button heads look very nice, but they are the absolute pits as far as torquing 
goes. They have a smaller hex than a regular socket head, AND the hex is 
shallower. The smaller the hex, the greater the pressure on the flanks of the 
hex (for a given torque) so that the pressure on a normal socket head is 
already twice that on a standard hex head. Move to a button head, with the even 
smaller, shallower socket, and you get about 3 times the pressure on the steel 
to generate the same torque. And now you understand why the sockets tend to 
round out so easily.

They're really nice in places where they're really needed, but elsewhere they 
will just cause you headaches.

OTOH, switching to ordinary hex heads is an approach with no down side that I 
can see, other than the minimal cost of the hardware.

-- 
*******************************
Jim Adney, jadney@vwtype3.org
Madison, Wisconsin, USA
*******************************

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