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The above views show the repair that I had to do when I discovered that of the four holes to hold the
badges, one was stripped completely, one was mostly stripped, and a third was slightly stripped. Any of you who have
worked on these knows that even slightly stripped means trouble as the screws are really short. So I drilled out the old holes,
turned some 4-40 nuts round and welded them in. Guess my microscopic welding skills pay off outside of the lab. I also learned that you can put almost $3.40 in change under the badges. One more use for an XLCR ---- piggy bank.
Great at toll booths.
Ya gotta love em.
This brings me to a tip that I would like to pass along to help avoid stripping holes like this.
Whenever you have to re-insert a screw that can cut its own thread, such as a sheet metal screw, wood screw
or self-tapping screw, put normal pressure on it but slowly turn it backwards. That way you will feel it rise out of the hole
until it clears the thread it already cut when it will 'snap' inward and catch the original thread. Tightening it
normally now assures you are in the original thread.
These tank emblem screws will cut new threads each time they are inserted and that's how they get stripped
out. Seldom do they fail from overtightening. Each time someone took the badges off to wax the tank or polish the badges they
didn't realize that they were cutting new threads when they put them back, eventually stripping the holes.
All material on these pages is copyrighted by Jim Haubert 2002 - 2003
310 1/2 W. Second Street, Winslow, AZ, US, 86047,
928-289-2568
Now Located on "The Mother Road", Historic Route 66
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