That is not an
excuse. Anyone working on IBM 5155s (or for that matter=20
Friden Flexowriters, which are stuffed with setscrews needing Bristol=20
Spline drivers) should have a set.=20
Are they the ones that are the same shape as a tractor PTO shaft?
Roughly, yes (although I've never worked on a Tractor...). I think of
them as :
Allen : Triangular wave rapped round a circle
Torx : Sine wave rapped round a circle
Bristol : Square wave wrapped round a circle
Very approximate, of course (and certainly not enough to machine a tool
to fit them), but it gives the right idea.
or had been
moodifed to allow a normal driver to get them out (e.g.=20
removing the cerntal pin or cutting a slot across them), said engineer=20
was supposed to replace the entire PSU (and charge the customer for it!=
).
=20
This is still the case for a lot of "no user serviceable parts inside"=20
bits from IBM. Billable call, and then some... 350 quid plus vat and=20
parts, or thereabouts.
The comment on the PSU applied even if the service call was totally
unrelated to PSU problems, If an engineer came to, say, install some RAM
chips, he was supposed to check the PSU screws (and some other things)
and replace the PSU if necessary.
This was, apparently, for safety reasons. IF the PSU had been opened,
there was no way to know if any nasty bodges had been done internally...
(FWIW, I've opened IBM PSUs, I've repaired them, IMHO, properly and
safely, and I've put the tamperproof Torx screws back in again...)
Having said all that, I tend to take the same view as
you when it comes
to my classic car, and try and use the right bolts / screws etc.
=20
=20
What have you got?
=20
Ah, see, I don't. I want the damn thing to work, and reliably. If I=20
can make it easy to fix when it goes wrong, even better. That's why I=20
always replace the steel hydraulic pipes with kunifer, and use stainless=20
Well, my Father's Citroen BX (touch wood...) has hard very few hydraulic
problems. I've had to replace just one high pressure pipe (to the back
brakes), which was damaged by an idiot garage mechanic when he refitted
the rear subframe after an accident repair.
and not that
many people have a reasonably complete set of Whitworth=20
spanners and sockets any more.
Uhm, I do. And it's mostly old Citro=EBns I work on, all metric (but lot=
So do I, but then I have a Myford lathe, which is assembled with an
interesting mix of BSW, BA, and metric bolts...
s=20
of 7mm and 11mm bolts).
11mm is relatively common. It's 12mm that I find somewhat obscure, and
which Citroen seem to use to excess...
-tony