Siemens QP definitely are robertson, that's what I had in my last house.
Now that I look it up though, Square D QO use straight blade screws, which is the obvious choice in a competing format.
nate
All of the new outlet covers I've put on lately have had Phillips head screws but most of the covers I've installed these days have been for network and phone jacks. The breakers and breaker panels I've installed in the past few years have the square (Robertson) head screws on the breakers, neutral and grounding bars. The large lugs have hex (Allen) socket set screws. The new duplex outlet and switch covers that I've installed lately still have flat head screws. The mounting screws for new receptacles and switches I've been installing have Phillips or combo screws and the steel outlet and switch boxes have the combo screws. The grounding screws in the boxes and the stingers (grounding wires) with screws have a combo screw that's Phillips, flat head and
5/16 hex that fits a nut driver. Things are really screwy with screws these days so you must be careful not to screw up. ^_^TDD
Yes, it's relative. I'm not a Mopar fan, and only owned one. A '74 Dart Swinger with a 225. Can't remember the miles on it, but it went over 100k. First car I had with "electronic ignition." No points. Bought it used and put maybe 30k mile on it. Until almost 20 years later, it was the most trouble free engine I've had. Just did fluid changes, plugs and a rocker cover gasket. It was a dog with torque, but otherwise sweet. But the body of that car dissolved REAL fast. The 1974 225 was longer-lasting than any V-8 I had back then. That was before "lean burn." Chevy had a good straight 6 too, 250 I think. So it's good to remember "it's all relative." A well-maintained VW Bug might only go 60k before you got excessive blow-by and had to replace the jugs/rings.
You're right, I hadn't noticed that. They're a combination of square-recessed and flat blade. I've always used a flat blade driver on them.
I don't know which series they are but I have some Square-Ds from my other house. They have the same combination head as the Siemens.
As a professional mechanic I did a LOT of engine rebuilds on cars built from the fifties to the seventies. Lots of valve jobs. Lots of ring jobs, lots of bearing replacements. Replaced a lot of oil pumps, timing chains and camshafts. Replaced a fair number of cyl heads too.
Ring jobs, bearing replacements, and even valve jobs are virtually unheard of today. The average engine today goes to the scrapyard with all of it's original internal parts and well over 100,000 miles on the clock. It goes to the scrapyard when the body or chassis wears out - usually with the engine still in decent mechanical condition. Sometimes they go to the graveyard due to engine control systems needing repair - engine not passing smog, etc. Some die an early death due to timing belt failure (failure of owner to follow manufacturere's recommendation to change the belt) or terminal lubrication failure (failure of owner to change vital fluids) - but those are relatively few in the grand scheme of things. Many go over 100,000 miles in SPITE of poor maintenance,
Also, you had to tune them up once or twice a year, rebuild the carburetor every couple of years, adjust or replace the choke several times in a car's lifetime, atc, etc, etc. The vast majority of cars today will go 100,000 miles on the original plugs, without having ANY fuel system maintenance beyond possible fuel filter replacement, and never having a single adjustment or ignition part replacement. Often still on the original exhaust system too - remember a muffler shop on every corner - always busy - and replacing the muffler every 2 years???
As for the '74 slant six - and the electronic ignition - remember that little 4 terminal ceramic block on the firewall? The dual ballast resistor? That failed quite regularly? I always had 2 on the firewall so I could switch without tools, and generally a spare in the glove box. The '74 was the second year for electronic ignition on the leaning tower of power. It had a very robust forged crank untill about
1978? and the 4 main bearings were the same size as on a 426 Hemi. The block, designed to be built of either aluminum or cast iron, was EXTREMELY stout in it's common cast iron form.- last used in North American vehicles in 1987 trucks. and 1983 in cars.GM's answer to the slant six was the 230/250 cu inch six - also a pretty reliable and durable engine, used across the product line for many years. Not quite in the same class as the slant six, but very close.Also the 292 truck engine. In the US, GM produced other sixes under the GMC label, as well as the Pontiac Sprint OHC
Ford had their 144/170/200/250 inline six that was no-where near in the same class, Also the 240/300 truck engine - not a BAD engine, but nothing remarkable.
AMC had the 199/232/258 /242 which was a VERY stout and reliable engine (as long as you kept the oil changed to prevent the rocker shaft from running dry). It was a 7 main bearing engine,
Of all the "old" sixes, the AMC lasted the longest in production - as the 4.0 HO in the jeep up until 2006, with minor changes along the way.
The AMC was the only one to survive into the Fuel Injection era, and OBD2 engine controls.
I had several Darts & Valiants years ago too, gave up the last one , a '73 in the late 90's as I recall. They were indeed rugged, easy to work on, and reliable though needing maintenance somewhat more frequently than today's cars. 200,000 miles on the slant 6 was not unusual. The difference was, one of those slant 6's with 200,000 miles would typically need a quart of oil every 500 miles or so. I have a 96 Cherokee today that has 200,000 miles and doesn't need a single quart of oil between oil changes, which I do at 5000 miles. And it sure has a lot less rust on it than a 17 year old Valiant or Dart would.
On Fri, 30 Aug 2013 21:47:52 -0400, snipped-for-privacy@snyder.on.ca wrote:
Nope, never had one fail. Don't know much about the engine, since I never had to do any work on it except plugs/wires, and the valve cover gasket. I did replace the spark module once, when I had some random stalling. Unnecessary waste of 20 bucks. I was about to drop the gas tank as a last resort, thinking somebody had put something in there and it would block the pick-up randomly. I didn't know squat about electrical testing then. Got real lucky when I hung my head in despair thinking about dropping the tank. I was leaning over the fender in just the right spot, and the sun had moved to just the right spot. Caught a glint near the back of the head. Primary ignition wire copper showing through melted insulation. My fault entirely. The harness dropped there when I pulled the valve cover, and I hadn't noticed it, and hadn't rehung it. The head melted a tiny piece off the insulation and that bare spot was bouncing against the head randomly, grounding it. It's my favorite fix for something that gave me so much hassle. One half inch of electrical tape and rehang the harness. Well, pulling an orange peel from the throat of my Bug's carb when it died on me is a co-favorite. Yeah, the newer engines are leagues better. I did plug/point changes, dwell/timing adjustment spring and late fall with my old cars. Choke adjustment was part of that too, and making sure the fast idle cam was setting. New spark wires every fall. What did that get me? Cars always started and ran good. One Christmas Eve morning it had dropped to -25F and I went outside to start my van because my wife just HAD to do more shopping. Entire street had cars with hoods up, no exhaust from any of them. Can't say I was confident my 350 would start. Did my usual 2 pumps on the accelerator to prime it and set the choke. Took foot off gas. Turned the key. Took a couple seconds before it even cranked. Then it SLOWLY turned, probably not even 45 degrees, and fired up. Screeched a bit on the cylinder walls. Used straight 30 weight then. Oil is better now too. I helped 3 neighbors with jumps. I had excellent heavy cables and cranked them all. None even fired. Already flooded, or just poorly maintained ignition. Had to almost fight my way out of there to get my wife to her shopping. Stores were almost empty, with skeleton staffs. Those temperatures are a good test to find out how you've maintained your engine. No way I want those old cars. I priced a carb for that 350 later. Last time I had replaced one, it cost 25 bucks for a rebuilt Carter single barrel. Cheapest 2 barrel I found for the 350 was +$400. You're also right about valve jobs, worn rings, etc. The last few cars I've had didn't even blink, as they passed 150k miles. My 2.8 Celebrity went to about 190k with only injector replacement. My 3.1 Lumina disappointed me by breaking the cam, but it went 165K miles trouble free. Both rusted out anyway. That's what always gets mine. If it wasn't for rust, I'd have a new crate engine in the Lumina.
I liked the Slant Six, 318 based on the 273 thin walled casting and the
360. I have a 318 with TBI in my 89 Dodge van with around 100,000,000 miles on it, it keeps running for some odd reason. I put a lot of miles on a Ford Econoline with a 300cid six and I was quite impressed with the engine because it was very reliable and pushed the short wheelbase van on down the highway while I ran service calls all over the Southeast. Like anything else, if folks would keep the contraptions serviced the golly gosh darn things keep running. Darn it, I wish I could crawl under and around my vehicles like I could 20 years ago and work on them myself because it really frustrates me. I've never worked as a professional mechanic but I was self reliant when I worked on my own vehicles plus I had pals I could always call, ask their advise and pick their brains for obscure bits of information not commonly found in the manuals. ^_^TDD
I had one 4 terminal ballast resistor fail until I bought the replacement from NAPA that had a sealed back with the resistor wires encased in some sort of white ceramic cement. The OEM module was open in the back exposing the wire wound resistors to the elements which caused them to corrode and burn out. O_o
TDD
This is apparantly a real exchange that happened in the 1900's:
Reporter: "Mr. Ford, you announced that someday Ford Motor Company will build cars that will go fifty miles per hour. How is that possible?"
Henry Ford: "That's easy. We'll design them to go 100 miles per hour."
I got that quote from one of my Strength of Materials textbooks back in my university days. There's a great deal of truth to it.
I've owned several vehicles over the years. Most lasted 250k to 275k. My one Dodge van threw a piston rod, slant 6. One with 8 cyl didn't run right, my S-10 pickup was rusted to the point of being unsafe.
My work van, Chevrolet with 350, has about
225k, and my Blazer, 4.3, has also about 225k.Due to the Obama depression, I can't afford to even think about replacing either.
. Christ> And the "go forever" is just faulty memory. VERY few lasted 100,000
Ideally, drivers in salt country go to the coin operated car wash in the spring, and rinse all the salt from the under side. Some do, some don't.
I've had springs push up into the trunk (1970 Chevrolet Nova) and I could have gotten it welded and a plate put in. I should have. My next car (1974 Dodge Dart) was the first year they used electronic ignition. Would not run when it was wet or raining. The Nova got 16 MPG, the Dart got 10.5 or so MPG. Wish I never bought that Dart, it really was frustrating. Very often would not start due to water, ballast resistor, etc.
. Christ> >
You won't have a choice. Obama is going to restart the "cash for clunkers" and confiscate every vehicle with over 100k on them. You will get $100 trade in coupon for it though, and a free phone.
Sadly, Ed, I can easily believe that. Due to the depression, the car makers aren't getting enough sales, especially Government Motors. So, they will mandate we spend all the money we don't have on cars with GPS, tracking, Onstar, and all that.
. Christ>>
What about a pair of shoes? O_o
TDD
So, do you disbelieve the claim that Phillips screws are designed to cam out?
Only if the shoes are built by Government Motors, and vote Democrat.
. Christ>>> My work van, Chevrolet with 350, has about
The fix was to replace the OEM open back 4 terminal ballast resistor with the sealed 4 terminal ballast resistor available from NAPA. I've had two problems that affected the engine on my 89 Dodge van and it was a clogged sock on the in tank fuel pump because someone (perhaps on the assembly line) had installed the pump with the sock folded over leaving only a quarter coin sized bit of screen for the pump to draw fuel through and just a little bit of debris clogged it up. The other was a defective Hall Effect sensor in the distributor. Two hard to find yet simple problems that were hard to find. Decoding the computer codes led me to the distributor problem and experience made me suspicious of the fuel pick up in the gas tank, which is a huge plastic tank by the way. The engine in the old critter always runs now no matter how long it sits. I haven't done much driving since I dropped dead or been able to get the 24 foot extension ladder off the ladder rack but the old van is patiently waiting for my return. ^_^
TDD
CY: Bother, didn't know they were available.
I've
CY: you know, one of my vans had a clogged fuel pickup tube. No sock on the end. A neighbor showed me how to get the fuel tube out, knock the ring to the left, and pull the tube. Had to run the fuel level down, in the tank. That took a couple days. Just a tube, with no sock. I reamed it out with a coat hanger, and it worked much better.
The other was a
CY: Bummer on the distributor. I've seen two instance of defective pickup coil inside the distributor, both on GM. No, make that three. My Chevette had a pickup coil with bad wires, rubbed through.
CY: You named the truck Lassie, I'd guess?
Yea, it's just a walk in the park for government shoe manufacturers. ^_^
TDD
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