Thread: Rover V8 oil pump bolt

Chinese or Indian tools?

Both tools I used are Sidchrome.

I've been working on a BMW a bit lately and it's covered in bolts with female Torx heads.
Like you I used an appropriately sized socket before buying a set of female torx sockets in a plastic case on ebay for very little money, they make it much easier and don't round the heads off ;-))
14Pc E Torx Socket Set Female Start Bit External Hex Torque E4-E24 With Case | eBay

From a discussion at my local bolt shop

2 types of 12 points not counting the metric VS imperial (if its imperial thread its an imperial head)....

the earlier type use what is basically 2 6 sided hexs offset 30 degrees.

the later type use 3 squares rotated 30 degrees each.

the difference is the shape of the point. the early ones are shorter and have a wider angle the later ones taller (larger distance between minor and major diameter of the teeth)

properly made sockets will drive both of them when the bolts are new however newer "fancy" sockets will round off the triple square points making it difficult to get them with standard sockets.

To date I haven't had an issue with metric or imperial with snapon, sidcrome, SP or Kingchrome sockets. ALthouth sometimes a little Kenetic encouragement has been required to get the socket onto a previoulsy miss used bolt head.

Originally Posted by Phil 850

Both tools I used are Sidchrome.

Not an answer. Sidchrome used to be made in Melbourne. Been made in Taiwan for about 25 years now.

Originally Posted by Tins

Not an answer. Sidchrome used to be made in Melbourne. Been made in Taiwan for about 25 years now.

After a hiatus they've gone back to making decent quality. Maybe not Snap on quality, but not Snap on prices either. Sidchrome are a good quality, definitely good enough for a home mechanic.

Originally Posted by Blknight.aus

From a discussion at my local bolt shop

2 types of 12 points not counting the metric VS imperial (if its imperial thread its an imperial head)....

the earlier type use what is basically 2 6 sided hexs offset 30 degrees.

the later type use 3 squares rotated 30 degrees each.

the difference is the shape of the point. the early ones are shorter and have a wider angle the later ones taller (larger distance between minor and major diameter of the teeth)

properly made sockets will drive both of them when the bolts are new however newer "fancy" sockets will round off the triple square points making it difficult to get them with standard sockets.

To date I haven't had an issue with metric or imperial with snapon, sidcrome, SP or Kingchrome sockets. ALthouth sometimes a little Kenetic encouragement has been required to get the socket onto a previoulsy miss used bolt head.

Thanks for the info blknight
I have since undone further bolts with my 5/16” ring spanner and it is a pretty reasonable fit so I was confident it wasn’t going to round off the heads.
Perhaps what affected the feel of the fit originally was that I was using a ratchet ring spanner and the ratchet may have been exaggerating the “loose” feel.

My entire tool kit is Sidchrome, which I started purchasing in the early 70’s when I bought my first car.
I did buy some Sidchrome pliers some years ago that I was not impressed with, but more recent purchases I have been really happy with. So maybe they were outsourcing to a cheaper supplier for a while.

Regards
Phil

Originally Posted by V8Ian

After a hiatus they've gone back to making decent quality. Maybe not Snap on quality, but not Snap on prices either. Sidchrome are a good quality, definitely good enough for a home mechanic.

Yes. I have a cheap socket set to keep around. Not the same as the ones I had over 40 years ago, but better than a lot of others you can get. Not as good as my Milwaukee, which ironically are prolly made in China. Could be wrong there, hand tools could still be made in the US.

Snap On prices are absurd. One of my many jobs was at Bill Patterson's BMW workshop. They insisted on Stahlwille. Bloody hell