MTFCA Forum

You know those special screws for the bendix cover, well I dropped one today.
I was bent over the door frame and unscrewed the left side screw and went to get it and it fell and hit the creeper under the car and disappeared. Found the washer that was on it but not the screw. Had a good lite to use while looking for it but no luck. Next time I get back to the garage the hunt continues. It is in there somewhere and it should not have gone more than 3 or 4 feet.several feet of clear space to the right, front and center but only about 3 1/2 to the left so that is where I will start.
If I remember right they are14-24 thread. I was thinking about cutting off some old magnet clamp screws, drilling and tapping some some machine nuts to fit and using 2 on each screw locking them together on the end to make a bolt.
I believe they would be easier to put in and take out using a socket and a 1/4inch wobble extension than using a screw driver.
I bought a couple 14-24 taps about 20 years ago from Napa so no problem there.

I have several HF bar magnets. Use for holding parts while painting & for locating small parts dropped and bounced some where. Bought the NT pick up over HF quality is apparent. Has a strong magnet.
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So for when you see it
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And when you don't drag it around the floor
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Hi Dennis,
My garage has a black hole in it too. Every once in a while a part will get spit out of it but for the most part when it does I cant remember what
it went to. It may be possible that it belongs in a alternate universe with some guy trying to figure out were my parts came from & what the
heck they fit.
Craig.

Dennis,

They are fussy, eh? I got tired of continued fail at epoxy floor paint so went with Race-Trac wall to wall open grid...it loves to find small items and they disappear quickly! My trick? Take an old microwave apart and removed the magnet...those are naturally so strong that its like a Laurel & Hardy movie when you put it to work and it wants to jump to your bench vice as you walk by!

Sounds as though you have it thought out. That said...maybe look up old threads. The late Ralph Ricks swore by using (I think) a metric M6 socket head cap screw for his bendix covers and then a long Allen key. He claimed the TPI was close enough that it made up fine...never tried it myself....

I would suggest buying the right screws from the vendors and do it right. If the bendix cover gets loose it leaks terribly.

The last time I had the hogs head off I re-tapped mine to 1/4-20 and use allen head screws.

I replaced ours with stainless and it was tight. So, I chased the threads with 1/4" not #14 because at the time, I did not know #14 existed.

Perhaps, you heard and saw the washer fall, but the screw deflected onto the frame or another part.

When I was searching, I found stainless hardware from lowbrowcustoms.com
They are a motorcycle shop. Since my car is a driver, I’m not worried about originality.

Copied Ralphs suggestion back when it came up, it worked fine. Allen wrench holds the screws and makes it easy to snake them in.

Several months ago I was going to get another set and decided to get some for friends as well. I got 50 of the metric screws and 12 long allen wrenchs from Amazon for about $20. Kept a couple sets for myself and passed the rest out to friends.

When you need to remove the cover remember you can leave one in and remove 3. The one screw helps hold the cover in place to avoid some of the hassle.

I am with Vernon on this. A dropped screw will not go far. The head is bigger than the shaft, it is a cone, it will not roll away, just roll in a circle. If it isnt nearby on the floor it has fallen on the chassis or fell in the engine.