_____ 7mm Hell _____

[Dacvolvo]

Woke up about 8:30am yesterday when the alarm went off. I jumped out of bed, kissed the girlfriend on the forehead and then silently creeped out of the bedroom and ran down stairs to where my new discs & pads were waiting.

Ran through my check list - long nose pliers, wheel brace, jack, axel stands, copper grease, 5.1 brake fluid, old pairs of jeans, 7mm allen key.... er.... em... where the hell was my 7mm allen key?

I checked the tool box - 5mm, 6mm, 8mm, 9mm... Where's the 7mm go?

Not to be put off or spend any time mucking about moving sofas and cupboards looking for the missing 7mm, I jumped into the Volvo and drove 2 miles to the local car shop. Every allen key on sale with the exception of a 7mm! Arrrgh!!!!

then drove another few miles to the local B&Q Super Store. Ah - ha! loads and loads of allen keys. Now let's see... 4mm, no... 5mm, no... 6mm, no... 8mm - Yes! Er, I mean no - Where's the 7mm key? I checked through loads of different packs of Allen keys, but I could find none that had either a 7mm or a 9mm... very strange.

Jumped back in the car and drove to Halfords and lo and behold - A 7MM Allen key head on the end of a wratchet bolt/nut thing for

[MadeInJapan]

Yeah, it's definitely an "off" size. IPD sells just that one size in the brake section. I guess they know how hard it is to find. It's like the E5 size reverse (female) torx needed to take the ABS module off the car...very hard to find. Nice to have these handy...for when you need them. Now, to keep them sorted and stored so they don't disappear (my son often takes off with my tools and I can't find them anywhere when I need them).

[billofdurham]

MIJ - shame on you. You should have done what I did. I trained my son to be mechanically inept so he does not take off with my tools and I get to do all the work on his car.


Bill.