Banging my head against the wall

[Martin Donnison]

Morning guys,
Me again. Need your help. I have made the rear engine vents but can’t find out which button head bold I should be using. The only bold reference I can find in the manual is a M2.5 x 5 button. But this is not long enough to go through the mesh vent and bace plate and fit a nut onto the thread.

It’s the two centre rear vents I am fitting.

Thanks Martin.

[John Clarke]

Careful with the old noggin, you only have one.
I used cheese head 2.5mm and rounded off the nuts so that they slip in and out easily of the cut hull holes. The actual tank uses cheese heads, so I thought why not. (Cheese heads being the old term for socket heads)
These grills are the main access to the control gear and smoker and I wanted them easily removed and refitted. To hold them in place I fitted magnets under the hull holes. Not that it really needed them, as they all pinched together nicely.
Save the head banging for when you try to align the grills within the T piece without the quality shut gaps you'd find on a Morris Marina.

[Martin Donnison]

I like the handles. There not in my kit so I take it you made them.

[John Clarke]

Hi Martin, sadly no. the handles are fabricated and brass tubing soldered on to the brass frames of the grills. The mesh was cut out and replaced with finer mesh. Looking at it now the whole thing needs tidying up a bit. Which is what I find when brought out from the dimly lit garage into the sun light. The hated Dracula effect
One of the nice things about building right out of the box, is building it in it's raw state and then just paint it.
Adding detail bits and bobs requires fettling, filler and glues which end up being painted more than once.
I can understand your annoyance of not finding the right fastener at the moment. You might even find the fasteners at the end of the build, which can be placed in the spares box.
I just order what I need from a supplier and get on with it.
Or you could send me a stamped addressed envelope and I'll send you enough Cheese head M2.5 to do the job. see picture the M2.5 spares box.

[Martin Donnison]

That’s very kind of you. I will have a lol through my spares from my Leo build. But thanks.