oil drain plug socket from the old days.

I happened to think of this today and thought I would share. Back in the 70s I had a Honda 305 scrambler and remembered people used to have trouble getting the valve cover caps off without rounding the 24mm aluminum over. Same ones used for our oil drain. If you use a good 6 point 15/16 socket that's about .007 smaller it fits a bit tighter. Also if you take 2 or 3 layers of aluminum foil, place it flat on top of the socket and gently tap the socket on the cap, you get a nice tight fit that will not round over the cap. Just my little hint for today. The foil trick also works good for the 24mm socket. Ernie

Ernie,

That sounds like a good idea. I know I rounded off a tappit once, after 7 years and I had to bring it in to the Honda shop to remove it. It seems Honda should've made it a bit deeper of a tappit so the socket couldn't slip off so easily. I know that first oil change I did after the 600 miles that it was really tough to get off. Thanks for sharing.

I use a similar method to get nuts started in awkward spots. It won't work to protect aluminum plugs but keeps nuts in a wrench or socket. Just lay a couple layers of paper towel over you socket or box end wrench and then press the nut into it. The paper will make the nut snug in the tool so that it can be started on the bolt or stud. It's especially handy when starting a nut on a bolt or stud in a deep socket, it will stay in the socket and you can get a bit of pressure on it to start the nut.