Model A shops

[Pete]

It is a sad day in Model A shops across the country.
Lufkin has announced they will not be making their prized yardsticks any longer . It is the company's feeling that they have made them long enough. 36" is still a yard.

[31a]

Thats Bab really bad but funny

[updraught]

Well, yeah.

It's about time they changed to meter ones. Nobody uses yards any more.

Dinosaur stuff.

[Oldbluoval]

USA tried the metric thingy…..
Went over like a lead balloon. You may keep it down under!

[Synchro909]

Originally Posted by Oldbluoval

USA tried the metric thingy…..
Went over like a lead balloon. You may keep it down under!

Not just "down under" but pretty much the whole of the rest of the world. The US needs to catch up.

[Oldbluoval]

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We’re just fine. I don’t see going metric is doing a “catch up”? Marching to the rest of the world does intrigue most Americans ….
As said we’re in great shape for the shape we’re in! Like the rest of the world?

[jack backer]

Originally Posted by Synchro909

Not just "down under" but pretty much the whole of the rest of the world. The US needs to catch up.

Bear and rabbit doing their business in the woods. Bear asks rabbit if he has a problem with shit sticking to his fur … rabbit says no Bear says good, picks up rabbit and wipes himself.


Moral of story? We use the yard cause we want too..does shit stick to your fur?

[LeonardS]

I agree that metric sucks. Glad I’m in the good ole USA! The rest of the world can keep their metric ways.

[Oldbluoval]

I often end up having to use/convert to decimals in machining anyway. But that is a derivative of inches.
Any suggestions for that Synchro?
Am I going backward with that too?
Meters, liters, mm, ….pass

[slatgrille]

I was a Technology (Industrial Arts) teacher for 28 years. First lessons were always how to measure using the English system. The Science teacher would always have the kids 'rib' me about teaching metrics instead. My response was to have them ask him how much he weighed, his pants size, and how far from school he lived.....

I guaranteed the kids the answers would be in lbs., inches, and miles (or feet) or else he had to look up the conversion!

Think our economy is bad now?....wait until the Metric system is mandated!

Craig

[Bob Bidonde]

All you need to remember is that 1mm=0.0394" or for quick estimating, 1mm = 0.04".

[Bruce of MN]

I believe that ratchet wrench drives in metric countries are 3/8", 1/2", etc. Also, the metric pipe thread standard is from the hallowed UK BSP standard. Then it would follow that metric pipe is the same dimensions as US: https://www.engineersedge.com/fluid_...able_15039.htm

On the other hand, at work, I did a concrete foundation takeoff in metric and I was shocked how fast it was, compared to dealing with feet and inches. At least the engineers didn't have foundations dimensioned to fractions of an inch!

We stand with non-metric Myanmar!

[51504bat]

Had any kitchen cabinets made lately? The a lot ofhigh end stuff is metric based. You may not like metric but its here. Many more important issues facing us than metric vs. U.S. measuring. And why limit it to just Metric? How about the old British Standard Whitworth system? Get out your spanners and work under the bonnet?

[bavArian]

Originally Posted by slatgrille

wait until the Metric system is mandated!

I sincerely hope that was a joke.
Do you really believe the metric system will be replaced? If the answer to that question is yes, I recommend taking a look at almost any other place in the world besides the US.


It will still take a long time, but someday (probably far in the future) the US will be adapting the metric system.

Originally Posted by Bruce of MN

I believe that ratchet wrench drives in metric countries are 3/8", 1/2", etc. Also, the metric pipe thread standard is from the hallowed UK BSP standard.

Correct, you've named the only 2 exceptions that come to my mind. Many pipe- and hose-threads are metric fine thread as well, it kinda depends on where the pipe is used.

[Oldbluoval]

All you need to remember is that 1mm=0.0394


And keep a calculator handy?!

[Ruth]

Originally Posted by Oldbluoval

All you need to remember is that 1mm=0.0394


And keep a calculator handy?!

Exactly what I was thinking.

[johnneilson]

I have been told the Metric system will be accepted for the last 40 years here in the US. I guess it will take some time.

I use both standards of units in machining, it doesn't matter, you just have to adapt.

But, I will keep my Lufkin Yard stick, just for when I have to work on the Model "A".

John

PS, better than a calculator there are many conversion programs or aps available which will make conversions easier.

[denis4x4]

Almost twenty years ago, I purchased the entire inventory of nuts and bolts from a hardware store going out of business. This included a great selection of metric hardware. From time to time, I will use metric nuts and bolts on my Model A's as my supply of standard hardware is depleted. Next owner of these cars will have to wonder as he tries to remove something with standard wrenches and sockets.

[Big hammer]

Metwrench tools fits us standard and metric! they grip the flats and not the corners!

[Flathead]

So they won't be making them any longer..........

[katy]

Originally Posted by Bob Bidonde

All you need to remember is that 1mm=0.0394" or for quick estimating, 1mm = 0.04".

I usually use .03937"

[bavArian]

I'm remembering 25.4 mm = 1 inch. And 1 mile ~ 1.6 km.

Easier for me this way.

[TomInCologne]

...and then i'm under my Model A with an 11/16 wrench in my hands. and it's just a tad too small and i have to think and calculate in my head which size is the next up...


much easier in metric: 8-10-12-13-14-...

[LeonardS]

10 guys from metric countries, trying to convince 10,000 of us from the USA that their system is better. Good luck with that!

[bavArian]

Originally Posted by LeonardS

10 guys from metric countries, trying to convince 10,000 of us from the USA that their system is better. Good luck with that!

It's not necessarily 'better' or 'worse', as both systems by themself work for day-to-day use. Metric is imho just easier to work with.



Let's take a look at measuring distance:
You guys have inch, foot, yards, miles. That's a factor of 12, 3 and 1760 from inch to foot to yard to mile.
The metric system has millimeter, centimeter, decimeter (VERY rarely used nowadays), meter, kilometer. 10 mm = 1 cm, 10 cm = 1 dm, 10 dm = 1 m, 1000 m = 1 km.


If you take a look at how the units themselves are defined, the current metric system makes more sense too. The length of 1 inch is even based on the metric system, it's defined as 25.4 mm.


I guess there's a reason that most of the world uses the metric system.



That both systems still coexist and probably will for the next 20 or 30 years is weird. Regardless we'll still have to use the imperial system because I don't see myself changing every bolt to metric on the Ford or the Harley.
But I do think that some day in the (probably distant) future new, american Fords and Harleys will be built using metric bolts.

[LeonardS]

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Originally Posted by bavArian

It's not necessarily 'better' or 'worse', as both systems by themself work for day-to-day use. Metric is imho just easier to work with.



Let's take a look at measuring distance:
You guys have inch, foot, yards, miles. That's a factor of 12, 3 and 1760 from inch to foot to yard to mile.
The metric system has millimeter, centimeter, decimeter (VERY rarely used nowadays), meter, kilometer. 10 mm = 1 cm, 10 cm = 1 dm, 10 dm = 1 m, 1000 m = 1 km.


If you take a look at how the units themselves are defined, the current metric system makes more sense too. The length of 1 inch is even based on the metric system, it's defined as 25.4 mm.


I guess there's a reason that most of the world uses the metric system.



That both systems still coexist and probably will for the next 20 or 30 years is weird. Regardless we'll still have to use the imperial system because I don't see myself changing every bolt to metric on the Ford or the Harley.
But I do think that some day in the (probably distant) future new, american Fords and Harleys will be built using metric bolts.

You grew up with your system, so that’s easier for you. I grew up with our system,so that’s easier for me. They tried to shove the metric system down our throats in school, but then they seemed to let go of that nonsense. I’m happy with what I currently use.

[TomInCologne]

Originally Posted by bavArian

<snip>


But I do think that some day in the (probably distant) future new, american Fords and Harleys will be built using metric bolts.

...and i think that's already the case, new Fords and Harleys are produced with metric screws, nuts and bolts...

[Jeff/Illinois]

Originally Posted by jack backer

Bear and rabbit doing their business in the woods. Bear asks rabbit if he has a problem with shit sticking to his fur … rabbit says no Bear says good, picks up rabbit and wipes himself.


Moral of story? We use the yard cause we want too..does shit stick to your fur?

THAT is funny!!!!

[Pete]

High school physics basics.
Distance measurement = furlongs per fortnight or leagues per eon.

[Ivan in southeast va.]

Fifty years or so ago in grade school, they told us metric was coming. I'm not waiting for it, and I'm okay with that.

[Synchro909]

It should come as no surprise to anybody that we all feel most comfortable with what we grew up using. In this country when I was a kid, it was the "proper" imperial system. (The American imperial system is different - WHY?.) Then, in the 1960s, we converted to metric. That caused some people, especially the older ones some temporary difficulty but it wasn't long before everybody was comfortable with it. Nowadays, younger people - younger than in their 50s, can't believe we used such an awkward system. It makes no sense to them at all and I can see why.
My career was a Licensed Land Surveyor and when I started, we used to have to work from plans and land titles often a century old that were in links and chains - another almost metric system. In those days, we worked in feet and decimals of a foot. It takes me a second or two to convert a dimension from inches to decimals of a foot, even today - 50 years later. It has been many, many years now that we have all used metric and I can jump from links to feet to metres and back again like flicking a switch. The same goes for gallons and litres, degrees Fahrenheit and Celsius. I am quite at home with them all except some of the American version of imperial (because it was never used here).
Obviously, it is difficult to become proficient in another system when almost everybody around you is using something else. IMO, if there were a genuine attempt at change over there, people would adapt quickly and you'd be better off. We did and we are.

[Brad in Germany]

Brad in Maryland

[bavArian]

Originally Posted by Brad in Germany

You mixed up metric with imperial.

[Robert/Texas]

Some years ago the icehouse about 3 miles from here converted both of their gas pumps to the metric system. About 6 months later they converted them back to the old system. I never saw any other metric gas pumps back then and felt sorry for the owner of the icehouse who took this hit.

[Bruce of MN]

My US made 1977 Chevette had all metric thread fasteners.

Our two sons are engineers (ME and ChemE) who graduated in ~2011 from Wisconsin and they did all their calculations using metric units.

[CT Jack]

Those who oppose the metric system are half awake. I wonder if they have worked on any of the newer USA made Ford, GM, or Chrysler cars lately. If they have they probably had to use metric tools to do so. The US of A is probably the only country on the planet not officially using the metric system. In case you do not realize it, indirectly we are using the metric system as a result of our huge amount of international product consumption and trade. Working in single digits and tens is a lot easier then remembering water freezes @ 32F and boils @ 212F versus 0C and 100C in the metric system.

[LeonardS]

Originally Posted by CT Jack

Those who oppose the metric system are half awake. I wonder if they have worked on any of the newer USA made Ford, GM, or Chrysler cars lately. If they have they probably had to use metric tools to do so. The US of A is probably the only country on the planet not officially using the metric system. In case you do not realize it, indirectly we are using the metric system as a result of our huge amount of international product consumption and trade. Working in single digits and tens is a lot easier then remembering water freezes @ 32F and boils @ 212F versus 0C and 100C in the metric system.

I’m quite sure that I’m fully awake! I also have all the metric tools, but I can look at a standard nut/bolt and tell if it’s 3/8”, 1/2”, 9/16”, etc. I can’t do that when I look at a metric nut/bolt……can you? It’s all trial and error with the metric crap.

[denis4x4]

Just to mix things up, if you own an old Jaguar, you need a set of metric, standard and Whitworth wrenches and sockets.

[Oldbluoval]

It’s a vast conspiracy against a consumer of anything.
I just recently had to buy Tri-wing screwdrivers to work on a small appliance.
As to USA going metric….why not? Or just use it all; mix and match! What the h@#&!
Things are screwed up enough…let the insanity continue,

[Badpuppy]

Metric is much easier to use so long as you stick with it. Problems arise when you have to deal with the ancient system we're used to.

[LeonardS]

Next you’ll want us to change to Chinese from English, because it works better for Chinese people…….aaahhh, no!

[bavArian]

Originally Posted by LeonardS

I’m quite sure that I’m fully awake! I also have all the metric tools, but I can look at a standard nut/bolt and tell if it’s 3/8”, 1/2”, 9/16”, etc. I can’t do that when I look at a metric nut/bolt……can you? It’s all trial and error with the metric crap.

Work with metric fasteners for a year and you won't have a problem with that.
You can't live in the past forever.

[LeonardS]

Originally Posted by bavArian

Work with metric fasteners for a year and you won't have a problem with that.
You can't live in the past forever.

This from a guy with a Ford Model A! I guess you can live in the past, forever!

[bavArian]

No, I don't have any kind of emotional attachment to the A. And I have 3 other cars that are way more modern than the A. The Ford is, for me, simply a good looking pastime. It could've been a Merc R129 as well. That was a close contender beside the A actually.


I'm just saying that most of the scientific and technological world has adopted the metric system. Imperial units are simply outdated by now.

[rotorwrench]

Yes were are hard headed here in the US. We are also relatively practical. In other words, if it ain't broke, don't try to fix it.

The aircraft industry here in the US still uses the inch system and likely will for a long time to come. This is due to the complex series of standards that were developed for the aerospace industry. Home construction still uses 16 and 24 inch centers due to the manufacture of 4' X 8' and 4' X 12' standards for sheet rock and plywood. This isn't changing much either. I haven't used a yard stick in years but I do use my 4-foot and 8-foot aluminum rules as well as my framing square all the time.

I can use metric when I have to and have always maintained both imperial and metric hand tools. There are so many different size metric wrenches that I seldom ever use some of them. The ones I do use are very close to 3/8", 1/2", and 9/16" with smaller ones for aviation common fasteners but I think you can see my point. 10mm, 13mm, and 15mm seem to be the ones I use the most in metric.

[Brad in Germany]

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Originally Posted by rotorwrench

......

I can use metric when I have to and have always maintained both imperial and metric hand tools. There are so many different size metric wrenches that I seldom ever use some of them. .....

Very smart to have both sets of tools. I also maintain both imperial and metric tools. Here's how I've organized my wrenches:



Brad in Maryland

[Benson]

I bought two 1979 Chevy Malibus with 267 V8s and 350 THMs.


Both used SAE wrenches on mechanical units.


The company bought 300 as company cars.


As I remember some cars had 200 or 231 V6s and 200 THMs, those 200 THMs used Metric bolts.


In fact the oil pans on the transmission had "METRIC" stamped on them.


Most body bolts and nuts were METRIC.

Go figure...


Both were Janesville builds ... maybe the bodies were built in Canada!!


Those of us who ordered company cars when first offered got the 267 V8s and 350 THMs.


Then some bean counter said we could only order V6s because they got 2 miles per gallon more.


Every one of the V6s had the transmission rebuilt at least twice before they reached 60,000 miles. That sure saved alot money ... Heh?


The metric bolts did not make the 200's less reliable.


A friend who worked for AAMCO said that when they designed the 200's many plastic parts were used and that is why they were junk.

[Pete]

Originally Posted by rotorwrench

Yes we're hard headed here in the US. We are also relatively practical. In other words, if it ain't broke, don't try to fix it.

Don't forget those that subscribe to, "If it ain't broke, keep fixing it till it is".
LOL..

[TomInCologne]

Originally Posted by rotorwrench

Yes were are hard headed here in the US. We are also relatively practical. In other words, if it ain't broke, don't try to fix it.

<snip>

In that case our hobby should be Model T, not Model As... or a horse...

[Dino's A]

Originally Posted by slatgrille

I was a Technology (Industrial Arts) teacher for 28 years. First lessons were always how to measure using the English system. The Science teacher would always have the kids 'rib' me about teaching metrics instead. My response was to have them ask him how much he weighed, his pants size, and how far from school he lived.....

I guaranteed the kids the answers would be in lbs., inches, and miles (or feet) or else he had to look up the conversion!

Think our economy is bad now?....wait until the Metric system is mandated!

Craig

Hmmm..... So another member here that's also on G503.com!
Dino F.

[Terry, NJ]

Time to get rid of Metric! Time to go back to inches, feet and yards. It's too hard to covert as I get older. I use the 1 mm =.040 (1"= 25 mm) quick conversion too. And here's another, 1 Yd =11/10 = 1 meter. 1 yd 36", 10% 3.6" ! meter = 39.36" 3.6" or 10% of an yard larger. Hence 1 meter is 11/10 of a yard Long. It ain't perfect and I wouldn't use it for anything longer than two meters. But for quick estimates it works. Don't get me started on liquid measure! I fought that fight with Ivermectin a few months ago. Unfortunately, Bectin Dickinson refuses to make Hypos with anything but CCs on it. Give me ozs anytime .
Terry

[Bill G]

"But that's the way we've always done it."

[ursus]

Originally Posted by Synchro909

It should come as no surprise to anybody that we all feel most comfortable with what we grew up using. In this country when I was a kid, it was the "proper" imperial system. (The American imperial system is different - WHY?.) Then, in the 1960s, we converted to metric. That caused some people, especially the older ones some temporary difficulty but it wasn't long before everybody was comfortable with it. Nowadays, younger people - younger than in their 50s, can't believe we used such an awkward system. It makes no sense to them at all and I can see why.
My career was a Licensed Land Surveyor and when I started, we used to have to work from plans and land titles often a century old that were in links and chains - another almost metric system. In those days, we worked in feet and decimals of a foot. It takes me a second or two to convert a dimension from inches to decimals of a foot, even today - 50 years later. It has been many, many years now that we have all used metric and I can jump from links to feet to metres and back again like flicking a switch. The same goes for gallons and litres, degrees Fahrenheit and Celsius. I am quite at home with them all except some of the American version of imperial (because it was never used here).
Obviously, it is difficult to become proficient in another system when almost everybody around you is using something else. IMO, if there were a genuine attempt at change over there, people would adapt quickly and you'd be better off. We did and we are.

The Imperial system used in Britain was once subject to regional variations and this created problems at home and in the colonies especially as it allowed for all kinds of cheating by the British East India Company when dealing with trade from the colonies. At the time of the American Revolution the rebels in the United States established a customary standard for the Imperial system. The British later established a standard for their own Imperial system in 1825. They are similar in terminology but not in actual volumes, weights, and measurements.

When I took the exam for a pharmacist license 50 years ago, we had to know how to convert between American Customary, Apothecaries, Metric, and Troy measurement systems and do so from memory. How many minims are there in a fluid dram?

[nkaminar]

I am trying to loose some weight and get down to 12-1/4 stones. I just got back from a nice Model A tour. We drove between 40 and 55 leagues each day. I remembered to bring my 1/5 finger wrench in case I needed to change a spark plug.

[updraught]

Originally Posted by nkaminar

I am trying to loose some weight and get down to 12-1/4 stones. I just got back from a nice Model A tour. We drove between 40 and 55 leagues each day. I remembered to bring my 1/5 finger wrench in case I needed to change a spark plug.

Your speedo is in leagues?

I thought it would have been poles or furlongs.

[burner31]

Granma use metric all the time on varmints, trespassers and revenue agents...9mm

[slatgrille]

Yes Dino F., it's the g503 guy!

This thread is getting too funny....stones, leagues, fathoms....what was the original topic again?

Oh yeah....Model A shops! LOL.

[Dino's A]

Just too many passions in the car hobby. From WWII jeeps to Model A Fords!

[RandyinUtah]

I was surprised to learn that my 1959 Triumph TR3 made in England uses all USA standard nuts and bolts. Just a few tiny screws under the dash holding the instruments were not SAE but Whitworth.

[nkaminar]

The Zenith carburetor uses some metric threads. Why?

[Brad in Germany]

Originally Posted by nkaminar

The Zenith carburetor uses some metric threads. Why?

.....maybe because Zenith is a French company...... and in case you did not know, and if you believe this flier, the Ford Model A is mostly a French made product.



Vive le métrique et Vive La France!

Brad in Maryland

[woofa.express]

???????????

Which is better? General Motors or Ford. ? one could argue all day without conclusion. Likewise imperial or metric.
The best answer is the one you grew up with. The transition in Australian was when I was aged between 18 and 24. I sometimes become confused between the both.
The younger generation here would say metric because that’s all they know.

[Oldbluoval]

Maybe USA should convert to driving in opposite lane? Convert all current
cars to right hand drive?
Because it’s better ! Yeah right ….I mean left…not sure I know what I mean.
Sorta like his whole thread! Whose on first?

[Synchro909]

Originally Posted by Oldbluoval

Maybe USA should convert to driving in opposite lane? Convert all current
cars to right hand drive?
Because it’s better ! Yeah right ….I mean left…not sure I know what I mean.
Sorta like his whole thread! Whose on first?

Good idea but it would be best if it were done gradually. Trucks and busses first, then cars a week later.

[Randy in ca]

Originally Posted by Synchro909

............. IMO, if there were a genuine attempt at change over there, people would adapt quickly and you'd be better off. We did and we are.

I think you are totally wrong in that regard. As an example, take Canada. The Metric system became official there about 50 years ago, yet still today many, many, many "things" are still commonly referred to and described using the former British system units. I could be here at this time tomorrow trying to list all commonly used in that manner that I know of.

I believe even in Australia and Europe wheel and tire sizes still use widths in metric units and diameters in inches.

[Synchro909]

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Originally Posted by Randy in ca

I think you are totally wrong in that regard. As an example, take Canada. The Metric system became official there about 50 years ago, yet still today many, many, many "things" are still commonly referred to and described using the former British system units. I could be here at this time tomorrow trying to list all commonly used in that manner that I know of.

I believe even in Australia and Europe wheel and tire sizes still use widths in metric units and diameters in inches.

I don't find it surprising that imperial is still used sometimes in Canada. Just look at their giant imperial neighbour to the south. Tyre sizes are a weird mixture. Widths are in metric, rim diameters in imperial

[bavArian]

Originally Posted by Randy in ca

I believe even in Australia and Europe wheel and tire sizes still use widths in metric units and diameters in inches.

Yes, interestingly the width of tires is in millimeters while the diameter is still in inches. But to my knowledge that is pretty much the case worldwide for modern tires. So there's at least a single "standard" around the world even if it doesn't make much sense apart from backwards-compatibility.

Originally Posted by Oldbluoval

Maybe USA should convert to driving in opposite lane? Convert all current
cars to right hand drive?
Because it’s better ! Yeah right ….I mean left…not sure I know what I mean.
Sorta like his whole thread! Whose on first?

In my opinion that's a wrong approach to this topic. 2/3rds of the world are driving on the right side of the road, therefore it would be logical for the nations that are driving on the left side to switch to the right side. It's the same with imperial vs. metric. One of them is used by very roughly 95 % of the world, the other is imperial.

[updraught]

[QUOTE=bavArian;2135108
In my opinion that's a wrong approach to this topic. 2/3rds of the world are driving on the right side of the road, therefore it would be logical for the nations that are driving on the left side to switch to the right side. It's the same with imperial vs. metric. One of them is used by very roughly 95 % of the world, the other is imperial. [/QUOTE]


https://www.nytimes.com/1975/01/25/a...de-of-the.html

[jack backer]

The US is truly the worlds economic superpower, it provides aid, is the anchor of NATO. The US provided the hard and soft goods..and men to defeat fascism 70 years ago. Our industrial prowess provided the car that brings us together here. Those of you who benefit from our largess don’t like the way we count and drive?. I don’t like the way my hard earned tax dollars make their way into your country..

[Oldbluoval]

Jack…….
Agreed 1000%
I just don’t know how to do that in metric!!!’
As in lane changes..tongue-in-cheek
I think America doesn’t need foreign advice!! We’ve footed the world’s bills for a century. Best advice would be to stop doing that!!
Where you folks gonna get your model a parts…oh yeah China!!

[bavArian]

Originally Posted by updraught

https://www.nytimes.com/1975/01/25/a...de-of-the.html

LOL

Originally Posted by jack backer

The US is truly the worlds economic superpower, it provides aid, is the anchor of NATO. The US provided the hard and soft goods..and men to defeat fascism 70 years ago. Our industrial prowess provided the car that brings us together here. Those of you who benefit from our largess don’t like the way we count and drive?. I don’t like the way my hard earned tax dollars make their way into your country..

Well, one could argue that we don't like the US still having their forces in Germany almost 80 years after the war ended, but let's not get political. It seems it didn't end well the last time that happened in this thread.


From my point of view (trying to be as unbiased as possible) the US isn't the superpower it once undenieably was. A lot of the manufacturing that was done in the US in the past has been outsourced to cheaper countries, just like it was done over here. That ofc. also weakens the power the US has internationally because it makes the US more dependent on these manufacturing countries. And in the future the US may have to switch to the metric system, at least in the areas where it's used worldwide. (with such exceptions as were mentioned above)



I personally don't have anything against the imperial system, but I also don't have to deal with it very often. And on the rare occasion that I have to, it's usually only inches and gallons/pints/quarts to convert into the metric equivalent.

[JayJay]

Originally Posted by Bruce of MN

My US made 1977 Chevette had all metric thread fasteners.

Our two sons are engineers (ME and ChemE) who graduated in ~2011 from Wisconsin and they did all their calculations using metric units.

Interesting observation.

I did my undergraduate engineering study at a major US research institution (as is Wisconsin) in the early 70's and was taught in metric. Graduate school at a state university in the early 90's was much more focused on practice than theory, and we were taught in Imperial units. (In fact, there were two editions of some of the textbooks - one metric and one Imperial.) Working in the field (civil engineering) was all Imperial. So even though the metric system may make "sense" on an objective standpoint, the practicality is that Imperial system is here to stay in the US, at least in infrastructure. You can change a distance measurement from feet to meters, but you're not going to dig up an existing 6" underground pipe and replace it with a 150 mm.

Early in my adult life working on Detroit iron, including Model As, I accumulated Imperial tools. As time went on and I acquired European vehicles (Mercedes sedan, BMW motorcycles), and US production switched gradually over to metric fasterners, I had to accumulate metric tools. Then when I got back into the Model A hobby a few years ago I finally had a use for all those Imperial tools.


JayJay

[Brad in Germany]

I like my two liter bottles of Pepsi. Somehow buying two quarts of Pepsi or a half gallon of Pepsi just does not sound right......

Brad in Maryland

[Synchro909]

Originally Posted by Brad in Germany

I like my two liter bottles of Pepsi. Somehow buying two quarts of Pepsi or a half gallon of Pepsi just does not sound right......

Brad in Maryland

A few years ago, I was in a takeaway food shop in the US when a fellow in front of me was at the cash register. He stepped towards the drinks 'fridge and said, "I'll have a 600 ml Coke with that too." The girl at the register looked puzzled but I recognised a countryman's accent and said "They wouldn't know what 600 ml is, mate!"
He recognised my accent and smiled agreement. I'm sure we both had a chuckle about that later.

[updraught]

Any country that has a large manufacturing base will spend money out of the country protecting its supply lines and interests. The British did it with their navy years ago when they ruled half the world. The Chinese are doing it now.

The British sent our troops to Borneo to protect their rubber supplies during WW2. To them, rubber was more important than us.
But the British also knew that the Japanese wouldn't invade here because of the logistics.

The French govt. ruled that cars had to have more local content at the start of the depression. I'm not sure, but I think the same thing may have happened here.

[jack backer]

Originally Posted by bavArian

LOL







Well, one could argue that we don't like the US still having their forces in Germany almost 80 years after the war ended, but let's not get political. It seems it didn't end well the last time that happened in this thread.


From my point of view (trying to be as unbiased as possible) the US isn't the superpower it once undenieably was. A lot of the manufacturing that was done in the US in the past has been outsourced to cheaper countries, just like it was done over here. That ofc. also weakens the power the US has internationally because it makes the US more dependent on these manufacturing countries. And in the future the US may have to switch to the metric system, at least in the areas where it's used worldwide. (with such exceptions as were mentioned above)



I personally don't have anything against the imperial system, but I also don't have to deal with it very often. And on the rare occasion that I have to, it's usually only inches and gallons/pints/quarts to convert into the metric equivalent.

Well,we could have let Stalin have Germany after the war..you wouldnt have liked that at all,I dare say..And as for that whole 'liking' thing,winners write the history books,and call the shots..Nazi Germany came very close to winning,but thank god they didnt..

in fact,the Aussies would be speaking Japanese and the Germans Russian...under the yoke of tyrants.. if it wasnt for the US. What has either country done for the US?

[rotorwrench]

What happened to discussions about model As. We won't get anywhere discussing political stuff.

A lot of things have changed over the years and they will likely change more and more as time marches on. I'm just worried about my old A-bones when I come here.

[Oldbluoval]

Maybe time for Ryan to deep-six this one?

[Terry, NJ]

Oh! not that worn out old crap about "How we saved your asses in World War Two " I cringe every time I hear one of my countrymen dragging that old saw out. Believe or not Naziism would have run it's course and died a well deserved death with out us. It just would have taken longer. I always liked that part of Winston Churchill's speech where he told Hitler that the British would fight them "on the Beaches, etc. He meant it! The Nazis would have had a bad time trying to subdue the British. So let's forget that that worn out crap about who saved who. We helped, no doubt about it!But if you think that theNazis would not have died in droves from killing each other, your'e wrong! Think back to what Jefferson said "He who governs, least governs best" No "Ism" type of government can serve having total control!
Terry

[Terry, NJ]

Oh! not that worn out old crap about "How we saved your asses in World War Two " I cringe every time I hear one of my countrymen dragging that old saw out. Believe or not Naziism would have run it's course and died a well deserved death with out us. It just would have taken longer. I always liked that part of Winston Churchill's speech where he told Hitler that the British would fight them "on the Beaches, etc. He meant it! The Nazis would have had a bad time trying to subdue the British. So let's forget that that worn out crap about who saved who. We helped, no doubt about it!But if you think that theNazis would not have died in droves from killing each other, your'e wrong! Think back to what Jefferson said "He who governs, least governs best" No "Ism" type of government can serve having total control!
Terry

[Oldbluoval]

Ryan …..kill this….please!!

[Oldbluoval]

Ryan …..kill this….please!!

[Synchro909]

Originally Posted by Oldbluoval

Ryan …..kill this….please!!

Yup. it's become too political.