Una4dbl55

Now I gotta buy new tools,
I've been working on classics forever, who would have thought a 1980 Corvette was Metric, I've got just enough Metric tools to make it frustrating...... it's like starting over

putting on a header/exaust system, shoulda left it stock

Street Rat

You also have standard size nuts and bolts on it. So you never know to grab a metric or standard wrench. It drives me nuts

qwank

everything on my '81 is standard with the exception of some 10mm bolts here and there. if a 3/8'' is too small, it's a 10mm

Easy Mike

Some of the fasteners on the 80s are metric, most are SAE. I've owned metric tools for at least twentyfive years. A good quality socket set and a set of wrenches will do the trick.

wisoutlaw

I had an early 90's GMC pick-up that was assembled in Canada. The engine was SAE but the rest of the stuff under the hood was metric. I always had wrenches lying all over the place.

markids77

My 77 has a few metric fasteners... they're painted (or anodized) blue. I think that practice continued for several years at GM as they made the transition from SAE to metric. If the fastener is an odd color, it is probably metric. HTH.

TimAT

I was working in a Chevy dealer back in those days. I couldn't afford to buy a full set at the time, so I bought a 10mm, 13mm, 15mm and an 18mm. Sockets and combination wrenches. Kept me going until I could get the full sets.

dochorsepower

That's why the best Vettes were made before 1976

maverickmk

I see what you did there

MathC3

Looks like in the end of the 70s, GM started to change all the nuts for metrics, so they changed whenever their stock of "standard" nuts came to zero. So lots of cars have both. I live in Europe, so the problem was the other way for me: buy imperial tools

74Ken

Lol, I live in Canada, One day the government decided to switch to metric EVERYTHING....all the speed signs had to be changed all weights had to be in metric...talk about confusing. It's taken me the last 30 years to start ordering my deli meats in grams.

I understand the reasoning. All trade through out the world is done in metric, so they adopted it all across the country. In most cases it is a much finer measurement. But man did it cause a lot of confusion. All our socket sets and wrenches come with both SAE and Metric so not such a problem here.

This year I went back to Fahrenheit on my thermostat for the house, Metric is NOT as finite as Fahrenheit. I always needed to be just a little bit colder or a little bit warmer than the thermostat allowed.

Until the day I die, I will never weight myself in metric...and I am 5'9" tall, you figure out the conversion to metric there Doctor.

Unfortunately, most, if not all, replacement parts are made off-shore are Metric. Today's cars are pretty much all metric parts now because the parts are made off-shore. All parts produced in the US and shipped out are Metric. My wife orders parts for Fiat South America and all the orders are shipped based on Metric weight and sizes.

Oh and for my friends down south...wait until you get your hands on a Robertson screw driver set. You'll love it, You can hold a drill with a screw in it right side up and upside down without dropping out the screw. lol

Ken

Paul L

Ken,

The conversion will never be complete. We still build 2 x 4" stud walls on 16" centers. Butter comes in 454 gram packages (a lb). Police descriptions of suspects are feet and inches and lbs. I still think in imperial measures (50kph=30mph, 60kph=40mph, 80kph=50mph, 100kph=~60mph). I take size 13 (13") shoes. My waist for pants is 34 (34"). Etc.

Jeff_Keryk

He who dies with the most tools wins.

74Ken

That's because we are OLD Paul.

I agree clothing will probably never change.

Building materials come in both metric and Imperial.
Lumber, drywall, etc is in Imperial
Vapor barrier comes in meters. Nails come in Kg packages

Any building materials that come from off-shore suppliers is metric.
Domestic building materials are still Imperial.

Who knows if this will even change as the population grows older. Only time will tell.

Ken

Paul L

Yes, I am an older person and set in my ways.

As long as the USA does not convert, our exports will have to meet their standards.

But things will change eventually. I tried to explain mpg at a car show last summer to younger people. The difference between an Imperial gallon and the US version does not help. But I got blank stares. They grew up with liters/100km, a measure that means nothing to me. But that is their world.