theres got to be a better way
 

is there a trick to preventing dirt from becoming completely impacted into the hex heads on the bottom of the chassis? i have tried brushing on wd-40 but that did not really help.

if there is no trick to prevent, is there a trick for dirt removal? now im just using an xacto to pick out the dirt (and ruining a blade each time). its an annoying and time consuming task. there has to be a better way

I hear you man !..I'm lucky , due to my wife is a dental nurse and she gets all of the broken tools from the dentist for me.I have a selection of them in my kit just for that job.
The only thing I can suggest is to glue a needle into a piece of wood to act as a handle and use the starp end of the needle to scrape out the dirt.This will work the best.
It's what I use except it is a dental one made from surgens steel !!!

i usually just take a small flat screwdriver and spin it in the head of the hex nut and that usually clears out the dirt pretty quick, if you have one thats only slightly smaller than the hex then it works even better. works for me so.

I always use my exacto knife to clear the hex heads out and that seems to work just fine.....

I think the best thing is to leave the dirt dry and just use a pick, or like a push pin or something like that. (needle)

I was thinking about this just the other day ironicly, I was thinking that if someone made little "caps" that would push snuggly into the hex, and just have a flat top, that would at least keep the dirt out. I understand that they would probably fly off the the bottom of the chassis though:rolleyes: Or break and be even harder to get out than the dirt.

a nice air hose also gets the dirt right right

When I bought my set of SAE Allens from WiHa it included two drivers that were INSANELY small...dunno what size offhand, but man, they're like toothpicks. I wear glasses and my goofy brother and I were all in the Tech Deck craze, and I still can't think of hardware small enough for these tools. I've used them for center-punches in .060" Lexan already. Crazy small. But the biggest thing I use them for: digging crap out of c'sunk chassis screws.

The pushpin idea is good, I gotta try that. I use one of my wife's pins from her sewing setup. It's got a big round head on one end and is stiff enough to dig out small hex nuts on our T4 and B4 rigs after some of the holes get filled with clay-type dirt. Plus, you can buy dozens for cheap rather than using a smaller precision screwdriver, or allen head.

How's this - 32 of them for under $1?

http://www.createforless.com/Bulk+No...utm_medium=cse

Get your self one of these.

It's the greatest tool ever invented. :D

I got sick of my chassis getting scratched and dirt getting in my screws, so now I just tape the bottom of the chassis with some of that plasticy tape with string inside of it. Best tape ever :smile:

I have a few picks in my pit box like shown in the link above from macr0w. A quick once around inside the hex and it's good to go.

I use torx screws for all the screws through the bottom of the chassis (really, I use torx screws for nearly all the screws on my cars) and have found that they "clean out" a lot more easily than regular hex-hardware. Further, even if there is a little dirt in the bottom of the screw head, the torx driver has so much grip on the screw it usually gets it out regardless.

i agree torx screws should be the standard hardware over hex!!! much better grip to the driver too!!! i also have a snap on pick set. works great for many things:nod:

Get a set of dental picks. They get the dirt out good and they are handy for other stuff too. They work good on getting those CVD pin ring covers out as well.

hey paul i want to know where to get them in bulk my local fastenal cant get them.