really..
getting to be a much bigger deal than it needs to be.

..'you get long enough sheet metal screw that looks about right....
then, you try it in the van, screwing it into the little sheet metal nut
plate ..
and those are kinda generic.  If your screw is too small in diameter ...it
won't grab firmly.
If it's too big ....it won't go in.   The threads per inch don't matter ....
all that matters is diameter and length, and diameter isn't critical like it
is on a 'real 'threaded fastener.

like don't give up so easily ...find a screw that fits , like no big deal.
those little sheet metal nut plates ...you should be able to find those new
if you need to.
they're very generic.

the people that work at the store..
sometimes they impede getting to the part you need.
ACE Hardware is usually pretty good, my local one  has thousands of
fasteners of all kinds and types.
- like point me to the right department, then let me root through what's
there.
heck....sometimes you even discover neat little things you didn't even know
exist that way.

and in this case ...'a screw is a screw' pretty much !
which I am sure you have figured out by now ...

and I was going to say use compressed air as a first step in getting the
dust off the engine , though you may not have an air compressor I realize.

----- Original Message -----
From: "Mike "Rocket J Squirrel"" <camping.elliott@GMAIL.COM>
To: <vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM>
Sent: Saturday, June 26, 2010 1:28 PM
Subject: Re: Tail lamp assembly mounting screw

> Zoltan wrote:
>> Sheet metal is sheet metal in Germany and USA just the same.  Metric or
>> not it's still a sheet metal screw.  Take it and you won't see any
>> difference. Only the diameter matters really a little.  But they are
>> close and if you find that you need to use a bigger one, take it.
>> That's a kind of item that is not worth dilly-dolly over.
>
> Be that as it may, but I'm pretty sure that if I picked up a US sheet
> metal screw and used it, the universe would have split into a parallel
> with this one where US and metric SMS's aren't interchangeable and I'd
> have shattered some pesky NLA part and I'd be getting "why did you do
> that?" responses to my subsequent post for help.
>
> That's how these things work, you know.
>
> --
> Rocky J Squirrel