Just a thought, prepares to be flamed, but............if they are plating every surface with Kryptonite or whatever then surely all of the dimensions will have changed [unless of course they machined the equivalent plating thickness off the components first and made allowances for polishing reductions etc]....so we have a female thread internally plated [snigger snigger] and a corresponding male thread equally plated. I know there are +/- manufacturing tolerances, but surely tampering with a BS product will invalidate warranties/insurance claim issues etc or have I ust got too much time on my hands? or is it the latest Chilean [not spread all over the fricking carpet, thank you] Merlot speaking for me??/,,........ :coat