Screw loose

Old screws are a wonder.

Often hand made, the slots aren't uniform and you are lucky if your screwdriver fits them all. The tempering is different from screw to screw and therefore you need to 'adjust' the colour to make sure they all look black when they go back.

You need to adapt old elements to make the whole work. You need to adapt your own perceptions to accept that factory uniformity is not necessary for a working system. Different rules apply. And it's only Nigel, after all.