>> On looking at my workshop (currently renovating, buy MG when
>> finished), I have realised that I require some fresh tools.
>> Are MG's SAE or whitworth threads on fasteners?
>
>Both.....at least on the SU carbs, you will find some Whitworth
>fasteners. On the B, most everything else seems (I'll be a DPO one day)
>to be SAE.
>
>> Is A/F SAE?
>> I have time to assemble a decent set of tools for the new workshop,
>> and have a realistic (?) budget set aside ($2k) for tools.
>Eric
>
I believe you'll find that virtualy every British car made after 1955 is all
SAE heads and mostly NF threads. This was a compromise to pacify the North
American markets which were helping Britain rebuild her war damage. It was
just too much to ask the 'colonies' to retool to satisfy the British home
market.
If you have a good set of tools for your basic NA land yacht you won't need
much more for an MG. If you need to clean up threads then a set of National
Fine taps and dies is required. Considering the cost of a good set of taps
and how often you'll need them I recommend just picking up the odd one when
you need it. If you plan on going into a T series MG then the Whole picture
changes. For a COMPLETE TC tool kit you'll need a set of Whitworth wrenches
& sockets, British Standard Fine (BSF) taps and dies, British Association
(BA) taps and dies and the odd British Standard Pipe (BSP) die. BSF is very
close (but not close enough) to SAE National Fine. The others aren't even
in the ball park. Fortunately these aren't needed often and you don't need
many. They are available from some of the good parts houses (but they're
NOT cheap!)
As an interesting aside, The XPAG engine, fitted to the TC and TD are
actually metric. The factory which made the engines was a French plant in
England taken over by the Nuffield organization during the war and rather
than retool it when the war ended they went right into production with the
existing tools. As a 'convienience to the British motoring public' the nuts
and bolt heads on these engines were converted to Whitworth so one finds an
engine bolt that has a Whitworth head and a metric thread. To make maters
worse the metric thread is an archaic one and not the same as modern SI metric.
Don't let ANY of this discourage you. It's good to know but it makes no
difference. The parts all go together to make a delightful car. Buy one
and enjoy it.
___ \_______ Ross MacPherson
/ __ \ __ / /------|) arm@unix.infoserve.net
/ (___)--------/ (___) 1947 MG-TC 3528
1966 MGB-GT
___ \______ Ross MacPherson
/ __ \ __ / /------|) arm@unix.infoserve.net
/ (___)---------/ (___) 1947 MG-TC 3528
1966 MGB-GT
|