[Mg-t] What's a Whit worth?

[Scott Fisher]

Gerry - let's see if I've internalized it yet: the threads in the XPAG/XPEG
are in fact metric (the engine being of Hotchkiss design from France, though I
thought the tractor slur was reserved for Triumphs :-), but the flats on the
bolt and nut faces were remachined to use wrenches measured in good old
inches. So for cleaning out the threads in an engine rebuild I will want to
keep my metric tap-and-die set, but I can't, for example, throw my 11mm gear
wrench over a nut or bolt on the block to take it out.

So far, the only tools
I've needed to use on the car are my spark plug wrench and a screwdriver --
and that just to pop the springs on the distributor cap when I installed the
new cap, rotor, plugs and wires. But sooner or later I'll be taking things off
to clean them up, and actually, Bob's comment about the wheel nuts is very
timely as I need to adjust the brakes soon. The car stops well but with a
longish pedal travel, and the LF wheel locks up early. Getting the brakes
adjusted will make the car a lot more pleasant to drive.

Thanks, all!
--Scott




----- Original Message -----
From: "Gable, Gerry" <GABLEG at ecu.edu>
To: "mgbob at juno.com" <mgbob at juno.com>; "sfisher71 at yahoo.com"
<sfisher71 at yahoo.com>
Cc: "mg-t at autox.team.net" <mg-t at autox.team.net>
Sent:
Tuesday, May 28, 2013 9:40 AM
Subject: RE: [Mg-t] What's a Whit worth?

Please
correct me in I am wrong, but my recollection is that the engine is a tractor
engine out of France and therefor is metric.
Thanks
Gerry

-----Original
Message-----
From: mg-t-bounces at autox.team.net
[mailto:mg-t-bounces at autox.team.net] On Behalf Of mgbob at juno.com
Sent: Monday,
May 27, 2013 7:51 AM
To: sfisher71 at yahoo.com
Cc: mg-t at autox.team.net
Subject:
Re: [Mg-t] What's a Whit worth?

Scott,
   To add to Charles Hill's notes:
   
Don't try to use a mix of US and Metric wrenches. Yes, it can be done, but the
mess made of nuts and bolts will not offset the cost of the few wrenches
needed. A basic set of Whitworth 3/8 dive sockets and combination wrenches
will handle almost anything in the car except instruments and some electrical
component internals, which are BA.
   If your wheel nuts have a notch at the
corner of each flat, they are Unified size, which fits US wrenches, but
earlier cars had Whitworth sizes.
   Last time I saw their catalogue, British
Tool had a moderately priced line of tools, Everest brand. King Dick brand is
their premium line and is priced like Snap On.  TD fasteners don't seem to be
as strong as US grade 5, so avoid yanking and cranking on them as might be
done with newer fasteners.
Bob

---------- Original Message ----------
From:
Scott Fisher <sfisher71 at yahoo.com>
To: "mg-t at autox.team.net"
<mg-t at autox.team.net>
Subject: [Mg-t] What's a Whit worth?
Date: Sun, 26 May
2013 21:06:55 -0700 (PDT)

Now that I'm back in the loving arms of the Sacred
Octagon, I need something more than the metric wrenches and sockets that have
stood me in good stead with the cars I've been working on since my last MGB
went to its new owner some 15 years ago.

I seem to recall that most of the
work I did on the MGB required 7/16", 1/2", and 9/16" wrenches, with a few
odds and ends larger and smaller. So of course, I'm planning to buy two each
of those, in combination and gear wrenches, as well as an assortment of
sockets.


But then there's
the Whitworth question. I never required Whitworth
wrenches for the B or Midget, but I'm wondering how much of the TD's hardware
is held on with something the SAE stuff won't fit.

Moss sells a couple of
Whitworth tool
packages. Have any of you purchased them, and how
critical/useful have they been? Or was the TD's connection with the "modern"
Y-type chassis enough to make the Whitworth tools a historical oddity? I
really don't know.

Would love
any and all advice, including a Whitworth to
SAE (or metric) conversion chart on line -- c'mon, there HAS to be one, right?
Best,

--Scott Fisher
  1951 TD
  Tualatin, Oregon
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