Hi All. I'm the proud owner of my dad's 1947 MG, TC4040. I've been lucky enough to discover I live about 2 miles away from Len Fanelli of New England MGT Register. So I'm extremely grateful for his knowledge and to be guided to such wonderful resources here and on other sites.
So... I have a lot to learn and hope to make my dad's ride even nicer than i received it. Short list is to learn to wrench for myself, and in that regard, if anyone can suggest a good set of wrenches to get me on my way that would be great.
I'm entirely capable of learning how to fix small things, and I'm eager for any guidance members here can offer.
Thanks
Luke Sheridan
Hi, New Guy Here
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frenchblatter
- Posts: 625
- Joined: Wed Apr 01, 2015 1:22 pm
- Location: Royston, South Yorkshire
- Contact:
Re: Hi, New Guy Here
Luke, welcome aboard. You need Whitworth spanners (wrenches) and sockets and you may get them in Harbour Freight. Just looked and can't see any but there are 11 pages of sockets and wrenches.
If not Machine Mart in the UK have them, maybe someone can get them for you and ship them as a personal item avoiding import duty.
However, I'm sure some one over there will know where you can get them.
If not Machine Mart in the UK have them, maybe someone can get them for you and ship them as a personal item avoiding import duty.
However, I'm sure some one over there will know where you can get them.
Lynne & Norman Verona.
Our website
Visit our website to see what this idiot gets up to in his retirement
Our website
Visit our website to see what this idiot gets up to in his retirement
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Steve Simmons
- Site Admin
- Posts: 2736
- Joined: Wed Dec 26, 2012 10:48 am
- Location: Southern California
- Contact:
Re: Hi, New Guy Here
Welcome, Luke! And congratulations on your new ride. The hardware on these cars is a bit of a mixed bag, so you'll need a few more wrench sizes than on most other classics.
Most of the bolt heads on the car are British / Whitworth sizing, with the exception of brakes which are Lockheed (USA) and therefore standard SAE fractional. There are a few other sizes on the car like BA on smaller items and some reproduction parts come with Metric sizing so you may run into those now and then. So that's three sets of wrenches already.
As far as the threads themselves, you will find BSF / BSW throughout the car, SAE (USS) on the brakes and Metric fine thread on the engine and gearbox. I'm not sure if you're familiar with the term "Mad Metric" but it's what we refer to when describing the engine and gearbox hardware. It's fine metric thread with Whitworth size bolt heads.
I guess the lesson here is to never assume when it comes to thread sizing. You may think for example that the fuel level sender is 10-32 because that's what threads in. But it's actually a BA thread, which has the same threads per inch but a different thread angle, So it will work but is not ideal.
You can often find a good used old-school set of Whitworth wrenches in classifieds or on eBay. Or pony up and get new ones. A web search will reveal several sources. King Dick brand (UK made) are high quality and available new. Do shop around though, the prices can vary wildly. I just took a look on Amazon and they list several low priced sets but no guarantees on quality there.
One more thing, I noticed your car isn't on the TC provenance list. You should email your info in. See the bottom of this page for "MG TC Provenance List" and click the link to view (contact email is at the top of the list):
http://www.tcmotoringguild.org/history/
Most of the bolt heads on the car are British / Whitworth sizing, with the exception of brakes which are Lockheed (USA) and therefore standard SAE fractional. There are a few other sizes on the car like BA on smaller items and some reproduction parts come with Metric sizing so you may run into those now and then. So that's three sets of wrenches already.
As far as the threads themselves, you will find BSF / BSW throughout the car, SAE (USS) on the brakes and Metric fine thread on the engine and gearbox. I'm not sure if you're familiar with the term "Mad Metric" but it's what we refer to when describing the engine and gearbox hardware. It's fine metric thread with Whitworth size bolt heads.
I guess the lesson here is to never assume when it comes to thread sizing. You may think for example that the fuel level sender is 10-32 because that's what threads in. But it's actually a BA thread, which has the same threads per inch but a different thread angle, So it will work but is not ideal.
You can often find a good used old-school set of Whitworth wrenches in classifieds or on eBay. Or pony up and get new ones. A web search will reveal several sources. King Dick brand (UK made) are high quality and available new. Do shop around though, the prices can vary wildly. I just took a look on Amazon and they list several low priced sets but no guarantees on quality there.
One more thing, I noticed your car isn't on the TC provenance list. You should email your info in. See the bottom of this page for "MG TC Provenance List" and click the link to view (contact email is at the top of the list):
http://www.tcmotoringguild.org/history/
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Rob Reilly
- Posts: 352
- Joined: Sun Feb 07, 2021 2:05 pm
- Location: Indiana, USA
Re: Hi, New Guy Here
Welcome Luke.
Moss Motors www.mossmotors.com carries BSF (British Standard Fine) wrenches, also known as Whitworth, named after the 19th century inventor. You may also see BSW which is the coarse thread series in the Whitworth system. Most SU and Lucas parts will be the fine thread in the Whitworth system, except where they are threaded into aluminum, where they generally used coarse threads, with some exceptions.
Moss Motors www.mossmotors.com carries BSF (British Standard Fine) wrenches, also known as Whitworth, named after the 19th century inventor. You may also see BSW which is the coarse thread series in the Whitworth system. Most SU and Lucas parts will be the fine thread in the Whitworth system, except where they are threaded into aluminum, where they generally used coarse threads, with some exceptions.
Last edited by Rob Reilly on Sat Jul 02, 2022 2:33 am, edited 1 time in total.
1937 TA 1271
Re: Hi, New Guy Here
Hello Lukę. You are indeed welcome to be part of our happy band of MG owners; be you an experienced mechanic or just a home garage tinkerer!
One of the first things I bought for the car was a crank handle to replace the missing original. It is useful to be able to turn the engine over slowly especially when adjusting the tappets or points. The beauty of these cars is that they have both electric and manual means of starting the engine; something lacking on later cars.
Maybe your car still has it's crank handle? If so you are lucky.
Ray.
One of the first things I bought for the car was a crank handle to replace the missing original. It is useful to be able to turn the engine over slowly especially when adjusting the tappets or points. The beauty of these cars is that they have both electric and manual means of starting the engine; something lacking on later cars.
Maybe your car still has it's crank handle? If so you are lucky.
Ray.
Re: Hi, New Guy Here
This is great info, folks. Thanks. I've some shopping to do and need to getting on the register. And Ray, I have the crank!
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ROGER FURNEAUX
- Posts: 1434
- Joined: Fri Nov 29, 2019 5:49 am
Re: Hi, New Guy Here
hi Luke (good name, my son is also Luke) welcome to the wacky world of T-types! You are lucky in three respects, firstly to have inherited the car, secondly to have fantastic parts availability (From The Frame Up, Moss & Abingdon Spares in the USA, and several others in the UK, including myself) and also to have an amazing amount of info on the 'net.
But I'm afraid Bob Reilly is way out - in theory coarse threads should be used in soft metals such as aluminium (English spelling) but in practice every thread in the XPAG engine is either metric fine (8x1.0mm or 12x1.5mm) or metric std. (10x1.5mm). Plus a few smaller ones. The "Mad Metric" name came about because when William Morris bought the old (French) Hotchkiss factory in Coventry, all the machine tools used an old Metric system, but always being one for saving money, he kept all those but turned out all the nuts & bolts with BSF size heads, not least because car owners in Britain only had access to BSF/Whitworth spanners & sockets.
Roger Furneaux, aka "Mad Metrics"
Devon Olde England
TC0978
MGB
MGBGTV8
ZT-T 260 (Mustang V8)
But I'm afraid Bob Reilly is way out - in theory coarse threads should be used in soft metals such as aluminium (English spelling) but in practice every thread in the XPAG engine is either metric fine (8x1.0mm or 12x1.5mm) or metric std. (10x1.5mm). Plus a few smaller ones. The "Mad Metric" name came about because when William Morris bought the old (French) Hotchkiss factory in Coventry, all the machine tools used an old Metric system, but always being one for saving money, he kept all those but turned out all the nuts & bolts with BSF size heads, not least because car owners in Britain only had access to BSF/Whitworth spanners & sockets.
Roger Furneaux, aka "Mad Metrics"
Devon Olde England
TC0978
MGB
MGBGTV8
ZT-T 260 (Mustang V8)