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MG MGA - Steve Gyles Going Mobile

No, I am not doing a Barney! I have just been given a very nice mobile tool cabinet for my recent birthday, so I am starting to go through all my spanners to lay out neatly in the drawers. However, the cabinet will not be much use 'Wheeler Dealer' style for lowering the engine or gearbox out from underneath!

It's a stupid question really but what spanner types do most people find best for our nuts and bolts? I have a handful of AF that I use most of the time but also have a motley 1930s collection from my late Father-in-Law that are stamped BS and fit a number of the bolts. His old Whitworths don't do much, so may bin those. Trouble is I don't have a full set of any particular spanner type so was wondering whether get something sorted - recommendations most welcome.

Steve


Steve Gyles

I was in the same state spanner wise until recently. The chrome on the old Draper tools that I bought as a student had started to flake, and as they were relatively thin and not very comfortable compared to some of the more expensive singles I have acquired, I decided to go for some really smart new ones. I looked around and ended up buying two imperial sets from demon-tweeks.co.uk. I bought a stubby set and a normal one, and both have been tested in action and are nicer to hold. I tend to use a 1/4 drive ratchet for most things when suitable, which is surprisingly much of the car except suspension stuff..

For spanners I would really recommend the shiniest finish you can get as they are then much easier to wipe off after use.

I started with a pair of cantilever toolboxes, now I have literally a drawer each of screwdrivers, pliers, hammers etc. It's time to have a massive weed out of the lower quality tools and the ones I don't use any more. I think a spot of eBaying is on the horizon.
dominic clancy

Don't bin the whitworth Steve.
Vintage motorcyclists would give their right arm for them
Art Pearse

Don't bin old spanners - you never know when you might have to fabricate a special, eg by bending the right crank on the end.

Art Pearse

You can never have too many spanners. I have long combos, short combos, standard ratcheting combos, stubby ratcheting combos, open ends, box ends, ratcheting offset box ends, flare nut spanners, spoke spanners, square head ratchet, etc, etc. It's false economy to buy cheap ones, they just flex open and strip bolt heads.
Steve Simmons

Strange coincidence this Steve,
I have just acquired a very similar tool cabinet but mine wasn't such a bargain. I thought that £50 was a bargain, from Aldi in their half-price sale, I was tempted to pay the full price the week before but decided to wait and see.
It is really well constructed and I was happy with it until I just saw how much you "paid"!

I had the same decisions to make regarding the spanners. I have assembled all the AF sizes I need for the MGA over the years and they are in the top drawer along with AF open ended and ring spanners.

Metrics are in a lower drawer, I keep a battered old 12mm metric socket that will hammer onto any rusted AF setscrew like the wing setscrew. This was a Godsend when I dismantled my previous MGA.

I also have a set of Whitworth tools that I used when raced a Villiers engined powered 2-stroke Kart back in the 80s and 90s. Im a little reluctant to get rid if them but I know that I will probably never use them.

So I now also have 3 empty old cantilever tool boxes to dispose of.
Will probably leave them at the end of the street to be picked up by our local mobile scrap "dealers".

This subject reminds me of back in the 70s I was going to rebuild the front suspension on my MGA and I had only a handfull of painted ex WD (War Dept) sockets. (I used to just buy a socket as I needed it as I couldnt afford a full socket set)

My best friend was a qualified mechanic and he had an expensive and beautifully maintained professional chrome plated socket set (Britool or something similar) which he reluctantly let me borrow to do the job.

I returned the set the next day and asked if I could borrow them in a few days time to do the other side. When I went to pick the set up he was even more reluctant than before to lend them to me.
I was a little surprised at this reluctance until I opened the set up and saw how sparkling clean the sockets were. Oops!

My own unpainted sockets tended to go rusty in my toolbox and so I used to leave them covered in the grease from the MGA to help stop this.(I know, it was a great excuse!)
So when I returned his treasured sockets all covered in dirty grease he must have been horrified!

So I made a point of polishing the sockets the second time I returned them and it was worth it to see the look of relief on his face!

He still talks about this after 40 years.

Colyn



c firth

Hi Colyn

Yes it was expensive but not out of my pocket fortunately. The family bought it although i researched it. There is a small story around it. I put it in the Machine Mart basket and then went to check out but they wanted £48 delivery!! I exited the site and started looking at other options. Next day I got an email from the company noting it was in my basket and did I have a problem? I responded that I considered their delivery was horrendous, noting that most of my other equipment from other companies was delivered free. They immediately came back with a delivery offer I could not refuse. It pays to wait!

Your socket set reminds me of my Gordon set I was given on my 21st back in 1967. I had it in the boot of my Cortina when I spun in icy conditions on back roads in Norfolk (outside Snetterton race track of all places). I went into a ditch backwards at about 20mph, the boot flew open and all contents flew out into the snowy, muddy ditch. I was more concerned about my socket set than the considerable damage to the car. I spent about 30 minutes wading in the ditch recovering every single socket and adapter. I still have the complete socket set and it is in pristine condition after all these years!.

Steve
Steve Gyles

Steve,

You shouldn't mention Gordon and tools in the same paragraph, you'll wake him up.

Malcolm
Malcolm Asquith

Malcolm

Crikey, that was an error!

Steve
Steve Gyles

Steve
Dont get rid of the whitworths. I have done a couple of jobs recently when they were the only ones that fitted. I believe one was re-fitting the pipework for the oil pressure gauge and a friend mentioned that is because they originally used gas fittings - but maybe he was pulling my leg, I never found out.
Graham
Graham V

My understanding is that pre-war Whitworth wrenches are a correct fit for BSF but are off by 1/16" on designated fastener size up to 3/4" fastener diameter.
John DeWolf

Steve, when you 'bin' the Whitworths let me know, I have a big bin over here in Oz........I also have two T types that, apart from the odd metric threads, almost all heads are Whitworth!!
Don TF 4887 TC XPAG 7730
D J Walker

Don

They had their use with me once. I had a 1934 PA 4-seater and a 1948 TC for a while. My socket set is also half Whitworth.

Steve
Steve Gyles

somebody say something? zzzzzzzzzzzzz
G C Pugh

This thread was discussed between 08/10/2015 and 11/10/2015

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