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MG MGB Technical - British Tap and Dies


Where is a good place to buy British Tap and Dies ? The sources in the USA seem to be very very expensive.
How about mail order from the UK? Are any bolts compatable with SAE for a 1972 MGB? How will my machine shop mount my block, flywheel, etc. for machine work?

Thanks to everyone that has responded to my previous questions. I've had lots of good advice. (And it was free.)
Rob Garrison

Almost everybolt on your MGB is interchangable with good ole USA fine thread. There are only a handul of exceptions and most of them are regular coarse thread US.
gerry masterman

The only non SAE bolts on the MGBs are some BSF threads on the brake calipers and BA threads on the carburetors, fuel pumps and instrument mounting. The BA size used most often is the 2 BA (this answers your other post Gary), which is very close in size to an American 10-32. BSF (British Standard Fine), BSW (British Standard Whitworth) and BA (British Association) taps, dies and wrenches can be obtained from Moss Motors (expensive) or from British Tools and Fasteners (reasonable). Their web site is http://www.mrcybermall.com/machine_tool_parts/index.html.
Good luck - Dave
David DuBois

Thanks Dave. I looked at the site you posted and found that a 2BA tap and die will run me $45. A bit excessive isn't it? I was wanting to make up some new knurled nuts for my gauges. 10-32 is a bit tight to use your fingertips to tighten while I am standing on my head trying to reach behind the dash! I may just run a 10-32 die down the stud instead
gerry masterman

Another non-standard thread is the crankshaft pulley nut. You can pick up taps and dies, relatively inexpensively, from Rutland Tools. Enco also has them, but I have found some of the Enco products to be of lower quality than the Rutland tools. Les
Les Bengtson


I really resent the high prices, and often poor quality, of modern hand tools.

For many years I have endeavoured to buy “old” tools, and have been very successful, with a wide range of spanners, sockets, taps, dies, screwdrivers etc..

My favourite supplier is Pennyfathing tools who have a vast range of wood and metal working tools; their website is a little slow, but some of the prohographs of ancient tools are worth seeing.

I believe that they will ship world wide at cost, and will, if you ask nicely, build up a set of tools for you - in my case I wanted a full set of BA taps and dies, which they collected, and then ‘phoned me a few weeks later when they were all assembled.

http://www.pennyfarthingtools.co.uk/whats_new_metalwork_1.htm


a Google search revealed lots of suppliers world wide - I particularly liked Tools,Tools, Tools in Berkeley , CA, although they seem to be focussed mainly on wood working tools:-

http://www.toolsx3.com/store/store.html

Finally Tool Index gives the URLs of many suppliers, and might be worth researching:-

http://www.toolindex.com/index.cfm?LinkID=0,2,56


Safety Fast

Nigel


Nigel Steward

Funny really, I always used to buy imperial tools at Sears when I was in the US, and also have bought many boxes of various bolts, nuts and washers when I have been on business trips to California. It really was a lot cheaper than buying either in the UK or Switzerland (where imperial threads are definitely unobtainable). Alll my non metric taps and dies are from Sears, and very good they are too!

I suggest www.machinemart.co.uk for other stuff.

dominic clancy

On a related note, does anyone know where I could obtain a tap for the VERY coarse threaded oil drain plug holes (and detent spring plug holes) used in the Mini/1100/1300 gearbox? I may have need of one of those for my 1300 power unit. Also, if anyone knows the thread size and designation for these holes - they are definitely coarser pitch than UNC or BSP.

Thanks in advance,
Paul Kile
Paul Kile

Reclamation Tip
This seems like the right time to pass on a usefull tip for reclaiming stripped female 2BA (or are they 10-32 UNF) like the ones holding the pedal box and brake pipe clips in the engine compartment. Run an M5x0.8 tap through them and use a matching M5 screw, the Pozidrive and hexagon heads are indistinguishable and it works.

Maurice
Maurice Blakey

I agree with Nigel. I also prefer to buy secondhand tools. the quality is mostly very good at reasonable prices. In Holland its also not that easy to get the special "UK" tools but sometimes it works. On a autojumble, i was able to buy sockets and other stuff which belonged to the dutch Army.
Also check hobby magazine. I once was able to buy a complete set of gauges at a very low price. These were all very old but in nice wooden boxes and well maintained.
Regards
Peter
Peter van de Velde

Dominic. You were not buying "Imperial" you were buying "Unified National" system tools at Sears. While it is possible that Sears, at one time, actually stocked some of the special Whitworth/BA/BS, etc. tools, I know they were not by 1968 when I worked there while in college (and drove an A-H Sprite). For the most part, the MGB uses the Unified National system, set up in the early 50s between the US, Canada and the UK. It was to solve the problems experienced in WW II where we found it difficult to work on each other's equipment. (Most commonly noted is the P-51 airplane, a fairly good plane until the Brits dropped the R-R Merlin engine into it. Then, it was the best fighter aircraft of the war. But, the airframe used US bolts and required US sized wrenches and sockets. The engine was Brit and used various Brit sizes. Major pain in the neck. With "interoperability"--the ability of allied nations to fight, communicate and maintain each other's equipment, a big point at the beginning of the Cold War era, the Unified National system was developed in the English speaking countries to allow this interoperability.) Back to the main topic. Most of the wrenches/sockets required on the later Brit cars were AF (across the flats) sized--the opening in the wrench jaws was the size of the bolt measured from one flat to the one opposite it. However, some of the B parts require a few of the older sized wrenches. Shock fill hole bolts, oil pressure take off and a few others are still the older pattern. With the MGA and early A-H 100, I needed a full set of UN, Whitworth, and BA/BS tools to work on them. In some cases the Metric tools can be used as being similar/exact sizes. Les
Les Bengtson

This thread was discussed between 02/03/2002 and 05/03/2002

MG MGB Technical index

This thread is from the archive. The Live MG MGB Technical BBS is active now.