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MG TD TF 1500 - Steering Wheel shaft tap and dye

I bangled my steering wheel shaft threads (very soft metal) when I removed the steering wheel last year... Does any one know the exact size of the threads so I can run a die over the threads?
Those shafts are very expensive right now.
Thanks you
I've talked my neighbors into helping me set the body back onto my TD 9747... she's looking good.

Sid
Sid Orr

The shaft head bolt size is 0.75" and the threads appears to be 16 per inch. This corresponds to .75 X 16 tpi and would match the UNF or Unified Fine Thread. This does sound odd that they would use the UNF. Let me do some more checking and see what I can find.
Roy Challberg

Sid,

Although not generally recommended from an engineering point of view,the use of Jewellers files here can help with this problem. About 2 weeks ago,a friend who owns a nice TD, called over with the same type of thread damage you have described.Careful use of these files on the fine threads successfully restored the shaft back to 'working respectability'! Also,the use of a Jewellers magnifying eye glass(or a less expensive magnifier) can greatly assist in getting the thread back to original status.

Cheers
Rob.Grantham
TF3719("Aramis"),TF9177("Athos").


R GRANTHAM

Sid - There are generic thread restoring tools available that will probably straighten out the threads for you. I believe that Moss carries them. The other alternative would be a thread file for Whitworth and BSF threads. These are available from British Tools & Fasteners at http://www.britishfasteners.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc That thread is going to be a BSF thread. Cheers - Dave
David DuBois

I used a new nut for the steering shaft. I cut through it with a hack-saw, Then spread the nut a little and slid it down over the bad portion intil it was on clean threads. Then with a pair of vise grips I closed the gap and rotated it back through the damaged portion of the threads.I first cleaned up the badly damaged spot before I unscrewed the split nut. It worked for me. A little playing should do the trick.
Sandy Sanders
Sandy Sanders

One of the skills I acquired in the process of restoring the chassis of my TD was the use of thread files. I had no idea how to use them. The look on Bob Figenskau's face as I tried to figure out what to do was priceless. It's obvious now... but at the time, I just lacked the concept!

warmly,
dave
Dave Braun

Sid-
The thread for the steering wheel shaft or adjustment piece is definitely 0.75" X 16 tpi, making it a UNF (Unified Fine Thread). It is not a BSF thread.

I tried a 0.75" X 16 bolt on the fastening nut and it fit fine. If the thread files do not work as described above, then you should be able to find a die to clean-up or re-thread the shaft. Some vendors supply hex bodied clean-up dies that should also work.

Good luck, Roy
Roy Challberg

Roy - I will agree with you regarding the 16 TPI and the 0.75" (although I measured closer to 11/16"). I don't agree with the UNF thread form. First the nut measures 1.105 across the flats, which puts it closer to a 5/8W and would be in keeping with either a 11/16" or 3/4" BSF nut. The thread is not BSF as you stated, but it is a standard British thread form of 55° included angle and fit perfectly in the British thread gauge that I have. I believe that Sid's best bet is to get a British thread file from British Tools & Fasteners to straighten the damaged threads (although an American thread file with a 16 TPI side to it may well do the job sufficiently). Cheers - Dave
David DuBois

I could use a lesson on the use of a thread file. I don't even know what one looks like.
Jim Merz

Here is your lesson, Jim

http://www.sandsmachine.com/guide_t.htm

Dallas
Dallas Congleton

Dallas - Great site! The pictures in this case are worth ten thousand words. Cheers - Dave
David DuBois

By the way, I should have added in my previous post about the thread on the steering wheel shaft, the Brits have a class of "special threads" where one can get almost any thread count on any size shaft that one could ever want. Looking in the Uni-Thread catalog, 16 TPI can be had on 5/8, 11/16 and 3/4 inch shafts. This does not include British Standard Brass threads, which is 20 or 26 TPI regardles of the diameter of the item (the thread on the rear extension of the generator where the tach drive gear box attaches is an example of that thread). Cheers - Dave
David DuBois

Amazing
You guys continue to amaze with your TD technical knowledge... I'll keep it right here through the life of the TD.

Thank you so much

Sid Orr

"It's not what you've lost that counts, it's what you have left that counts."
Sid Orr

Dallas, many thanks for the lesson. Now I will have to buy a thread file. I can't believe that I haven't seen one to buy in the past.
Jim Merz

Sid, if you need another shaft there is a perfect one, replated, about 75 miles north of you in the beautiful village of Carnesville, Georgia on I85. Cost you a lunch sometime or another and your old shaft. Thanks. Larry 706 384 4322
Larry Brown

This thread was discussed between 05/03/2007 and 07/03/2007

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