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MG parts spares and accessories are available for MG T Series (TA, MG TB, MG TC, MG TD, MG TF), Magnette, MGA, Twin cam, MGB, MGBGT, MGC, MGC GT, MG Midget, Sprite and other MG models from British car spares company LBCarCo.

MG TD TF 1500 - Tap and Die sets

What are the recommendations when it comes to accumalating taps and dies for are cars certainly for the important and most needed sizes . With new sets basically being all metric and even then manufactured in China with the resulting in my opinion poor quality.
JK Mazgaj

JK,
There is a company here called Baer who manufacture excellent quality taps, dies and other machinery tools and not Far East rubbish. They are not cheap but they have almost everything you need. Here is a link to their BSF tap sets for example:
https://baer.tools/en/taps-dies/thread-standards/bsf-british-fine-thread/hand-tap-sets/
I have bought quite a lot of bits from them over the years and can only recommend them.
I have also had good service from Tracy tools in the UK but who knows where it comes from.
Tools that I use very often I buy from Baer or another good company called Völkner. I have some Chinese tools that are good and some that are rubbish. It all depends on the usage. Sherwood in UK also have good products.
Regards
Declan
Declan Burns

When I worked in the aviation industry we used Dormer drills, taps & dies, I still do so to this day.

Forget cheap sets, buy individual good quality tools.
Chris at Octarine Services

For the engine I find that M6x1, 8x1 and 10x1.5 cover just about everything, and for the rest of the car I use 1/4, 5/16 and 3/8BSF. Not all taps and dies are equal; I buy a good brand from a commercial supply house or mg specialist, and am usually happy.

There are different types of taps, though: the most common are taper taps, bottoming taps and clean-out taps, each with a different purpose. Don't use a taper or bottoming tap to remove junk from threaded holes, for instance; a clean-out tap will cause less wear to the threads. I sand-blast and dull a used tap to make a clean-out tap when I can't find the correct size clean-out tap.

Tom Lange
MGT Repair
t lange

Helpful advice yet again particularly from Tom. I didn't realize the importance of the different types of taps or even of their existance.
JK Mazgaj

To clean up existing threads I use a new bolt of the correct size with two grooves cut opposite sides with a angle grinder fitted with a cutting disc.

Cheaper than a thread restorer and it will do no damage to the threads.
Chris at Octarine Services

As Tom says taps and dies come in many configurations and classes. I like to use machine taps rather than hand taps as they are designed to not have to do a half a turn then turn the tap backward to break the chip. And as I do several blind holes so I use spiral flute taps which causes the chip to flow up the tap and out of the hole rather than being forced forward in the hole and packing down at the bottom of the hole. Also taps and dies have classes 1, 2, and 3 the higher the number the tighter the fit between the male and female threads.

Butch
R Taras

Tom's list of tap and dies sizes is spot on but it is useful to have corresponding tapping size and clearance drills in the same box. Trying to tap an undersized hole is risking a broken tap and getting one of those out needs a spark erosion set up. One of my pet hates is an advertisement for a " comprehensive screw cutting kit " or " full range of spanners ". You can rebuild a T Series with three or four spanners and similarly for taps and dies. I have spanners inherited from my father, who was a life long engineer and would have been 103 in a few days time, and many are virtually unused.

Jan T
J Targosz

For cleaning nuts and tapped holes, I use a home made thread chaser. In my untrained hands, it's too easy to cut a second set of threads when using a tap.

I cut a gash across the threads of a 2" bolt with a cutoff wheel or with a Dremel diamond wheel. I use it to clean and straighten threads.

Made for all popular metric and BSF used on my TF.

Lonnie
TF7211


LM Cook

I get my taps and dies from "British Tools and Fasteners". I have no need for a whole set of British taps & dies, I just buy the most popular sizes, so far so good. PJ
PJ Jennings

This thread was discussed between 28/12/2019 and 30/12/2019

MG TD TF 1500 index

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