[Ultrarepo]

I'm finally getting my bike delivered next week ))and I'm thinking about the strip down.

Having only ever worked on scooters before I can't think I've ever used anything other than metric sockets and spanners. I have however delved into my tool chest and found the "one day I might need these" set of imperial sockets and spanners that I stashed there about 30 years ago.

The spanners seem to run from 1/4", 5/16, 3/8 etc up to 1" and same for the sockets. Is this going to be what I need or as there some other arcane form of measurement that I need to understand?

A pretty rudimentary question I guess but hey ho..

 

[JohnA]

Evening Ultrarepo - check whather your spanners & sockets are Whitworth or AF - I'm guessing they must be AF as 1" Whitworth would be huge. Ypou can still buy AF spanner & socket sets easily (eg: Halfords, Wilco etc), but Whitworth are getting hard to find. I'm not at all sure, but at a guess I'd expect your 1968 T100 to have quite a few Whitworth, if not predominantly Whitworth. Car boot sales are often a good source of old tools, and most manufacturers of 40+ years ago only made good quality stuff. Only other advice would be, when buying new, to buy the best tools you can afford - there really is a big difference. Good luck with your project.

 

[ARTY]

I'm sure there will be places in England where you can buy Whitworth - however one of the better places to buy tools including specials and one off's is Bills Tool Store in Glasgow - I 've never came unstuck yet when the size or type of tool is of the unusual variety .

They will post out to anywhere - I also found them to very reasonable in prices and they hold a large quantity of second hand tools as well .

Worth a look .

Now open 7 days a week

tel: +44 (0)141 552 1286
fax: +44 (0)141 552 4900
website: http://www.billstoolstore.co.uk
email: [email protected]

 

[Mr.Pete]

'68 was a time of change-over from BSC threads to UNF threads.Some engine bolts did not change;head bolts and flywheel bolts still need Whitworth or B.S. sized spanners.

If you have UNF bolts,it should be easy to find sockets and spanners.The hexagon sizes are measured in exact 1/16 fractions of an inch (across flats).
If A.F. imperial sockets don't seem to fit,you need to look for Whitworth spanners/sockets.5/16" Whitworth will fit your head bolts.

 

[DAVE M]

I've bought a lot of whitworth stuff from Bacon's Dozen
http://www.baconsdozen.co.uk

getting a second set of spanners helps as the nut and bolt are the same size.

 

[Dr Fene]

Theres tons of 'em on ebay.

Example

 

[Ultrarepo]

Thanks for all the replies and leads, I'm having a lunchtime google as we speak...

 

[Ultrarepo]

If you have UNF bolts,it should be easy to find sockets and spanners.The hexagon sizes are measured in exact 1/16 fractions of an inch (across flats).
If A.F. imperial sockets don't seem to fit,you need to look for Whitworth spanners/sockets.5/16" Whitworth will fit your head bolts.

Thanks. I'm still a bit vague on this.

I started stripping my bike at the weekend and pretty much every bolt I came to seemed to not quite fit whatever spanner I had to hand. Indeed i ended up getting a better fit with a metric spanner in most cases.

I think that my imperial spanners and sockets are AF and I understand this means "across the flats" so the size of the jaws on an AF spanner are as described eg a 1/2" spanner measures 1/2" across the jaws. I also understand that in the case of a Whitworth spanner the description of 1/2" would relate to the diameter of the shank of the bolt, not it's head.

keep with me on this.....

having googled a bit I also understand that the head of a whitworth bolt is typically 1.5 times the diameter of the shank...

In the real world however it seems that my AF tools all seem to be about 1/16 too big or too small for my bolts. I dont want to shell out for a set of whitworth sockets and spanners only to find that their "AF" measurement is actually what I already have in my AF set.

Does this make any sense?

 

[Doug748]

Here is a handy list:

http://www.classicbikes.org.uk/

Don't matter though, with that age of bike you normally find a mix of Whitworth, Metric and American with a few bastard sizes to keep you on your toes.

 

[JohnA]

I think you need a set of Whitworth spanners - if you don't want to fork out on a big set, the sizes you'll find most useful are: 3/16, 1/4, 5/16 and 3/8.

3/16 W is close to 7/16"AF, but not exactly the same. Other than that, I can't think of any small sizes that are the same as AF (though if I recall correctly, 1/4 Whitworth is pretty much the same as 13mm). When you get to the big sizes (relative to bikes, eg: 1" or more AF), a few Whitworth are more or less the same as a few AF.

Having the right spanners will make the job so much easier (well, maybe not easier, but less annoying!)

 

[Ultrarepo]

Doug, John, thanks.

I dont mind forking out on a set of spanners and sockets I just wanted to be sure I wasnt going to largely duplicate what I already had.

I hate having to use tools that dont quite fit - there is nothing worse than a slightly mangled looking nut....

 

[Snakeoil]

I realize that you are in the UK and this may be similar to suggesting you buy a set of Whitworth, but I've found that most of the nuts and bolts on my '66 can be removed with either a metric or SAE wrench. I do own two sets of Whitworth wrenches, but always grab a metric or SAE first to see how well it fits since they are not tucked away like my Whitworths. If I remember right, in at least one, maybe more cases, the metric or SAE wrench fits tighter than the correct Whitworth.

regards,
Rob

 

[zip tie]

How about suppliers here in the states?

 

[Ultrarepo]

I realize that you are in the UK and this may be similar to suggesting you buy a set of Whitworth, but I've found that most of the nuts and bolts on my '66 can be removed with either a metric or SAE wrench. I do own two sets of Whitworth wrenches, but always grab a metric or SAE first to see how well it fits since they are not tucked away like my Whitworths. If I remember right, in at least one, maybe more cases, the metric or SAE wrench fits tighter than the correct Whitworth.

regards,
Rob

Thanks Rob, hope you guys are all safe.

 

[Snakeoil]

How about suppliers here in the states?

I did a bunch of internet searches. Found a guy in Springfield, MA that is in the vintage Brit car biz. He goes to England a few times a year and brings back a bunch of stuff, including tools. I bought my combination wrench set from him along with a few odd wrenches he had that were vintage. My second set came with the vintage BSA I bought. Tools were sitting on his bench and I asked how much. He said $20 and I had the money out before he finished the sentence.

This outfit is related to Caswell Plating. He sells fasteners and tools. Nice guy. Bought lots of fasteners from him. Yet to buy tools.

http://www.britishfasteners.com/

regards,
Rob

 

[Morris the Cat]

All my metric wrenches are painted blue for easy reference in the heat of battle.

Whitworth ones are painted mauve shade of purple for the same reason.

Being in the UK, Posidriv screwdrivers are probably well known and used, not so much in the US.

99% of these have been converted on my own bike, but it's still a good idea to have or source them.

Had a 1976 Cadillac Seville which had 50 / 50 % mertic and standard.
The factory manual had a black dot on illustrations for the metric fasteners!

Sometimes a 12 point closed end wrench will get you out of a jamb working on these old clunkers!

 

[Snakeoil]

I had a car, I think it was my El Camino that had bolts with metric threads and SAE hex heads. I suspect it was supposed to be a transition so the factory could starting tapping metric holes but tools that installed the fasterners on the assembly line could still use SAE drivers and same for the dealerships. I thought I was crazy the first time I went to replace what I thought was a UNF bolt only to find it was metric thread.

regards,
Rob