Spanner sizes??

Post by **pmdavies** » Wed Jun 06, 2007 2:01 pm

Hi everyone, new here! So the girlfriend's set me to work restoring her 1967 Minor. I'm pretty handy with the spanners, if I could get any to fit!! So............I know this is gonna sound stupid to all you Minor experts but what bolts did they use?? I've tried metric, AF and Whitworth but seem to be struggling. For instance, the only thing I could get on the rear wing bolts was a 13mm (with some assistance from a hammer!!). Whitworth seems to fit some other bolts on the car but I really don't know. I'm sure I'll be inundated with the correct answer but can't give prizes I'm afraid!!

Many thanks, Pete.

P.S. I'll be back with lots more questions!!

Post by **Stig** » Wed Jun 06, 2007 2:27 pm

It's a bit of a mixture of Whitworth and UNF. Generally expect body and suspension stuff to be Whitworth and engine and gearbox to be UNF so try spanners in that order. Of course the car's been around a while with various people tinkering with it so some helpful soul may well have replaced rusty original bolts with similar-looking metric ones.

I'm sure someone once posted a list of sizes for the common things, that would be handy as a sticky post methinks.

Post by **dunketh** » Wed Jun 06, 2007 3:15 pm

In my experience I usually find a socket or spanner that nearly fits then convince them using a large hammer.
Of course you should only do this on bolts that are so badly rusted that no known spanner will fit them but sods law says that's what you'll have - especially on wings, sill rails and the like.

Post by **bmcecosse** » Wed Jun 06, 2007 5:11 pm

Yes - you need them all - AF/Whitworth and metric.

Post by **Willie** » Wed Jun 06, 2007 6:46 pm

And BSF! (rear damper pivots). Just attend some jumbles and buy old spanners for pennies.

Post by **bmcecosse** » Wed Jun 06, 2007 9:12 pm

Whit and BSF spanners are same sizes - just different numbers on them!

Post by **pmdavies** » Thu Jun 07, 2007 1:53 pm

Thanks for the info everyone. I have to say it all sounds a bit mad! Someone mentioned UNF, is that different to AF or Whitworth, I'm not familiar with it?

Post by **chickenjohn** » Thu Jun 07, 2007 2:14 pm

UNF is the thread size, AF is across flats, the spanner size you need.

Post by **IaininTenbury** » Fri Jun 08, 2007 11:43 pm

As has been mentioned, bodywork is generally BSF (British Standard Fine thread form, a fine thread version of whitworth) and Mechanical is normally UNF (Unified Fine otherwise known as AF - (Across Flats - the measurement of the bolt head)).
For example the wing bolts are 5/16 BSF so you need a 5/16 BSF spanner which are normally marked as 5/16BSF / 1/4W. Metric 13mm will be a snug fit on these, it depends on how worn the bolt is and how good a quality your socket set is...
Cylinder head nuts are 9/16" AF indeed most of the engine is 7/16", 1/2", 9/16" or 5/8".
The crossover between engine and body occurs on the engine mounts - the side that bolts to the engine is 1/2" AF and the other side that bolts to the mounting towers is 5/16 BSF a very similar size. Why the mismatch, I'm not sure though it may have something to do with when the Austin A30 running gear was fitted in '53 on the merger of Austin and Morris. Any metric stuff you find is a previous owners bodge...

See, simple really!

Post by **alex_holden** » Sat Jun 09, 2007 7:42 am

Just to complicate it a bit more, very small screws and bolts tend to be BA, which has its own set of spanners/sockets.

Post by **HarryMango** » Sat Jun 09, 2007 3:50 pm

There is 1 whitworth thread that was used on the Minor - so who's going to impress me with that bit of knowledge then ?

Rog

Post by **wanderinstar** » Sat Jun 09, 2007 7:08 pm

Stig,
It was Chris Morley in Aug 2004, He was going to update it. Don't know if he ever did. But here is the link. http://www.morrisminoroc.co.uk/index.ph ... +nut+sizes

Harry, according to the above list there were a few Whitworth threads.

Post by **Packedup** » Sat Jun 09, 2007 8:19 pm

I seem to recall there was a muffled call for "something bigger than a 9/16" from under a Minor the other day. Was part of the clutch linkage, 5/16W I think.

Post by **HarryMango** » Sat Jun 09, 2007 9:54 pm

Both of the above refer to the common confusion with spanners. Most body & suspension fixings have BSF threads - which use Whitworth spanners 1 size different.

So the propshaft bolts are 5/16BSF but use a 1/4Whit spanner which is the same size (but a 1/4W bolt has a coarser thread)

When folk say they need a Whit spanner it is normally to undo a BSF thread.

According to a reliable sourse there is one application that used a coarse whitworth thread on the Minor - I have them on my car as do several others on here.

Rog