Dan_Trials

Dan_Trials

Well-Known Member
Very much looking at doing some Series and old tractor rebuilds/restorations and also up grading stuff in the garage too, so what spanners and sockets am I likely to need?

I've never really understood the difference between A/F and Imperial and Google searches always try to give me a history lesson! I do feel a bit ignorant on the subject and I am keen to learn but just can't find the right information.

So can anyone shed any light on the matter?

Also what size spanners and sockets should I get? (other than mole grips and a grinder :D)
 
imperial bolts ie 1/4 inch 5/16 etc use AF spanners ,3/8 bolt like prop bolt has 9/16 AF,bolts on later series are imperial except gear box which are whitworth spanners are sized as thread diameter
 
a/f means across flats, bs or whitworth the dimension given on the spanner is actual thread size not nut head size ie in modern terms a 13mm spanner in a/f designation is a 13mm spanner but under whitworth way of sizing it would be called a 8mm spanner as m8 has a 13mm head
 
Right I see, that clears things up, thanks guys! Also explains why a couple of the older guys think you need a 12mm spanner for an M12 etc.

So what would be classed as 'common' A/F sizes? (for example in metric you could say 10, 13, 17 and 19 would be most common)
 
Dan_Trials said:
Right I see, that clears things up, thanks guys! Also explains why a couple of the older guys think you need a 12mm spanner for an M12 etc.

So what would be classed as 'common' A/F sizes? (for example in metric you could say 10, 13, 17 and 19 would be most common)
Click to expand...

don't go in the series section most of them still use a chisel and hammer on nuts/bolts ;)
 
Dan_Trials said:
Right I see, that clears things up, thanks guys! Also explains why a couple of the older guys think you need a 12mm spanner for an M12 etc.

So what would be classed as 'common' A/F sizes? (for example in metric you could say 10, 13, 17 and 19 would be most common)
Click to expand...

5/16 for pump bleed screw then7/16 ,1/2 ,9/16,5/8,11/16,3/4,13/16 ,7/8 on a series
 
some metric will do ie 8mm=5/16,11mm=7/16,13mm=1/2,14mm=9/16,16mm=5/8,17mm=11/16,19mm=3/4,21mm=13/16,22mm=7/8
 
Yeah I was aware of that but never really liked the idea, 14mm never fitted the prop bolts properly etc. I've got pretty much all my metric stuff up to scratch so some A/F and a few whitworth in their own tool box in the corner won't do any harm.
 
Just to add to the confusion, round about WWII the sizes of Whit and BSF nuts were reduced to save materials. So if you find any really old spanners they might be a bit big. It was done sensibly however, so a 1/2" BSF pre war will fit a 1/2" Whit post war, and so on.

The UNF and UNC system used to be called the SAE (Society of American Engineers) and was popularised in this country in WWII. You can see the term SAE threads in older manuals. People also used to talk about 'Lend Lease' bolts and spanners for this system, after the American aid to Europe programme.

We had an Austin Seven once and as well as BSF and Whit threads, the electrical stuff had BA threads and anything to do with fluids was BSP. Plus one or two threads which were Austin's own invention, such as on the rear hubs.
 
Last edited:
Brown said:
Just to add to the confusion, round about WWII the sizes of Whit and BSF nuts were reduced to save materials. So if you find any really old spanners they might be a bit big. It was done sensibly however, so a 1/2" BSF pre war will fit a 1/2" Whit post war, and so on.

The UNF and UNC system used to be called the SAE (Society of American Engineers) and was popularised in this country in WWII. You can see the term SAE threads in older manuals. People also used to talk about 'Lend Lease' bolts and spanners for this system, after the American aid to Europe programme.

We had an Austin Seven once and as well as BSF and Whit threads, the electrical stuff had BA threads and anything to do with fluids was BSP. Plus one or two threads which were Austin's own invention, such as on the rear hubs.
Click to expand...
Yes it's not surprising that metric is preferred now, but stick with AF single hex
sockets, a set of scanners, a hub box spanner and various screw drivers and you should be able to do most things on a series land rover...
 
Hmm yeah that gets a bit confusing the further back you go! Well I think Series 2 is about as old as I could afford just now so should be ok with the smaller range hopefully!
 
Dan_Trials said:
Hmm yeah that gets a bit confusing the further back you go! Well I think Series 2 is about as old as I could afford just now so should be ok with the smaller range hopefully!
Click to expand...

if you go back before whitworth it gets even more confusing ,nuts,bolts were made to fit each other and not std at all whitworth standardised threads etc,also invented a very accurate rifle
Joseph Whitworth - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
 
I'm just thinking ease in the future. I do have cheap 1/2 imperial but have a very good 1/2 metric. Plus metric are cheaper and easier to buy.
 
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