In a message dated 05/01/98 pearsto@totcon.com writes:
Re: Spanners( wrenches) AS and SAE.
SAE is the same as AS. Society of Automotive Engineers. AS is American
Standard. In the US we use Metric and SAE or AS spanners.
>>>
and in another message dated 05/01/98 krisc@pi.bnis.net.au (Kris Cotton)
writes:
Actually Leon from my engineering book
USA has SAE = Society of Automobile Engineers
AS maybe short for ASME = American Society of Mechanical Engineers
USS or Sellers (similar to the UK's Whitworth)
& American National
UK has
BSW= British Standard Whitworth or just Whitworth.
BSF= British Standard Fine.
BSP= British Standard Pipe. ( these are used on your oil & fuel line threads)
BA= British Amatuer err Association
Metric
There are or were 6 different types of thread available including German,
French & international including fine & course threads.
oh & Japanese metric, I have had a few Japanese bikes that the real metric
spanners would not fit however the Japanese spanners fitted the bikes, but
not the European cars.
On the cars sae should suffice however.
BTW have you found whitworth nuts on the exhaust flanges?? instead of the
usual unc nuts
>>>
To 'pearsto' and krisc and John and others:
Thank you for your input...Now I know that there is indeed such a thing as
A.S. which equals S.A.E.and that the gentleman who posed the original question
did not in fact mean A.F.after all.
However it is never to late to learn new things about our hobby and that is
what makes it the more interesting,but I stand by my statement that the
spanners that came from Standard-Triumph with my Herald & Vitesse are marked
A.F. which is American Fine and fits the UNF fasteners on my Triumphs.
As stated earlier,they are made by Messrs:T.Williams' (Drop forgings & tools)
Limited,Birmingham 9.,and are from their 'Williams Superslim' range,H type
finish Open-ended spanners range.
They are unpolished,and benefit from a thin coating of tough black paint,but
are very good spanners indeed,being slimmer than many modern spanners I've
bought,and indeed outlasting many new Chrome Vanadium Spanners,leading me to
suspect that they may be of somewhat higher quality than they appear! (typical
of Triumph).
It states on the original box,(yes I have a new unused set,still in their
wrapping!),
"These spanners are forged from best quality high tensile steel,and have been
scientifically heat treated.A full range of these Super Slim Spanners has been
strength tested and found to withstand nearly twice the proof torque load
specified by the British Standard Institution for Chrome Vanadium and similar
alloy Steel Spanners."
FWIW,The nuts,bolts and set-screws on my cars are generally of U.N.F. thread;
which is Unified National Fine.
If I may quote from The AA book of the car,(1st Edition,1970 & illustrated
throughout with a brand new white Vitesse Mk.2,sob sob):
During the past 12 years or so,(1958-1970),there have been major developments
relating to screw threads.The nuts and bolts on older British cars usually
have one or two standard threads--British Standard Fine (BSF) or British
Standard Whitworth (BSW or Whit)--for bolts of 1/4 inch diameter upwards.
The size of a hexagon bolt-head,or nut is related to the diameter of the bolt
itself,and the bolt sizes increase in 1/16th inch steps. The same range of
spanners can be used with both types of thread,but BSF have a different size
of bolt-head for the same diameter of thread,so spanners are marked with both
sizes: 7/16th inch BSF and 3/8th inch Whit for example.
Modern,(1970 remember),British cars have American,or Unified,threads for
bolts of 1/4 inch diameter and above.The spanners to fit them are called AF
spanners.
Smaller threads on British cars,particularly in the electrical equipment
are usually British Association (BA) threads. The biggest,0BA,fits a bolt of
0.236 inch diameter.,and a 6BA one of 0.110 inch diameter.
Continental cars have Metric threads,which will eventually be used in
Britain,(shame).
The scheduled date for the change-over is in the mid 1970's,but this is likely
to be a very gradual process. The Ford Capri,introduced in 1969,has Metric
threads on the transmission.
To sum up then: British Standard Whitworth (BSW or Whit) have fewer but deeper
threads than BSF and are better for soft metals and cast iron.
British Standard Fine (BSF) bolts have good locking quality and core strength
due to the shallow pitch between the threads, British Association (BA) have a
limited range of diameters-smaller than BSW or BSF and are used fir electrical
work.
Unified Coarse (UNC) and Unified Fine (UNF) are not unlike BSW and have a
hexagonal bolt for American Fine spanners. Metric bolts have different
threads and pitches from most other bolts and,except for some BA sizes are not
interchangeable.
The size of spanner for BSF,BSW and BA bolts is the distance between the
opposite corners of the bolt-head. For UNC and UNF bolts,the AF spanner size
is the distance between the opposing flat sides.
OK that's enough for now:except to say that English made AF spanners can
also be obtained from Sykes-Pickavant Ltd,
Kilnhouse Lane,Lytham St.Annes,Lancashire,FY8 3DU,England.
tel:00-44-1253-721291 or FAX:00-44-1253-713076
in rather nice Fully Polished Chrome Vanadium Steel.
or Teng Tools,Teng House,Flitwick,Bedfordshire,MK45,1UF,England.
tel:00-44-1525-718080 or FAX:00-44-1525-718882
in rather less smart partially polished Chrome Vanadium Steel,(but cheaper
than SP).
I have both the above for my cars as well as the original factory issue
spanners.
I treasure the originals,and the smart/expensive SP's are for show and the
Tengs do all the work.
I hope you guys out there found this an interesting 'thread' ouch..did I
really say that?
But if you want to go on using your favorite AS or SAE,or whatever,spanners on
your LBC's ,then go right ahead,they are your cars after all...
Whatever,have a great ninety-eight
Leon
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