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Re: Whitworth

Subject: Re: Whitworth
From: Randall <randallyoung@earthlink.net>
Date: Sun, 28 Oct 2001 09:43:04 -0800
Cc: TR Listserv <triumphs@autox.team.net>
References: <006601c15fbe$98f67c40$0afea8c0@delllaptop>
Karl Vacek wrote:
> 
> But who'd ever expect anything non-standard on a British car???

Well, to be fair, Whitworth _is_ a standard, just a very old one that
didn't age very well.  Before Whitworth, there was no standardization of
fasteners or wrenches.  Can you imagine having to _make_ a new bolt
every time an old one was damaged ?  Sir Whitworth's insight into the
advantages of standardization was a key part of Britain's early success
as an industrial nation.

> Whitworth wrench sizes correspond to the nominal diameter of the fastener -
> ie, a 1/2" wrench fits the head of a standard BSF or BSW screw or bolt.

I think what Karl was trying to say is that a 1/2" Whitworth wrench fits
the head of a 1/2" Whitworth bolt or nut, even though the head (and of
course the wrench opening) is much larger.  Of course, there's a twist,
BSF uses a smaller head for the same thread diameter than BSW.  So, a
1/2" Whitworth wrench fits a 1/2" BSW, but a 9/16" BSF.  On top of that,
I don't know of _any_ BSW (the original Whitworth standard) fasteners on
a TR3.  There are a few BSF, but most of the oddball thread fasteners
are BA (British Association) !  In addition, a very few are metric, and
some don't appear in any of my thread manuals !


Randall

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