A friend called me asking a question I couldn't answer. He's changing out the thermostat on a TD and can't find a wrench (spanner) to fit the mounting bolts. I can't remember what sizes these bolt heads are. I didn't think they were Whitworth, but he said none of his standard metric wrenches fit. Although this is a USA car, I wouldn't think these bolts would be SAE. Anyone know???

Cheers!!
Jimindodgecity

They probably are Whitworth. Old Goerge was an inventor.....just not a bright one. He also is credited to the wire wheels splines on British cars. Boy... There was a brain fart.

They probably are Whitworth. Old Goerge was an inventor.....just not a bright one. He also is credited to the wire wheels splines on British cars. Boy... There was a brain fart.

We figured it out. They are, in fact, SAE - I forget the size as it was last year. My old TC and now my 68 Midget have the splines on the axel stubs. I've never had a problem with them. What do you know that I need to know??! :-)

It's not so much the size of the hex-head as the threads that seperates Withworth from everything else. Though there probably are some things that just don't cross over. Like there's no match for a 10mm in metric as an example. Most of the odd ball Withworth stuff on my 100/4 can be taken off with SAE though it might be something like a 1 13/16 that has to fit it.

Wire wheels? Love / hate relationships. By the nature of physics when the brake is applied the center of the wheel has a tendency to stop before the out side of the wheel. Over time this sets up a wear pattern on a wheel, even ones that are taken good care of. Most haven't. Always thighten the knock-offs securely. Keep them greased. Every 2000 miles or so, or 1000 on recomended chassis greasing R&R them. This helps insure they don't stick on the hubs. I don't recommend rotating wheels as this also rotates wear patterns from one wheel to another. There is no good way to get around this as a tire shop unfamiliar with wires can screw them up just refitting tires to the wires. I love the way wires look; but if I get my way I'd rather have solid wheels. This of course isn't easy on an MG as a change over requires a swap of hubs and complete rear end change. A tell tail sign of wire wheel fatigue is when you apply the brakes and you hear a POP! You know that the splines are starting to wear. If you check them and see that they are not straight it will be just a matter of time before you'll lose one. If you've got a set of wires that are good, you're lucky. Keep 'em true, greased and maintained and they'll probably serve you long.

I guess I'm kinda anal about wire wheels. It was always obvious to me that the spline area on the axle hubs was a prime candidate for wear if not properly taken care of. I have always greased my hubs at about 1K mile intervals and frequently check them. For the same reason, I keep the hub nuts nice and tight. In fact, the '68 Midget has the octagonal hub nuts which I dislike. I've bent the hub nut wrench (Moss Motors) pretty badly trying to tighten and loosen them. I much prefer the winged knock-offs and alloy hammer and will be changing to those on the Midget soon.

I've always thought four big spline would have been a better idea than a 100 little ones. Probably wouldn't make any difference. Forces of inertia would act the same on both. It just seems they would be less likely to ride over oneanother.