Lets try a tool poll

[contaucreek]

Thanks to all who participated in the poll. So...someone start another !!!

[Stan]

First, how about someone with experience using metric or SAE tools that "almost" fit doing up a small chart of what will work without screwing up the BS nuts and bolts!  That'd be valuable info! 

Here's an example..a 1/2" Whitworth nut will almost (meaning you can put significant torque on it without stripping it) work with a 21mm wrench.
Stan

[compig]

My sense of mechanical discipline totally vito's using the wrong size tool on a fastener !!     Then again , I think I suffer mild  OCD !!!

[Stan]

They aren't the "wrong sized" tools!  They're just called by a different name. 
Stan

[compig]

Nope , they're wrong as far as I'm concerned !!  LOL !!  Blame the OCD !!

[Stan]

It seems a 5/8" wrench fits perfectly on most of the nuts and bolts holding the fan shroud, the fuel filter, the water and exhaust fittings etc.  I don't have a BS wrench that fits those nuts and bolts so I can't say which one it is.  Anyone know?
Stan

[contaucreek]

Maybe the best way of doing this is to measure the across the flats dimension on the BSW spanners then measuring Metric and Imperial the same way.

[Stan]

That'd work if I had all the BS spanners, but I only have a few 1/2" and larger.
Stan

[compig]

I'll measure what have.

[AdeV73]

OK, I know this is going to make me sound like an ignoramus (and yes, I am...) - but: What's the difference between a 7/16" Whitworth spanner, and an ordinary 7/16" spanner like you can buy in any Halfords (auto store)?

Genuine curiosity- I know that whitworth threads are different to everyone else's, hadn't realised the spanners were different too...

[compig]

The 7/16" in Halfrauds will be AF , where the 7/16" is the distance across the flats , hence AF. This is applicable to Unified threads as in UNF , UNC and is the most common Imperial standard seen in the USA. Whitworth sizing however refers to the thread diameter. So , 7/16" there would be the diameter of the bolt or stud thread therefore the across flats dimension would be much bigger.
That isn't the end of Imperial standard (sic) diversity though , there are also , Gas thread , BA thread , Cycle thread , Machine thread ,  etc , etc , etc !!!  I have a text book on almost all the threads in the World and you wouldn't comprehend the amount and variety of threads and standards !!

[Stan]

Whitworth or BS wrenches look waaaay bigger than they should because they are the size of the round part of the bolt (the shaft) , not the head like we are used to here in N. A.
Stan

[rcavictim]

Thanks to the many different kinds of threads in the world we're pretty much ALL SCREWED! 

[Stan]

That's right up there with the recent award winning saying "A Mans gotta do what a mans gotta do"
Stan

[aqmxv]

Taking it briefly back to the semi-serious, I have yet to buy, or need an actual Whitworth wrench, although I came close to getting some when I took the crank out (actually used the Rajkot spanners for that one).  Apparently nobody in Rajkot had a torque wrench or had eaten their beans the day my engine was built - it all came apart (too) easily with this or that metric or UNC wrench.  I'll probably pick up a small Whitworth socket set for assembly.

I'm not sweating it, though.  It's all mild cast iron, and I got pretty good fitment with the metric and UNC stuff I have...of course, I have 1 mm steps from 5-33 mm and 1/32" steps over most of the inch range that would fit the listeroid, so it's not a big worry, especially with six point tools.