tap and Die

[elcinghio]

Good morning, I have recently bought a 66 jaguar e type fhc series 1 to restore. I should have it in one month and i ll do the restoration by my self, beeing a mechanic. I would buy the correct tap and die set for this car but I am quite confused on which are the right ones among UNC, bsf, withworth, bsw. Or either. My car will need a complete and deep restoration: frames, chassis and engine.
Many thanks in advance.

[christopher storey]

The vast majority of the fixings are UNF . There are small numbers of studs which go into alloy ( mostly those which go into the cylinder head e.g. manifold studs ) which are UNC on the end that goes into the alloy and UNF on the nut end. I suggest you get initially a set of UNF to which you could add 2 or 3 UNC taps ( it's not generally worth trying to repair studs so dies are less useful ) - the most useful sizes are 1/4, 5/16 and 3/8 with the 5/16 being the most used . The only Whitworth size you are likely to encounter is the camshaft chain tensioner securing nut ( Whitworth and BSW are the same ) and the BSF or BA sizes are generally on carburetters , armrest fixings to the doors and similar for which thread repair is not often needed

[mgcjag]

Hi Welcom to the forum....whats your name....please try to put it with your car model in as a signature....great car enjoy your restoration... Steve

[Robsan]

I bought this................ thoroughly recommend

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Professional- ... SwnDZULDnZ

be quick :-)

[elcinghio]

Many many thanks guys!! I am Alessio. It a pleasure to enter in the Jag world!! and in this forum too!!

[paulsco]

Hi Alessio and welcome.

Just a word of warning; all UNF/UNC tap and die sets are not equal.

I have two different makes; only one can be used, the other would cut the wrong thread

My advice would be stick with a good make.

Paul

[Moeregaard]

Hi Alessio and welcome.

Just a word of warning; all UNF/UNC tap and die sets are not equal.

I have two different makes; only one can be used, the other would cut the wrong thread

My advice would be stick with a good make.

Paul

Here in the U.S.,where Imperial units still reign supreme, the two best names in taps and dies are Brubaker and L & I. With over 30 years of manual machining experience under my belt, I've found these to be the best. Another good brand is carried under the Irwin name, who are the parent company for Vise Grip pliers and other tools, and which might be easier to find in the U.K. and Europe.

[Robsan]

Alesso,

Just to clarify,,,,,,,,
The tap and die set I recommeneded contains both UNF and UNC threads, and both in the standard and appropriate sizes for the Jaguar E type.

I said it was good because I have used my set extensivly. The thread metal on the taps and dies continues to stay sharp and bright, even though some have been used several hundred times :-)

As for................. bsf, withworth, bsw [that is whitworth, British Standard Whitworth BSW]. hardly any at all on the old Jag

Hope I havent confused you ?

[valerea]

I went through this and was surprised by the considerable variation in quality and inevitably price!

Eventually I went for the Clarke UNC/UNF set and its met all my needs for a reasonable cost

Paul

[elcinghio]

Perfect! now I go for one of your suggested set! I knew yesterday that the car will arrive in a couple of month .. I really want to start with it!! In the meanwhile I prepare the most usable stuff ready to begin as soon it arrives!!
Any guess on the monst used wrenches/tools to menage the engine restoration? Sorry I am used to metrics and I have not so many experience in specific jag tools.

[mgcjag]

Hi...whats you name....you will need AF sockets/spanners........a basic 1/2 drive AF Socket set and set of ring spanners is a good start.........also a ball joint seperator like this will be needed https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Laser-Tools- ... SwOtdYVACc you may need a metric spanner for the seperator.... .Steve

[Kember17]

Alessio,

This is a bit difficult as most E type owners in the UK and US are gentlemen of, ahem, a certain age who have acquired tools over the years or inherited them from their fathers and uncles. I have shed full of tools which I did not buy! And since the seventies, we have been increasingly infected by metric so imperial-only is getting hard to find except second hand on eBay.

When I have come up short on a particular fitting I use this chap who does mail order - http://www.baconsdozen.co.uk. IMO he is very good value and completely reliable.

However, I am unable to walk past a hardware store without buying something. I also have two homes in different countries, so I tend to double up on kits, or at least justify their purchase to my wife on those grounds...

Will you be buying in the UK or buying remotely? Some offers require you to be in store.

I have in whatever car I'm driving, and like, the Laser 3571 42pc Alldrive (IIRC around £120) - this is a good all round kit with spline, star, AF, metric and Whitworth attachments, and the ability to procure extra pieces in those standards. The set includes 17 half-inch drive sockets and 19 30mm-long bits, plus a 72-tooth oval ratchet, extension bars and universal joint. There is also more basic kit at around £45.

Alternatively, for the shed, especially when it has one of its many promotions, the Halfords Advanced Professional 150 piece set is very good value (around £100 in most sales but I bought mine for £35) - (www.halfords.com). There are bigger multi-drawer sets, often on offer, too, if you happen to be in the UK at the right time with a car to drive the cabinet back in, or if you can persuade someone to obtain one for you for when you can do so. Please note that many people (including professional mechanics) in the UK swear by the Advanced Professional range but do not rate the normal Halfords stuff so well.

Where in Italy are you? I understand that it is not practical not to have your own set of tools at hand but I might be able to help out/lend tools in an emergency. I live near Stresa (VB) for about half of the year.

Peter

[mgcjag]

Hi Peter...the 3571 set has no AF sockets....they are all metric.......far better to start with an AF socket set.... Steve

[Kember17]

Hi Peter...the 3571 set has no AF sockets....they are all metric.......far better to start with an AF socket set.... Steve

Steve,

Thanks. You are quite right.

I'm obviously going senile! I must have bought a couple of clips of Whitworth etc sockets at the same time.

Peter

[elcinghio]

Alessio,

This is a bit difficult as most E type owners in the UK and US are gentlemen of, ahem, a certain age who have acquired tools over the years or inherited them from their fathers and uncles. I have shed full of tools which I did not buy! And since the seventies, we have been increasingly infected by metric so imperial-only is getting hard to find except second hand on eBay.

When I have come up short on a particular fitting I use this chap who does mail order - http://www.baconsdozen.co.uk. IMO he is very good value and completely reliable.

However, I am unable to walk past a hardware store without buying something. I also have two homes in different countries, so I tend to double up on kits, or at least justify their purchase to my wife on those grounds...

Will you be buying in the UK or buying remotely? Some offers require you to be in store.

I have in whatever car I'm driving, and like, the Laser 3571 42pc Alldrive (IIRC around £120) - this is a good all round kit with spline, star, AF, metric and Whitworth attachments, and the ability to procure extra pieces in those standards. The set includes 17 half-inch drive sockets and 19 30mm-long bits, plus a 72-tooth oval ratchet, extension bars and universal joint. There is also more basic kit at around £45.

Alternatively, for the shed, especially when it has one of its many promotions, the Halfords Advanced Professional 150 piece set is very good value (around £100 in most sales but I bought mine for £35) - (www.halfords.com). There are bigger multi-drawer sets, often on offer, too, if you happen to be in the UK at the right time with a car to drive the cabinet back in, or if you can persuade someone to obtain one for you for when you can do so. Please note that many people (including professional mechanics) in the UK swear by the Advanced Professional range but do not rate the normal Halfords stuff so well.

Where in Italy are you? I understand that it is not practical not to have your own set of tools at hand but I might be able to help out/lend tools in an emergency. I live near Stresa (VB) for about half of the year.

Peter

I Peter!! many thanks for the exhaustive guesses. Actually I am as you. Everytime I pass in front an hw shop I would like to buy everything. But is difficult to find something in inch here. I had a garage in the past but after my father retired and I started with another job. But in both remains the passion for the cars!! Actually I live very near to you. In luino. Just other side of the lake. Thanks I try to order something online, but in case I will ask you!

[Kember17]

Ah, so a short drive from the Verbania ferry at Laveno. Close enough if you need to borrow some tools in a hurry. We should meet. I'm leaving for London this weekend but I'll be around in late March. My 1966 2+2 is in the UK at the moment but is being kept LHD so that it will live in Italy.

There is a Dutch gentleman (JD-JAG66) on here too, near Torino, who has helped me in the past. IIRC he also is restoring a 1966 2+2 but is much more advanced than me. Mine is still having bits cut out and new bits welded in!

Peter

[elcinghio]

Of course it would be nice!! write me when you around!

[chrisfell]

For the last forty years or so, the only tools every mechanic I have known, from those who taught my school friends how to hold a spanner at the age of 16 right up to my son doing his apprenticeship, have used were Snap-On. Yup, the same tools used by Merkins. They are robust, designed to be used daily and to last the whole of the mechanic's life, expensive, and (importantly for the young and underpaid apprentice) available on payment terms.

[rfs1957]

Hi there Elcinghio, that's The Belt to the rest of us, no ?
I would agree with most of what has been said here but would add that I personally use a 3/8" drive for the vast majority of work on the Jag, certainly for all hex sizes up to 3/4" as the sockets are slimmer and the tools less cumbersome.
Furthermore I use 1/4" drives and ratchet head for all work on 1/4" and 5/16" bolts, that's 7/16" (very close to 11mm hex) head and 1/2" (approx 13mm hex) head respectively, and would even use a 9/16" socket with 1/4" drives if it existed.
Unless you are dismantling rusty junk, those 1/4 and 3/8 drives are more than adequate and much nicer to work with.
Unless they have stopped recently, even BETA made a very wide range of Inch - Imperial tools so they would be easy to buy in Italy.
And in the USA these sizes are still the norm so can be bought from thousands of outlets - Craftsman is a brand that is one of the easiest to find.
Buy every conceivable shape and type of 1/2" spanner you can find, kinked, open-end, ring, crows-foot, super-thin, 90° head etc etc - at the last count I had twelve different 1/2" spanners, all of which are irreplaceable for certain specific nuts or bolts.

[JD-JAG66]

Ciao Alessio,

Indeed, as mentioned by Peter - aka Kember17, I live near Turin, so if you want to meet, once the snow is gone, no problem.
To Peter. I am Belgian, not Dutch. A part of us Belgians speak sort of the same language , but we are definitely a different country . No offence to the Dutch intended .

Anyway, as far as tools go, I have gone a long way with a ratchet socket and wrench set from FACOM.
You'll see you will do lots with just the 13 mm size, but difficult access to some odd locations on the car might require you to get 2 sizes ratchets.
Do yourself a favour and buy a good brand (snapon - hazet - facom - beta...) because some of the nuts and bolts will be so rusty and stuck that (if you are lucky that they do not break off) you will bend the cheap rubbish. I even broke a stanley wrench
I had bought a tap and die set but in the end (my car was on its wheels last week but I have to take out the differential again) I never had to use it. The secret lies with plenty of penetrating oil sprayed over several days before tempting to undo anything.
Also, i have found that not all the threads on the car were the same.... not kidding .

Adesso ti mando il mio numero di cell in PM, cosi se vuoi approfondire, avere ulteriore consigli etc basta una chiamata.

Buona giornata
Jan