70 replies to this topic

[timmy850]

You’ll never stop me using my 11mm and 13mm spanners on my mini (cause the damn 7/16 and 1/2” always go missing)

[mbolt998]

Yes but what's annoying is that replacement parts often do have metric threads on them. So you end up with a mixture.

[stuart bowes]

I'll use metric a lot for removal of old bits and fitting loosely but when it comes to proper tightening and with new fittings I'll go and hunt in the garage for my dads old 1970's tools 

 

it's just too easy to chew up edges and stuff, especially on bits you want to look nice

Edited by stuart bowes, 01 July 2025 - 03:31 PM.

[DeadSquare]

Yes but what's annoying is that replacement parts often do have metric threads on them. So you end up with a mixture.

I didn't know that that is common 

I don't wish to be presumptious, but the Mini Forum is just the sort of place that those sorts of part should be collated.

I have heard of, but not actually seen, a mechanical replacement fuel pump with metric screws holding the two halves together through the diaphragm.

[lippo]

 I pretty much always use metric on the Mini, 10, 11 and 13mm being the favourites. I do specifically carry a set of imperial spanners in the boot for emergencies when travelling; these came in useful for my son's Defender, which needed a 13/32 ring spanner for a caliper bleed nipple and the metric just wasn't cutting it.

[timmy850]

Yes but what's annoying is that replacement parts often do have metric threads on them. So you end up with a mixture.

I didn't know that that is common
I don't wish to be presumptious, but the Mini Forum is just the sort of place that those sorts of part should be collated.
I have heard of, but not actually seen, a mechanical replacement fuel pump with metric screws holding the two halves together through the diaphragm.

Some of the new wheel cylinders have 7mm bleed nipples. It can be a bit of a pain trying to track down a single 7mm spanner when it comes time to bleed the brakes

https://www.minispar...enuine-5-8-bore

[68+86auto]

Yes but what's annoying is that replacement parts often do have metric threads on them. So you end up with a mixture.

 

That is always annoying. Exhaust mounts are what I think of.

 

I'll use metric a lot for removal of old bits and fitting loosely but when it comes to proper tightening and with new fittings I'll go and hunt in the garage for my dads old 1970's tools 

 

it's just too easy to chew up edges and stuff, especially on bits you want to look nice

 

Removing old or rusty fasteners is the last place I'd use the wrong spanner. That's a recipe for rounding them off.

[68+86auto]

Something else that people often don't realise is that tools do wear out. The tool which was a certain size in 1970 is unlikely to be that size anymore. Cheap tools often distort with very little use.

 

If a tool is not an excellent fit, it is either worn out or the wrong size so I won't use it.

Edited by 68+86auto, 02 July 2025 - 12:07 AM.

[mbolt998]

The best thing for bleed nipples I think (and also the brake adjusters, for which I did once have a special square spanner but which I can't seem to find) is the small Knippex wrench pliers. They're actually gripping the thing with positive force and not relying on just being the right size so you get a much better purchase and no risk of rounding.

 

My socket set dates from the 90s and has a full set of metric and imperial everything, and before getting my Mini sorted a few years ago, I got some imperial ratchet spanners (very useful for the hard-to-reach things like the fuel pump and exhaust clamp) and some imperial open/ring spanners, although I had a few from back in the day. They're perfectly easy to get hold of in UK.

 

Here is a conversion table. A 19 is actually within the lower tolerance for a 3/4 (the lower tolerance is usually about 0.05mm), so they are really interchangeable, but at the upper end, according to ISO, spanners are allowed to be about 0.2mm too big (the exact amount varies according to the size). That means a 5 on a 3/16 is just about OK, an 8 on a 5/16 is fine, as is a 16 on a 5/8-- if you have a 16, 17 is a much more common size. You might get away with a 13 on a 1/2, but I don't like it. YMMV.

 

inches      mm          rounded-up  too big by (in mm)

3/16    4.762   5       0.238
1/4     6.350   7       0.650
5/16    7.938   8       0.062
3/8     9.525   10      0.475
7/16    11.112  12      0.888
1/2     12.700  13      0.300
9/16    14.287  15      0.713
5/8     15.875  16      0.125

11/16   17.462  18      0.538
3/4     19.050  20      0.950

 

 

[stuart bowes]

brake adjusters I find perfectly fit an 8 (or is it 10) mm spanner just not the ring end

 

use the open end, nice snug fit and turns easy

[mbolt998]

brake adjusters I find perfectly fit an 8 (or is it 10) mm spanner just not the ring end

 

use the open end, nice snug fit and turns easy

Probably a 10. The reason I especially like the Knippex on the front ones is the feel. Because they're those funny cam things they can go kind of loose and tight as you turn them, which feels very similar to a spanner that keeps slipping.

[Ethel]

The best thing for bleed nipples I think (and also the brake adjusters, for which I did once have a special square spanner but which I can't seem to find) is the small Knippex wrench pliers. They're actually gripping the thing with positive force and not relying on just being the right size so you get a much better purchase and no risk of rounding.

 

My socket set dates from the 90s and has a full set of metric and imperial everything, and before getting my Mini sorted a few years ago, I got some imperial ratchet spanners (very useful for the hard-to-reach things like the fuel pump and exhaust clamp) and some imperial open/ring spanners, although I had a few from back in the day. They're perfectly easy to get hold of in UK.

 

Here is a conversion table. A 19 is actually within the lower tolerance for a 3/4 (the lower tolerance is usually about 0.05mm), so they are really interchangeable, but at the upper end, according to ISO, spanners are allowed to be about 0.2mm too big (the exact amount varies according to the size). That means a 5 on a 3/16 is just about OK, an 8 on a 5/16 is fine, as is a 16 on a 5/8-- if you have a 16, 17 is a much more common size. You might get away with a 13 on a 1/2, but I don't like it. YMMV.

 

inches      mm          rounded-up  too big by (in mm)

3/16    4.762   5       0.238
1/4     6.350   7       0.650
5/16    7.938   8       0.062
3/8     9.525   10      0.475
7/16    11.112  12      0.888
1/2     12.700  13      0.300
9/16    14.287  15      0.713
5/8     15.875  16      0.125

11/16   17.462  18      0.538
3/4     19.050  20      0.950

 

 

This,

 

I'm more likely to be attacking ragged, slippy, Metric nuts with imperial tools. I'm probably not doing myself any favours when I'm working on "proper" stuff.

 

Who remembers MetrInch?

[DeadSquare]

brake adjusters I find perfectly fit an 8 (or is it 10) mm spanner just not the ring end

 

use the open end, nice snug fit and turns easy

To those who remember me mentioning this, please forgive me for repeating, that the keys to Oxy / Acetylene bottles are made from very good quality steel, and are a snug fit on 1/4" brake adjusters.

Edited by DeadSquare, 02 July 2025 - 04:25 PM.

[stoneface]

Who remembers MetrInch?

 

I have a set of spanners

Edited by stoneface, 02 July 2025 - 04:57 PM.

[KTS]

 

Who remembers MetrInch?

 

I have a set of spanners

 

 

i still have, and use, the ratchet set and spanners.  great bit of kit