British fasteners

[Guest Ken G]

I cannot be the only person with this problem. I am in need of sources of BSF nuts and bolts in the US. I know of British Tools and Fasteners, recently moved from LA to NY, and have no complaint about their service. However, there must be other sources. Half an hour of surfing the web found a few in Britain (notably Namrick) but no others in the US. Can people makes suggestions, preferably for places convenient to San Francisco.

Ken G, 1925 Rover 16/50 (San Francisco)

[Peter J.Heizmann]

Hi, Ken...

Know where your are coming from, Ken. British Fine Threads locally can drive one nuts (no pun intended). I have used Rimmer Brothers in the U.K. sales@rimmerbros.co.uk

As for a local supplier to San Francisco, I would contact Moss Motors, Goleta, CA www.mossmotors.com and, hopefully, receive a recommendation as I am quite certain the same question must have been posed over the years. Or, contact the Roadster Factory in Armagh, PA www.the-roadster-factory.com

I am currently scanning the Roadster Factory's cataloque and they have a listing of British Hardware on page 243. Various specs. Don't know what you need for your '25 Rover?

Of course, these 3 references would want to sell to you without disclosing a competitor. However, if they do not carry the bolts/nuts you require, they have nothing to lose, hopefully, you gain, and, all 3 are very customer oriented.

Regards, Peter J.

[Guest Ken G]

Peter,

Many thanks. I actually have already ordered the bolts I need urgently, but I had hoped that someone might have responded with the name of a company in the San Francisco bay area that stocked BSF nuts and bolts ... wishful thinking, I know.

Moss Motors and the Roadster Factory both display their wares in a way that infuriates me, by model of car, so you cannot find any generic parts even if they have them (the same is true of most American suppliers). However, at a quick glance, it looked to me as if both companies deal with more recent British cars that use UNF threads (what I think of as modern vehicles, say post-1940!); that is certainly the case in the only British hardware catalog I can find on the Raodster Factory's website, so I am doubtful about their having BSF fasteners. Yes, they might be able to make recommendations, but I suspect that like you they probably turn to the UK. By the way, it's not the expense so much as the inevitable delay of a week or more when you find you need a particular bolt.

Anyway, thank you, even if you have confirmed my suspicion that there is no easy source here!

Ken G, 1925 Rover 16/50 (San Francisco)

[Rich Niezabitowski]

You may want to check with Todd Clarke at Clarke Spares and restorations in Doylestown, PA.

www.clarkespares.com

He does replacement parts for MGA's, but has been a good source of obscure fasteners for all British Cars. And he's a really good guy.

[steve@autorest.com]

Metric and Multistandard Components Corp sells every type of fastener, fitting, tube, tool, etc that you could hope to find. They sell both british and metric. They are in New York, Illinois, and Texas and ship UPS to anywhere in the country. The NY number is: 800 431 2792. Highly recommended, I have gotten anything I have ever needed for all sorts of obscure European automobiles.

[Peter J.Heizmann]

There you go, Ken...

Steve, many thanks. I made note of their name and number for future reference.

Regards, Peter J. <img src="http://www.aaca.org/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

[Guest imported_MikeWilliamsUK]

Ken,

You may want to check the spec - size and t.p.i. of the bolts you need because, as I'm sure you know, for some of the common sizes BSF and ANF are the same. Yes, I know the pitch angle is slightly different, but for most of our applications that doesn't matter and they will fit perfectly.

You'll probably be amused to know that here in the UK is it also sometimes easier to get ANF than BSF because so many places now only stock metric.

Mike Williams

[Guest Healey]

Mike,

With all due respect you are absolutely incorrect. :confused:

BSF (British Standard Fine) is one of a number of Whitworth thread forms that were superseded by the Unified (UNF and UNC) standard in the 1950s. Whitworth is by definition those fasteners having a 55 degree pitch angle on the threads. Other common Whitworth thread forms include BSW BSF (British Standard Whitworth) BSP (British Standard Pipe) BSPT (British Standard FineTapered) and BSB (British Standard Brass) just to name the most common five.

ANF as you say is equivalent to UNF and is also called SAE Fine here in the USA. These fasteners are totally incompatible with BSF threads. Not only do ANF/UNF/SAE Fine threads have a 60 degrees thread pitch angle versus 55 degrees, the threads per inch are completely different and they use totally different wrenches (Whitworth wrenches.)

BTW, other British thread forms such as BA (British Association), BSC (British Standard Cycle) and CEI (Cycle Engineers Institute) are NOT Whitworth since they have either a 47 1/2 degree thread pitch angle as in the case of BA or a 60 degree thread pitch angle for BSC/CEI.

Cheers,

Curt

Ken,

You may want to check the spec - size and t.p.i. of the bolts you need because, as I'm sure you know, for some of the common sizes BSF and ANF are the same. Yes, I know the pitch angle is slightly different, but for most of our applications that doesn't matter and they will fit perfectly.

You'll probably be amused to know that here in the UK is it also sometimes easier to get ANF than BSF because so many places now only stock metric.

Mike Williams

[Rusty_OToole]

English motorcycle manufacturers began using Unified thread bolts in 1969.