Can anyone recommend which British Whitworth tap and die sets I need for my '62 Mk 2 that I can buy in America and maybe a source to order from. I’ve been looking but; I’m not sure which thread pitches I need the most. Thanks.
Just off the top of my head there’s not a lot of Whitworth.
Some of the gearbox body and bell housing bolts, a couple of the bolts that hold the top on the steering box spring to mind. Maybe some of the bolts in the diff.
Otherwise all of the engine stuff is UNF or C, as are the majority of the fasteners on the suspension and bodywork. The carbies have other weird stuff but it’s BA and BSCY, not Whitworth.
I bought a generic set off EBay years ago and very rarely use it. Interestingly a lot of the old British thread stuff comes out of India, and it is both cheap and of reasonable quality.
Interesting. I bought Whitworth wrenches to fit bolts on my SU HD8 carbies, SU fuel pump, battery cable clamp. I had assumed the threads were Whitworth too but maybe not? The harmonic balancer bolt has a Whitworth sized head (about 1 5/16" AF) but the threads are UNF IIRC.
In an appalling display of nerdery I got interested in this recently.
The fuel banjo on the HD8 carbs and the fuel pump fit a 7/16 Whitworth spanner, but the thread is 3/8" BSPP.
The fuel bowl cap is held on with the long nut that fits 1/4 W but the thread is 1/4" BSF (fine Whitworth).
The nut on the power lead connector on the SU pump is 2BA.
You are correct about the harmonic balancer bolt.
I’ve never thought about battery clamp bolts. I always end up using a shifter because they never seem to fit either AF or metric. I reckon you’re probably right there too.
In the end, because I am obsessional and really like tools, I have ended up buying sets of metric, National Unified, Whitworth, BSF, BA and BSCY. I also have the basic BSP and BSPP taps.
In addition to car restoration I also build model steam engines so these do actually get used.
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Blue-Point, the Snap-On Tools Corporation line, made Whitworth tap & die sets which can be found in online auction sites. I bought two sets via ebay ebay auctions and have been very satisfied. The photos below show the box exteriors and interior contents of one box.
There are basic sets available through Amazon, if of interest:
Whitworth Tap and Die Set BSW British Standard 23pc Rethreading Thread Repair https://a.co/d/7iA9K89
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Anyone following this thread should consider taking up Morris dancing.
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Carefull… One of our S type owning members is a Morris dancer!
Or Gurning , and twenty!
As the great conductor Sir Thomas Beecham once said: “Try anything once but incest and folk-dancing”
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Oscar Wilde said that dancing is a perpendicular expression of a horizontal desire and indeed, i believe, Morris dancing is a fertility thing. It certainly worked for a friend who did it for years 
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I like the comment in the description “suitable for soft materials.”
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Thanks everyone for the help. I ordered the set Jeff posted along with a small wrench set and socket set. I don’t think they will be of very high quality but, I don’t usually buy Snap On or other expensive tools if it’s something I won’t use too often. Today I installed the starter to find the one wire to it was held on by one of the British treads. None of my metric or SAE wrenches would fit the nut correctly. Thanks again. I’m really looking forward to getting this car on the road.
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BSCY…plus 30 question marks??
British standard cycle thread.
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Which is the thread used on the slow idle screw on the E Type HD8.
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