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MG parts spares and accessories are available for MG T Series (TA, MG TB, MG TC, MG TD, MG TF), Magnette, MGA, Twin cam, MGB, MGBGT, MGC, MGC GT, MG Midget, Sprite and other MG models from British car spares company LBCarCo.

MG TD TF 1500 - Bell Housing Bolts

I need the size of the bell housing bolts. I have one bolt hole that has the threads stripped, but there is about 3/8ths of an inch of good threads left a little deeper in. The bolts for it are 1" long and I need a bolt a little longer, about an inch and a quarter in length to get to the good threads. The bad one is the position that holds the engine breather pipe lower bracket. I'm just not up on the British bolt sizes and it's frustrating. PJ
P S Jennings

The engine and transmission bolts are ALL French Standard Metric with Whitworth heads. ( 5 x 0.75, 6 x 1.0, 8 x 1.0, 19 x 1.5, 12 x 1.5 mm etc)

That said: you need an 8 x 1.0 mm fine thread metric bolt about 32 mm long. Try a good ACE Hardware store, It will have a metric head though.

Note the you need an 8 x 1.0 mm fine thread metric NOT an 8 x 1.5 mm (ISO Metric)

It probably got stripped because the DPO tried to put a 5/16 BSF or UNF bolt in an 8 mm metric thread hole. They look almost the same

The rest of the car uses British Standard Fine nuts and bolts which are sized in English units (1/4 inch, 5/16 inch, etc) and the small screw series 2BA and 4BA.
Don Harmer TF8986

Thanks Don! Much appreciated. PJ
P S Jennings

err, the rear end and wheels used SAE bolts on later TDs and all TFs. Just a clarification.

I'm always reminded of the need for the right wrenches as I work on the SU carburetors, even on the 'B. Most of the fasteners on those were BSF throughout the production.

warmly,
dave
Dave Braun

PJ - You will also need a helicoil kit for 8 X 1 mm fasteners. A good fastener outlet (Fastenal comes to mind) can get this for you. You will come across a lot of the 8 X 1 mm fasteners in the engine and a fair number will be stripped.

I'm always reminded of the need for the right wrenches as I work on the SU carburetors, even on the 'B. Most of the fasteners on those were BSF throughout the production.

This is true for the MGB (along with 2BA and 4BA), but the H2 carbs on the TD have Whitworth threads (at least the screws that hold the vacuum chamber are Whitworth). Cheers - Dave
David DuBois

David, Is this the right size for the tranny bolts?



P S Jennings

Again, Time-Sert thread restore kit has an 8x1.0 kit listed, #1810, Heli-Coil has an 8x1.25 kit listed. Is it the 8x1.0 or the 8x1.25 for the bell housing bolts?

P S Jennings

It's 8 X 1 mm. Never heard of 8 X 1.25.
Cheers,
Bob
Bob Jeffers

I guess it could be a misprint on the 8x1.25? I'll get a 8x1 mm thread repair kit. PJ
P S Jennings

PJ, the 8x1.25 Helicoils are not the ones you need. I have the 8x1mm Helicoil Kit that had to be ordered along with a package of spare coils for my spares box. The 8x1's are not common but still can be found.
Jim Merz

PJ - 8 X 1.25 is ISO metric (aka course metric). You need the 8 X 1, which is the fine metric thread (still available).

If you go to my web site, there is a chart of all the fasteners used on the XPAG/XPEG engines and also a chart of standard threads (American, British and Metric) compiled by Don Harmer many years ago. Both charts and in the Other Tech Articles and can be printed. My web site is at: http://homepages.donobi.net/sufuelpumps/ Cheers - Dave
David DuBois

PJ - Dave is right on but if you have the engine apart, why not put helicoils in all of the bell housing and oil pan bolt holes and then you will not have to guess which hole it came out of next time you pull it apart. My engine had such a miss matched set of bolts that it was a guess where they went when putting the engine back together. They are now all metric 8 x 1 and it is great to have them all the same. May not have a whitworth head on the bolt but I can now use one wrench/socket for all of the bolts.

Just a suggestion.

Brian
Brian Smith (1950 TD3376)

Jim, Brian, Dave, thanks. When I pull the engine and transmission apart, your suggestion of doing all the bolt holes, will be on the list of things to do. I hate miss matched bolts and screws!
Dave, your web site is on a button on my tool bar! Used quite frequently.
Jim, since I have used Heli-Coil in the past, I'll get a 8x.1 kit from them.
It took me a long time to get the metric system clear in my head, this old British system is mind boggling to me and without a chart, I'll probably never get it! Don't go away guys, your presence is requested. (Grin). PJ
P S Jennings

PJ, when you order your 8x1mm Helicoil kit, order an extra package of inserts for the future. There aren't very many in the basic kit.
Jim Merz

This thread was discussed between 28/07/2010 and 01/08/2010

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