Thread size for heater valve and temperature bulb

[pharriso]

As the cylinder head is a British design the thread will be BSP, unlike the block which is a USA design.....
Eric in Burnley
1967 S3SE DHC

Eric, why do you think the Kent engine is a USA design?

From the Kent engine wiki:"The Ford Kent is an internal combustion engine from Ford of Europe. Originally developed in 1959 for the Ford Anglia" & "This series of engines became known as the Kent engine because Alan Worters, the company's Executive Engineer (Power Units), lived across the river from Ford's Dagenham plant in the English county of Kent"

This would suggest a solely English origin.

[ericbushby]

Hi Phil,
I know nothing! it`s just what I have heard and read over a few years.
It fits because it explains why the pipe threads on the block are NPT.
As basically an electrician, I have worked with pipe work only casually for quite a long time and it is probably only about 20 years since I first heard of NPT threads. I worked on water cooled high voltage, high frequency generators and inverters. The firm I worked for started exporting to the USA and had to comply. Up to then everything I knew and worked with has always been BSP.
It may be built in England, but the design may be American, or the design parameters may have come from there.
I bet someone tells us soon.
Cheers
Eric

[mbell]

There was a discussion about the use of npt for the block previously, don't remember the details but along the lines of ford being an usa company so usa standard were used globally by ford.

[Craven]

Ford is the link here, being an American manufacturer using the Unified system on its cars, carried this over to manufacture in Britain.

[englishmaninwales]

There was a discussion about the use of npt for the block previously, don't remember the details but along the lines of ford being an usa company so usa standard were used globally by ford.

viewtopic.php?f=39&t=33835&hilit=Gallery

[promotor]

As the cylinder head is a British design the thread will be BSP, unlike the block which is a USA design.....
Eric in Burnley
1967 S3SE DHC

Eric, why do you think the Kent engine is a USA design?

From the Kent engine wiki:"The Ford Kent is an internal combustion engine from Ford of Europe. Originally developed in 1959 for the Ford Anglia" & "This series of engines became known as the Kent engine because Alan Worters, the company's Executive Engineer (Power Units), lived across the river from Ford's Dagenham plant in the English county of Kent"

This would suggest a solely English origin.

Ultimately the company at its roots is American, even if the engine wasn't designed in America or even classed as American.
Either way, the oil gallery plugs and attachments in the cylinder block are 1/8" or 1/4" NPTF and that is an American thread.
Perhaps the reason for using them is that they found success with those fitments in the USA, believed in them as a good solution and had the supply chain in place to use them.

Slightly at a tangent here but as an example there is a commonality between some Mustang diffs and all Ford English diffs - the crownwheel bolts are exactly the same bolt, not just in thread - ie 3/8" UNF, which is a US thread - but the same actual bolt. The diff being known as an English diff and used on English cars while using an American thread tells me who was in charge of Ford of Britain back then!

[elansprint71]

There is an absolute ton of stuff on this subject in the archives- not always the easiest resource to work with though!

Here is a photo of what I did: https://lotuselan.net/gallery/ go down to image 35 of 52 on page one.

I fitted a ball-valve with lever in the heater pipe in the passenger footwell (RH Drive car). I can reach over and move the lever from the driver's seat (when the car is at a standstill(!) Presumably with LHD it would be easier.

I think that heater valve is the ugliest thing ever.

[elansprint71]

Incidentally, there are both straight and taper British Standard Pipe Threads.

I trained as a Precision T oolmaker and used to know some stuff- most of it is forgotten now! If you are a similarly sad-act as myself, get a copy of Carroll Smith's book: Nuts, Bolts, Fasteners and Plumbing Handbook; it's fascinating and is only 223 pages long!

[MarkDa]

Slightly off track. This heater valve looks pretty poor now ,but at the time it was considered state of the art. A lot of cars going into the sixties had no heater at all or it was an extra! This Smiths valve was fitted to the Mini Cooper albeit with a two bolt flange instead. On the MG Midget there was a tap you had to turn on and off , under the bonnet. It was quite the mod to use the Mini Cooper valve to be able to turn the heater on and off in the car.

I did just that on my midget!
I also fitted a 3 position rocker switch and 3 pole brush plate to get two speed wipers.