Spanner sizes..

[TonyA]

I am adding to my collection of AF spanners to deal with my Plus 2 .so far, the biggest spanner I've needed is 11/16" (the nyloc nuts on the long 3/8" bolts at hub end of the rear wishbone). Will I need a 3/4 " spanner, or indeed anything bigger for anything...? Thx..Tony

[ill_will]

Some of the bigger fixings I can think of (many may require a socket not spanner.) Not sure if some of these are covered by 11/16 and under?

Rear hub to outboard driveshaft nut
Steering wheel boss to column nut
Front stub axle to vertical link
Rear strut rod to lotocone nut
Rear strut damper insert retaining cap
Steering rack inner ball joints
Steering rack pinion spring cap
Alternator pulley nut (maybe only on one alternator I have seen?)
Clutch rod to fork fitting

I'm sure there are more!

Cheers,

Will

[ericbushby]

Hi Tony,
The steering wheel nut needs a one and one sixteenth socket. Should you be at a car boot sale or a car show have a look round there. You should get one for a pound at most, nobody else will want it, and that also applies to many of the tools we need.
Eric in Burnley
1967 S3SE DHC

[alanr]

I can't see you doing much in the way of serious work on your Lotus or any other British car of the same era without a full set of A/F open ended and ring spanners and sockets.
Without them you will just mangle the bolts and nuts and take the skin off your knuckles regularly when using the wrong Metric spanner and it slips off.
There is quite a lot of things on your Lotus that are 3/4 A/F and the sump plug is or should be 15/16th if someone hasn't already mangled it. For the steering wheel as others mention you will need a large 1 1/16 A/F socket.
The other gotcha is the differential level plug which is neither A/F or Metric being, or again should be if someone has not already mangled it, 3/8th Whitworth.

I would strongly suggest you go out and buy a full set of A/F spanners and sockets...They will definitely be a worthwhile investment.

Alan.

[smo17003]

Another useful addition is a flare nut spanner (sorry, I can't remember the sizes) for the brake line unions. It can lessen the chance of rounding off the nuts.

Also some "obstruction" or "C" spanners can come in useful when access is tight. They can be expensive, so boot sales or Ebay for those.

And a few deep sockets, in the smaller sizes, for when a PO has used a bolt that's too long, and a standard socket won't reach the nut.

[StressCraxx]

Flare nut sizes for the hydraulics are 3/8" and 7/16".

[Andy8421]

A guilty pleasure of mine is noodling through eBay, buying old tools. There is a large amount of junk there, but every couple of weeks or so a gem appears for almost nothing. Few people want AF or BSW tools, so there isn't much competition.

It can be dangerous, I ended up buying my Bridgeport mill through eBay on a whim, but for spanners and sockets there is a regular supply of good quality tools. You have to be selective and be prepared to buy a socket or spanner set with a couple of parts missing, but invariably you will be able to complete the set from other sellers over the next few weeks.

[Steve Brooks]

Hi guys, once in a blue moon I have used a 13/16 spanner on the clutch nut to adjust the gap.