Talk Morgan Forums Morgan Sports Cars Maintenance & Servicing Sorry If Its been Posted - Spanner Metric or What

I don't believe it makes any difference for spanners, the standards mentioned appear to apply only to max/minimum of hole sizes, the thread forms (metric 60 degrees), sizes, and pitches are the same across the standards and in nearly all cases (especially in the common sizes) the ISO and JIS dimensional limits are the same as well.

So in terms of spanner sizes, they will always be the same, and although it's theoretically possible that you could find that an ISO bolt wouldn't fit a JIS nut of the same size, the chances are so remote they aren't worth worrying about.

I have a mix of types plus a “goody box” of odds and sods. The standard metric/imperial do nearly all jobs but the odds and sods are handy. I have all sorts in there including “modified” ones to fit in tight spaces, ground thinner, outer edges ground back....Stiison type wrenches, shifters, box spanners, BA sets. A range of sockets of various sizes( inherited”). They have saved me a bit over the years and don’t take up much space.
I know that if I throw some I will regret it within weeks!

I'm afraid you are wrong about Mazda. They in a lot of cases use a different metric AF size for the nut or bolt head than that recommended either by ISO or JIS. I do not believe the AF dimension is more than recommended in the specifications. They also misbehave by not marking the steel specification on their nuts and bolts, all car manufacturers are guilty of that.

Mazda also has a habit of using both the "normal" coarse metric thread and the fine metric thread, therefore there are a number of nuts that will not fit on bolts.

I have a number of fine and superfine nuts and bolts in a special nut and bolt drawer unit in the garage with about 20 different fine and superfine fasteners in some cases different material specs for brakes and suspension.

Yes even Mazda, Subaru and Suzuki have their non standard moments usually about 10 minutes before you need to use the car when you have mislaid a nut.

Just hang onto all the spanners and sockets you have I have found my old Dads Whitworth come in handy at times.

Just go and get yourself a new set of Metrics and A/F if you feel like it. We only pass this way once.

Reminds me of a nice lady that used to go on a bit about reincarnation!

She had been talking about if for about an hour.

Then a friend called Steve said to her, " Kath if there is any truth in this reincarnation stuff, knowing my luck, I will come back as the S bend in the toilet in an Old Folks home."

Not good he will certainly have seen a lot passing that way

Not spanners but screwdrivers.
Over the years I’ve come to hate Phillips (PH) cross head screws, a minor amount of corrosion and cheese based alloys the heads strip before the screw moves. The great secret is that they were designed to do that, the shape of the tip was/is designed to cam out under torque - pity no one owned up to it.
Pozidrive (PZ) screws and their screwdrivers (identifiable by the secondary cross on the screw head or fluting on the screwdriver) were designed not to cam out but are not interchangeable and will just make matters worse.
The Japanese in their wisdom use a form akin to Philips that does not ride out but also decided to keep it secret. JIS screwdrivers will interchange with Philips fixings and work better than PH drivers. (Mind you, a PH screwdriver will still wreck a JIS fixing, just look at the crankcase on older Japanese bikes)
A bit of digging on the ‘net will throw up JIS screwdrivers, they work, they grip and they don’t cam out. Vessel manufacture a quality range, which I can recommend, including an impact version.
If you have a Japanese bike or car, the ‘cheapo’ dual pointed screwdriver in the tool kit is probably JIS and will probably be better fit than any quality make with a PH head.
At one time JIS heads had a single dot punching on the head to identify them as such, though this I understand is no longer a requirement of the standard.

This is an education to me. Are you saying that a JIS driver will work on both a PH and a PZ screw? If so, you are a life-saver - even with my reading glasses on, I can't tell the difference between PH & PZ... and have to call one of my kids out to the garage to look at it (weirdly, I can see everything further away than my arms' length perfectly)

- me too

I've lost count of the number of 'Phillips' head fasteners that I had assumed were made of 'cheesium' over the years due to destroying the heads - however carefully I attempted to free them.

Just ordered myself a set of 3 x JIS drivers; thanks for the update

James

Thanks for all the useful and interesting comments - didn't realise what a complex subject I was getting into.