Practically Classics Forum

Yes, I know it's a stupid question, but what is the bolt size for an MG Midget 1500 Anti Roll bar mounting?
I stupidly snapped one at the weekend trying to replace the bushes and now need to get the stud extractor on it and replace it...

Moved to "Technical Queries" section.

Can't remember exactly but I'm pretty sure it's a 9/16" AF head, and it will definately have a UNF thread. IIRC there are 4 x bolts holding the AR bar bushes, can you not check one of the others?

Luxobarge wrote:Moved to "Technical Queries" section.

Can't remember exactly but I'm pretty sure it's a 9/16" AF head, and it will definately have a UNF thread. IIRC there are 4 x bolts holding the AR bar bushes, can you not check one of the others?

Thanks...
I want to make sure that I have replacenments ready if the others snap as easi;ly as this one did...
Hopefully the liberal dousing in penetrating oil will make it easier this time.

Yeah, I know what you mean. When I restored by Midget, I replaced most bolts with equivalent stainless steel ones, except in critical high-tensile applications - I certainly used stainless on the ARB mounts. Ten years on, and every single nut and bolt on the car is still sparkly new looking and comes undone easily just as if it were new - bliss!

I can't remember where I got them now, it was a company in the north of England, they were great - I started with a "starter pack" of about 10 or 15 each of all the common sizes, and re-ordered when I ran low on any particular size, it worked really well.

Also it's cool to have one of those units with little drawers in it, with the different nuts, set-screws, bolts and washers all labelled and ready for you in the right order... Well, perhaps not cool, but very satisfying to a borderline OCD case like me!

Cheers!

One good place for imperial stuff is Namrick:

http://www.namrick.co.uk/

I admit that I buy a few (lot) on eBay these days and there are some good sellers there but beware - some are expensive and like to sell their stuff as "MG Midget ARB bolts" for a higher price than "3/8AF x however long they are" (or whatever size they actually are - 9/16 head tends to be 3/8" bolt diameter).

And yes, I ordered four different sizes of UNF/UNC lock nuts from a place on eBay yesterday - I need four for spring U-bolts and one for a shock absorber, so the remaining 30 odd will go into my massive stock of nuts and bolts!)

Got to put in a word for our local supplier - A-Series Spares

They supply a box of all the nuts, bolts, washers etc for several 'classic' cars as shown on this page

http://www.aseriesspares.co.uk/imperial ... t_205.html

For the Midget they have 1500 pieces for £198
http://www.aseriesspares.co.uk/classic- ... d_896.html

Local Mini Owners Club gets 10% discount . . . . .

Mike