Having bought suitably threaded tube from the wonderful lolocost, only to find that it was so rusty that it wouldn't screw on anyway, I've now welded it in place, and there's no way in hell it's going to go on without retapping, money well spent then! Anyway, to get to the point, I asked about M18 x1.5 threads at a local engineering place and before I'd even got to saying the pitch of the thread, I'd got the rather shirty reply "M18 isn't an engineering size" hmmm, OK, whatever, automotive engineering doesn't count as engineering then? What I want to know is where can I beg/borrow/steal/buy a suitable tap from? What did everyone else do?

Kingr

Sounds like a load of tosh to me.
http://www.tapdie.com/html/metric-fine__taps.html list an M18x1.5 but you will need to contact them for single quanitiy pricing.

http://www.engineeringsupplies.com/shopping/shopdisplayproducts.asp?page=3 list them for £7.80 (probably +vat) and have online ordering.

Hope that helps.

Hi

Had same sort of problem borrwed one from a marine engineer seems they use that size.

Dave

I wouldn't put it down to the rust - the tubes I got from LoLo had the thread cut so badly they wouldn't screw in either. On taking them back to Lolo I was told 'if you're building a car like this we expect you to have a set of taps'. Duh? Why would I buy the tube from you then???? Bunch of idiots, especially the guy who runs the place. Steer well clear is my advice!!

Chris

I found it was the same thread as the spark plugs used in the Ford SOHC.

I already had a rethreader for that purpose, so I managed to clean up the wishbone threads too!

Just thought you might like to know!

There is a company called Tracey tools in Devon that supply mail order.They stock all sizes of imperial and metric taps, dies, reamers, cutters etc.Most of there stuff is carbon steel which is perfectly adequate for our type of use.The last time I bought from them i ordered by phone and it came the next day. There prices are very good and a tap will be no more than about
£5.
If you cant find there address I will look it up tommorow.
Paul.

quote:

---

Originally posted by kingr
What I want to know is where can I beg/borrow/steal/buy a suitable tap from? What did everyone else do?

Kingr

---

Hi,
I had the same problem with the Lolocost wishbones and had to spend some time cleaning them up. I didn't need to recut the threads though and just used loads of WD40 initially and then used fine carborundum paste on the threads and screwed them in and out a good few times until they were nice and free. I then cleaned them out with brake cleaner and oiled them up to avoid them rusting again while I'm building the car.

The finish of Lolocost wishbones is very poor but the welding looks strong so it's okay I guess. The biggest downside of these wishbones is being stuck with Nylon bushes. If anyone knows of Poly bushes which fit these bush tubes then please let me know!

Cheers,
Craig.

If none of the above works, try a motorbike jumble, thats where I got mine, and I had the pick of about 5 stalls, must be a common 'bike size.

You're welcome to borrow mine but don't think I'm walking to somerset with it!

Cheers

Chris

engineering supplies do them. very helpful company.

http://www.engineeringsupplies.com

the young lady (family owned business) that runs the site is really helpful, and even sent me a free mars bar with it cos of a small mix up on her part. But then thats my charm

atb

steve

Loads of good answers...
Here's another, tap size is same as used on pneumatic cylinders, should be able to get a tap from anyone who uses this kind of stuff.

Thanks for all your replies, I'll be putting an order in with one of the companies you suggested this morning. Who would have thought there were so many uses for M18 fine threads?

Kingr