DIY/Small resto quantities of fasteners

[rhyds]

As mentioned on another thread me and the old man are busy building up our old Ferguson TEF-20 diesel tractor.

Being a product of 1950s Coventry, where the metric system was something the Germans were dropping on them about a decade previously everything is in good old UNC and UNF thread sizes.

Now, the issue is that while I can easily get those plastic assortment boxes of metric nuts, bolts and washers (spring or otherwise) I can't seem to find the same for UNC and UNF bolts.

Can anyone suggest a good supplier of hardware like this?

[chippie]

Rhyds,

I’ve used these folk, www.ebay.co.uk/str/kaysfasteners?_trksid=p2047675.l2563. for various fastener types....Well worth a looksee...

[Rhubarb]

Have a nosey in the back of a classic car mag for suppliers

[valhalla]

I have used Kay Fasteners myself for some rarer thread-forms. Something I try to do is keep an eye on a certain auction-site for ex-military disposals of UNC and UNF, as the old Parkerized / Sheridized finishes tend to match my old Rovers better than the modern BZP finishes.

[oli]

It’s a lovely little tractor the TEF 20 - ironic as I understand Harry Ferguson never wanted to make a diesel! (He felt it was too heavy and would cause soil compaction)

I rebuilt my old man’s one about 15 years ago - I don’t remember needing many new nuts and bolts and sadly the place we got them from went bust some time ago. It was remarkable how easily it came apart - lots of chasing of threads with a tap and die though!

[rhyds]

Thanks for the suggestions chaps! Its just infuriating how I can grab a random box of metric assorted nuts/bolts/washers for under a tenner but the same selection in UNC/UNF costs about twice as much!

[rhyds]

Apr 13, 2021 23:34:47 GMT 1 oli said:

It’s a lovely little tractor the TEF 20 - ironic as I understand Harry Ferguson never wanted to make a diesel! (He felt it was too heavy and would cause soil compaction)

I rebuilt my old man’s one about 15 years ago - I don’t remember needing many new nuts and bolts and sadly the place we got them from went bust some time ago. It was remarkable how easily it came apart - lots of chasing of threads with a tap and die though!

You can sort of see where Harry Ferguson was coming from as early diesels were very heavy compared to petrol or petrol/TVO engines. However by the 50s the Fordson and David Brown diesels were taking the market share, and Perkins were making a fair bit of money selling conversion kits to put their P3 engine in petrol TE-20s, so it made commercial sense for Standard to market their own diesel engined version.

As for working on it, as you say most of it is very, very logical. Everything is made just strong enough rather than being flimsy or overbuilt. The quality of the parts is amazing considering it wasn't exactly an expensive piece of equipment, and hopefully we'll get this one working soon.

[huffo]

I use www.nuttersfastenings.co.uk. I occasionally go in with a slightly obscure bolt or set screw and say can I have another like this. More often than not, they are able to sort me out, be it UNF, UNC, metric or Other!
I’ve not checked, but I’d be surprised if they don’t do mail order.

[rhyds]

Thanks all, I think the approach will have to be to see what size/type of bolts we're mostly missing and then order a quantity of those, rather than finding a pre-made selection box.