Spanners that are used on a Gardner engine 

When I began as an apprentice Diesel fitter back in 1971 it didn't take long to realize how important it had been to learn fractions at school. Men like Joe didn't just teach me my trade they were my roll models as well.

Joe's informed, no-nonsense approach is something that is becoming increasingly rare these days. I'm so glad these videos are being made.

When I was an Apprentice (in Australia) one of the jobs I was asked (told) to sort out a huge box of nuts bolts and washers and lay them out on trays. this box had all sorts of thread types and I was to make sure that the trays only had one diametre bolt and one specific thread pitch. After doing this for a week my boss grabbed a handful of nuts and bolts out of those remaining in the box and asked me what thread it was and what size and I had to tell him what it was. Which I did, although I do remember getting caught out by a BSP plug, I could instantly tell between a Whitworth bolt or a Unified National Course thread by looking at the bolt head and thread just by looking at them. I also to this day have a full set of Whitworth SAE and metric spanners and sockets in my tool box. I started my apprenticeship as an Automotive diesel Mechanic in 1977, I did a of bit of work on 6LX.s that came out of Fodens. One of my mates has a an old Foden with a 6LX in it that he intends to restore, last time we started the Gardner although it had not been started for two years, a little fresh fuel and a charged jumper battery and it started right up, with a nice idle.

Dangerous viewing if you don't already have a Gardner in your shed. All these videos much appreciated!

My late father, who was a mechanical engineer told me that BSF was also designed by Whitworth, which is why the spanners fit both standards. For those reading who don't know the system, Whitworth spanners are marked for the thread size and the standard specifies the nut/bolt head sizes according to the thread. My father also told me that during WWII the standards were revised to save metal. The way they did this was to reduce the bolt head/nut size down one step, so the old spanners could continue to be used. This may be where your sixteenth inch reduction comes from. I believe that newer tools were marked for the new head/nut sizes, so there may be different sized Whitworth spanners with the same markings, depending on age.

Well, this video clears up the mystery of how Whitworth wrench & fastener sizes were determined. They're pretty rare here in the states, but I was lucky enought to work with an old gentleman on Norton, Matchless & AJS bikes in the late 60's & early 70's. Still have my wrenchs & sockets! Thanks....

What an extremely knowledgeable and skilled gentleman. An absolute pleasure to watch and listen too and whom I have the utmost admiration and respect.

I'd like to make this clear. An example: a Whitworth or BSF nut takes it size designation from the nominal thread diameter. A 1/2" Whitworth bolt has a diameter of one half inch. To arrive at the Whitworth spanner size we subtract 1/16 to get 7/16. In dealing with a half inch nut we use a seven sixteenth spanner. Simple! In my pocket I carry a 3/16 - 1/4 ring spanner. I find that the most used combination on Gardners.

A fantastic post, I still have all my Whit - BA spanners and Whit sockets, Gardner block spanner, injector key and a few other bits and bobs from my old Gardner days, I still have my old slide rule as well. I worked for an ERF, Atkinson main dealer but worked on many type of Gardner engines, I miss working on them so much, the best of British engineering.

This career truck coach mechanic thanks you for clarifying some of the odd old wrench’s and sockets I have found and collected that don’t match up to the common SAE or metric tooling we commonly use here in North America. --Ktmcandog🇨🇦

I understand everything you said, i was born in 71 but apprenticed on the steel works in Scunthorpe. Working on steam turbines built by. Charlie Parsons. Fractions, oh fractions thought what a waste of time in school, how wrong was I, I’m now a fractions expert. BSW, BSP (tapered BSW), BSF and BA. Incidentally do you know why the BA thread is so amazing? It was used a lot with mechanical instrumentation, if the thread was stripped, you could run the next size tap down without drilling. By the way do you recall the English imperial spanner maker? Carringtons were great, long with square rings, great for tight spaces, rounded cheap spanner’s don’t fit. And then there is King Dick and Snail band. I live on a traditional narrowboat, it has a modern John Deere 3029 gen set engine marinised by Beta Marine, slow revin but lots of torque. I have always been fascinated by Gardner engines, of which I appreciate their sound and aesthetics and mechanics, as I do with Parsons turbines. Perhaps one day when the world settles down we could meet up to and discuss the pros and cons of restoring a vintage Gardner with a view to having a Gardner rebuilt to replace my JD 3029.

I worked on 6lxb engines in foden truck's when I was a young fella, I remember when worn with plenty of back pressure, they leaked oil and once at the mot station I done the usual and rubbed oil off the sump etc, so on the pit the ministry tester called me out of the cab and he looked up at me and said you done a nice job of wiping this one's arse young lad haha good old day's.

Joe and his knowledge.. An Internet treasure...

I remember using Whitworth spanners on gardner engine's also the C spanner for the head nuts behind the inspection windows

Hi Joe, very very interesting and informative, l have watched several of your videos now and your knowledge and understanding of the Gardner engines is extremely fascinating ! I have been in the Transport industry all of my life as a driver and owner of various Gardner engines and know them to extremely reliable and straightforward. In all that time l only ever known one that let me down and that was a 201 (LXC) l think ! Please continue posting your videos which are very enjoyable to watch, you also have a very calm and instructive manner in your approach ! Thank you again Joe, and stay safe and well. Regards Tony Hawkridge.

Hi joe, took a7/16 whit socket. Cut it in half and welded the bi hex part to the side of the other part, to get to cyl head bolts under decompressor shaft 45 years ago, still got it !!!!!

I have a massive amount of respect for you !! Absolutely brilliant videos 🙌

I was explaining this to a friend this morning. About spanners. I restor british stationary engine and i know totally what you said in the video cheers.

Well this morning I learnt what AF really means - Thank you Joe for that. One type of spanner you forgot to mention was the "box" spanner. Fore runner of sockets I suppose. I used to have a full Whitworth set in a canvas roll but sadly they got lost in one of my house moves. Anyway keep safe, keep sane and keep posting such informative content. 👍

Hey Joe, your contributions are always enlightening 👍 even here in Berlin ;-)

Fantastic, me and a friend have just rebuilt a couple of early David brown petrol engines, could listen all day long! Proper engineer 👍

Thanks for that Joe i can now lookout for a whit-worth spanners and sockets for my 6LW in my boat i always look forward to your videos allot o the knowledge is being lost with time keep them coming Mv Joy-c

Because of the restricted access to the cylinder block nuts, which secure the block to the crankcase, you can only use a ring spanner on them, which means you can't use a torque wrench so correct tightness is much a guessing game, experience comes in after you have done a few.

I love your work, insights passed on and your incredible knowledge.

Great stuff, very useful as I may have found a 2L4 to put in my narrowboat.

Joe, That was a very informative lecture of you ! It's unlikely that I'll ever work on a real Gardner engine (but one never knows) however i own a Dutch license build M38A1 Willy's jeep (NeKaF) as well i have been in aviation for many years and consequentially had to deal with the most bizarre combinations of nuts and bolts. Wish i had your knowledge at that time.

Still have a full set of Whitworth spanners plus the injector cleaning tool for the cylinder head and a cylinder block spanner .

Another epic video Joe, thank you.

I've got a special little toolbox for our Gardner. We never discuss sizes. Some are whitworth. Some af. And the odd filed down metric... We have names for each. Like the little shiney one. Or pass me the big rusty one. Or the small whitworth. Same with sockets. It all goes in the same box with an adjustable, a hammer. And a chisel. But after a while now we've owned it a while, we've got the tentions set to where we can get stuff off quite easy.

Stay healthy Joe 👍👍🇺🇸

Hello Joe. I was lucky to get some of my fathers and grand fathers tools all imperial and yes the tools have lasted 4 generations my son is now able to use then and hopefully he will be a fifth generation engineer .

Amazing the knowledge that you carry inside your head Joe... :)

Use the proper too for the task. If you do not have the proper tools delay the work until you have the proper tools. Using the wrong or makeshift tools can delay the job or damage the thing you are working on. An ajustable wrench has the primary advantage of being the wrong size in all the fastener systems.

Hi Joe, excellent vid.. will be on the hunt for some BA spanners to add to my collection... i notice a range of injectors and water pumps in the background... how about an informative vid on those... please:) cheers again Brad

My view is that the UK made a mistake after WW2 in kowtowing to the Americans to adopt their thread system and have nuts and bolts with AF sizes of head. This was compounded again in the 1970s when the metric system was introduced. The Imperial engineering solution created by Whitworth, as the first standardized system in the world, is superior in sizing the head of nuts and bolts in relation the diameter of the thread and therefore, in proportion to the strength. Likewise the same proportions were used minus a 1/16" for BSF but still retained the angle of the thread as standardized by Mr. Whitworth at 55 degrees.

I had a lot of King Dick imperial spanners, quality tools.

Interesting video but the sound needs to be incresed. It's very quiet.

Thanks for the video Joe. Very informative. Luckily I have most of the tools.

I am left confused. If I were to grab a 3/4” Whitworth spanner, and measure the opening, would I read 3/4”?

hi thats some very lovely patient explanation would you pls advice what is the SAE about they say its american that is there a difference between the SAE & the AF ?

Love these videos keep them coming! I have two 6lxbs in my boat which I am quite proud of. Quick question; I have to hold down my throttle levers once the engines are under load to stop them springing back. I understand this is a common issue for most Gardner engines. Have you ever found a solution to this problem?

I have a live steam Bassett Lowke "train set" as my wife describes it! It is all BA (All on RU-vid)!

Audio not loud enough on my IPad. Flat out hearing.

I have a gardner 6lxb Where can I get a set of whitworth spanners

I understand that a Witworth nut and bolt head size was reduced by 1 size during WWII to reduce the quantity of steel needed for the Hex head and so make steel go further. The size of a nut and bolt head became BS British Standard.. So a witworth spanner on very old equipment fits. If built during or post WWII a BS spanner fits. Can someone verify this.. Thanks Amacf

We know about fraction calculations’

Thanks sir

Did you try Metrinch tools?

Do you have a source in the UK for 4LK timing chains and either rivetting or clip type joining link? Nothing availible here in NZ.

Joe are there any nuts on an engine that should be checked for torque over the years, or once torqued up properly, can you forget about them for good?

speak up a bit son