Carrier Fasteners

[Lynn Eades]

I have a couple of questions:
I pulled some bits of a Canadian hull (U.C.MkI*)
The bolts were the usual BSF threads, but they were hybrid fasteners in that the hex sizes were made to UNF / UNC (USA) spanner sizes.
Was this std. practice right through Canadian Carrier production?

Question two.
I have a quantity of BSF (carrier original bolts) with three "C" evenly embossed on the heads.
Anyone know the origin of these? Canadian, or a particular British manufacturer?

[rob love]

I am working on a Cdn carrier at work now, and there are a few bolts and nuts, primarily in the suspension, that are not the standard sizes. I ahve had to use metric wrenches to get a better fit. But as you mentioned, the hardware for the hulls are almost all North American heads.

There was a Cdn Army slideshow (I have it on VHS somewhere) on the Cdn carriers warning that the nuts and bolts holding the firing rest over the division plate could be either BSF or UNF from the factory.

[Dave Schindel]

I have run into a few BSF fasteners that required metric wrenches for a proper fit as well. unfortunately I do not know exactly which locations they were used in. This was on a Canadian MKII.

[rob love]

In the vehicle tech basic tool box, we were (and they likely still are) issued a couple of oddball sizes that nobody could figure out why. They were 19/32 and 25/32. We had open end, box end and sockets. Turns out they do work on some of the BSF fasteners, and I have also seen reference to them in the weather-head catalogue for some of their brass fitting sizes. One of those also fits perfectly on the alemite button head grease fittings used on the carriers.

[Lynn Eades]

Hi Rob, I think you will find that there are 4, 32nd sized sockets in a std., complete (is there such a thing?) American socket set (3/8" to 1 1/4", 1/2 inch drive). They equate to the British std. sizes, without saying so.
Example: 19/32" is the size for 1/4"BSW and 5/16"BSF. (BSW has a larger hex than BSF, for a given bolt dia.)

[rob love]

Lynn

I am sure that is why the sizes were there, but they have now pretty much gone into obsolescence. I remember the snap on dealer, almost 20 years ago, asking why our purchaser was trying to get these oddball sizes, and that snap-on didn't carry some of the combination wrenches any more. It seems to me they coupled some of the 32ths sizes with the 11/16 size.

There is a thread on the HAMB about these sizes......many of the guys confessed to having a drawer full of them, but have never used them.

That is also likely the reason so many weatherhead brass fittings get rounded off.