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MG MGA - Heater to heater shelf screw specs please

Hello all
Just a simple query.
I'm in the process of fitting a heater to my originally Australian assembled MGA roadster. These cars were rarely fitted with a heater, including mine.
The screws securing the blanking plate for the heater aperture (like so much on my car) have proven to be a mixture of presumably non-original screws. Three are too short to go through the heater base plate and rubber gasket to engage the caged nuts behind.
The screws look, at a guess to be BSF. Could someone kindly let me know the specs for the original screws so I can order a set.
Many thanks in advance.
Tom Aczel
T Aczel

Tom, I have used 10-32 x 1/2 Pan head screws on both cars that I have replaced heaters on.
Note sure if head is concours correct but thread is correct.
Mike
Mike Ellsmore

There aren't very many BSF screws on the MGA. The heater screws are 10-32 (3/16 UNF) pan head 5/8" long ...................Mike
m.j. moore

Fantastic Mike/s!
Thank you both for taking the trouble to let me know. That's yet another problem solved!
Tom
T Aczel

As others have indicated, 10X32 (UNF) Pan-head.

I used 3/8" length screws and have plenty left over if you need some let me know.
John Bray

Tom. The screw would be a 2BA which is almost perfectly duplicated by the 10-32 machine screw. Unless you are looking at a high end show car, the 10-32 screws will be fine. High end show cars should have the proper 2BA screws used.

Les
Les Bengtson

Are you sure about that, Les? I know the fasteners used in the heater itself were BA thread, but that's not uncommon of parts that were supplied by 3rd parties as assemblies. It seems odd that MG would install BA captive nuts in the body just for the heater, when all of the others were UNF thread.

-Del
Rawlins

The SPL specifies it as PPZ 0310 which I believe means a 3/16" dia.(now obsolete) by 5/8" long Pan-Head Pointed Zinc finish UNF fastener. #10 is a reasonable replacement.
John DeWolf

Thanks everyone for the comments, they're much appreciated.
Sadly my car, thanks to previous owners, is not concourse, though I've been steadily getting things back closer to how they should be over the past six years.
A couple of more questions re these heater screws, which perhaps some may consider of no great consequence:
1) Are the screws (originally) straight slotted heads or Phillips style cross slotted?
2) Are there normally washers under the screw heads, or do they just screw straight onto the flange of the heater?
T Aczel

Tom,

Check the heater housing to be sure you will be able to get a screw driver on the head. On the B the one beneath the fan housing buldge would require an angle drive. For that reason I used bolt heads all round and drove with a socket on a swivel handle from a 1/4" drive set.

Regards
Roger
R Taylor

BTW, John (Bray), apologies for neglecting to respond to your offer to supply some of your spare screws. This is most kind, and much appreciated. If I can't pick up some locally, I'll let you know, and we'll see what we can work out.

Roger, my heater motor is stamped 12/58, and my heater doesn't have a base mounting hole under the motor. The rubber gasket, bought from Moss, also interestingly is missing a hole in one of the two ends. The extra hole under the motor/fan end and extra screw or bolt here must have come later than when my heater was built. Barney Gaylord shows a photo on his web site of an unmolested MGA 1600 with the screw in this vacant hole missing, presumably from factory!
You can see this in the photo towards the bottom of this page:
http://www.mgaguru.com/mgtech/heater/hr102.htm
T Aczel

All good Tom. You don't have the problem I faced.

Roger
R Taylor

What is SPL that gives specs?
H L Davy

Roger. The SPL is the Service Parts List that gives the various factory part numbers for most of the items on the car. Interestingly, my SPL for the MGA 1600 does not list the PPZ0310 that has been previously noted anywhere in the listing. Nor, does it show the screws used to hold the heater to the bulkhead in either the illustration or the parts listing for the heater assembly

Les
Les Bengtson

The screws in question are shown on PLATE R.4, holding down the blanking plate that is fitted when the car is not equiped with a heater.
John DeWolf

This thread was discussed between 19/07/2014 and 29/07/2014

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