Great Britain: "Metric" or "English"?

[Vaughn MacKenzie]

I thought Great Britain went to the Metric system a few years ago. If so, then why is it whenever I watch those cop shows on Discovery channed the English cruisers show speed in MPH instead of k/ph on their videotape?



Last I knew the US and some dinky little country in Africa were the only places in the world sticking with the good ol' English or Standard system. And I hope it always stays that way!



Vaughn

 

[illflem]

Maybe it's because the Discovery Channel plays mostly to an American audience?

Those English sure have good junkyards if you believe the show.

 

[big jake 1]

Originally posted by Vaughn MacKenzie

I thought Great Britain went to the Metric system a few years ago. If so, then why is it whenever I watch those cop shows on Discovery channed the English cruisers show speed in MPH instead of k/ph on their videotape?



Last I knew the US and some dinky little country in Africa were the only places in the world sticking with the good ol' English or Standard system. And I hope it always stays that way!



Vaughn

Vaughn:



I don't know about currently, but I have a 1957 English Ford Thames Panel truck sitting here in the front yard, will restore it in a few years, this truck is definitely not metric as far as wrenches are concerned, the speedo also reads mph... ... ... ... .....



There used to be something called "British Standard", I think makes like MG and Jaguar used them, but the speedos always showed MPH ...





big jake



THE FORD GUY Oo. Oo. Oo.

 

[athompson]

The British only went as metric as they were required by the EC. The road signs are still in miles, but the the fuel is sold in liters. All commerce is done with metric measures in the EC.



My step-dad converts liters to gallons (Imperial) to figure his fuel mileage. When he and my mom are here, he converts gallons (US) to gallons (Imperial) to figure his fuel mileage. Of course, it costs him as much or more to fill his Escort with 40 liters (@ 70p/ltr the last time I was there, about $47) than I pay to fill my Ram with 29 gallons, so he pays real close attention to the mileage.

 

[TowPro]

As far as I know, they still sell beer in Pints and not liters. Case closed.

 

[RustyJC]

Neither metric nor "English" - as anyone who's worked on old Triumphs, MGs, Nortons or BSAs knows, it's Whitworth for fasteners and BSP for pipe threads! I'm amazed that they don't measure velocity in furlongs per fortnight.



Rusty

 

[willyslover]

as a proud owner of a 850 Comando Norton '74 model Rusty is accurate. . good luck finding the wrenches and sockets... e-bay search. . snap-on for starters

 

[Vaughn MacKenzie]

Well if we think we have a mixed bag here in the States I guess we should be glad we're not in England.



Not long ago I read an article about the attempts made going back to the '60s and '70s to get the US totally converted to Metric and how in many respects we're further away from it than ever. I have an old 1976 road map with a metric conversion chart, with the caption "Within a couple years the United States will be converting to the Metric system, so it would be worth our while to become familiar with it. . . "

The main areas moving toward Metric in the US is the increased influx of foreign products and global marketing structures. The scientific and much of the healthcare community is based on Metric. When it comes to everyday life the English system is so engrained it will never go away. Our history is full of accomplishments based on the Standard system. Our railroads, highways, construction and everything else is based on the standard system. The entire Canadian RR system is based on miles and the RR cars and loads weighed in US tons.



I work at a hospital and there has been a shift toward the metric system but it's a mixed bag. The nursery weighs infants in grams while all other patients weighed in pounds. Temps are in fahrenheit.



Guess it's really a mixed-up world. The whole planet is pretty mixed up anyway so why try & fix it now??



Vaughn

 

[Turbo Tim 1]

I was working on a Caterpillar forklift one time and we had a busted hydraulic fitting, one end was SAE the other end was wentworth, ain't gonna find one of those at the local hardware store. Only place to get one was through Caterpillar, Ouch!!!!

 

[merryman]

Other Vaughn is correct;

sometime around the mid '60s, we were basically told to get ready and learn metrics because in just a few years the USA would be fully converted to metrics. Many people--me included-- made some effort to shift our thinking.

You could pick up conversion tables everywhere

It just never took hold.



Vaughn Merryman