HI. This is my first post here on Brickboard. I'm traveling far this weekend to pick up a '74 145, and though I've had a 144 before, it's been years.

Can anyone tell me whether or not this car was put together in Metric or SAE? I would assume Metric, but I swear I remember reading somewhere that someone said SAE.

I'd like to be prepared with the right tools for the ride back, and I don't want to take everything I own. Haha.

I'm sure you'll be hearing more from me in the coming weeks. Thanks for any info!

The SAE work in both systems, and that organization is properly not used to denote the Imperial system of measurement.
If you need your metric tools on the trip, you'll be having a bad day as anything metric on the 74 will be in the engine.
Enjoy the trip!

The system of measurement is called "Imperial" in the former British Empire but the Unified thread standards are international and replaced the SAE, USS, BSW, BSF and several other thread specifications. What used to be called SAE is now UNF, which also replaced the BSF thread standards. The old USS is now UNC, which also replaced the BSW thread series. They are pretty interchangeable for
the coarse threads with the exception of ½"-13 UNC - the BSW series had 12 threads per inch. The BSF series is much less interchangeable because they used 26 and 30 threads per inch where UNC mostly uses 20, 24, 28 and 32 threads per inch. The difference in thread angle (Whitworth = 55°, Unified = 60°) is usually not a problem if the threads match in other respects. It is worthy of consideration in very highly loaded joints and those prone to fatigue with cyclic stresses.
--
George Downs, Bartlesville, Heart of the USA!

At least for the engine everything is unified threads (inch sizes) with the exception of
the maincap bolts and the bellhousing mount bolts. Both of those are M12-1.75 threads with 19mm
hex heads. A 3/4" wrench fits them perfectly.
I think the body is essentially the same as the 73, which is all unified threads.
--
George Downs, Bartlesville, Heart of the USA!

A '74 should have what's called the metric motor but all the nuts and bolts you'd deal with in maintenence will be SAE. The metric designation mostly concerns the internal changes to the crank, rods, pistons and oil pump.

Thank you! I knew it was something crazy....too bad, I like Metric so much better for some reason.