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My new favorite tools!

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  • Other: My new favorite tools!

    I bought a set of ratcheting open/box end wrenches...wow they are awesome! While I have amassed a lot of different wrenches in the last 40+years, I sometimes seem to not have the "right one". I am currently replacing the Flightomatic and converter on the Lark, and for removing/installing the flex plate to converter bolts these straight wrenches were just the ticket! I love it when a project "requires" me to buy new tools.....
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  • #2
    Those are very helpful tools. My attitude is that if a tool saves me from busting a knuckle and bleeding it's worth every penny it costs.

    Years ago when working in an auto shop one of the techs told me that "His favorite tool is a torch...mine is a 2-pound sledge. Between the two of us we can fix anything!"
    Poet...Mystic...Soldier of Fortune. As always...self-absorbed, adversarial, cocky and in general a malcontent.

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    • #3
      My favorite as well, I just naturally grab those now for any common 7/16 through 5/8 task.
      The regular 6 point box ends only come out for the heavy stuff.

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      • #4
        Your comment stirred a memory... Way back when I used to sell parts to a Citgo gas station that had service bays.
        The owners were two brothers. They were from Cuba (left when Castro became dictator)...
        Anyways, they were the only guys around that would willingly work on the common guys exotic cars (Jag's, Triumps, Ciroen, Peugot's).
        Anyway, the older brother would tell me how his father had very few tools, but literally could fix most anything with his small hammer.
        And he pulled the hammer out of his very neat desk drawer. He told me that he goes and gets it out when he was stumped on a project.
        Just holding it for a while would inspire him. Those guys did nice work.



        Originally posted by Gunslinger View Post
        Those are very helpful tools. My attitude is that if a tool saves me from busting a knuckle and bleeding it's worth every penny it costs.

        Years ago when working in an auto shop one of the techs told me that "His favorite tool is a torch...mine is a 2-pound sledge. Between the two of us we can fix anything!"
        HTIH (Hope The Info Helps)

        Jeff


        Get your facts first, and then you can distort them as much as you please. Mark Twain



        Note: SDC# 070190 (and earlier...)

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        • #5
          Originally posted by Gunslinger View Post
          Those are very helpful tools. My attitude is that if a tool saves me from busting a knuckle and bleeding it's worth every penny it costs.

          Years ago when working in an auto shop one of the techs told me that "His favorite tool is a torch...mine is a 2-pound sledge. Between the two of us we can fix anything!"
          Sounds like Midas Muffler. In 1972 I had a 9am appointment to have a tailpipe installed on my 1952 Land Cruiser. They didn't get my car in until 12 noon, so I'm watching them work for 3 hours, and every pipe they installed was bent to fit by using a torch and big hammer. I finally got out at 1pm and headed west to visit my relatives. The tailpipe they just installed fell off 15 miles away from their shop. I never went back and never did business with Midas again. I do my own work, but Sears and Wards didn't have a tailpipe to fit my Stude.

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          • #6
            I have restored and repaired many cars, from my first car; 1957 VW conv, to my 64 Olds Starfire, to a couple of 73 corvettes, a 1983 Jaguar XKS, a 73 Avanti II, a 64 Avanti R2, GT Hawk 63 and now a 64 Super Hawk. Other cars included. The most frequent tool, that had the most value, and could fix anything, any time,.............................was my pen to write in a check book :-(

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            • #7
              Originally posted by TWChamp View Post
              Sounds like Midas Muffler. In 1972 I had a 9am appointment to have a tailpipe installed on my 1952 Land Cruiser. They didn't get my car in until 12 noon, so I'm watching them work for 3 hours, and every pipe they installed was bent to fit by using a torch and big hammer. I finally got out at 1pm and headed west to visit my relatives. The tailpipe they just installed fell off 15 miles away from their shop. I never went back and never did business with Midas again. I do my own work, but Sears and Wards didn't have a tailpipe to fit my Stude.
              In south Minneapolis, around 1971, I watched Midas bend up a 49 Ford exhaust system for my 48 Ford. Deaf to my protests that there was a MAJOR chassis redesign between 48 and 49, they cut, cussed and welded for a hour or more - and it was somehow my fault. I drove the car into winter storage. In the spring, coming out of storage, the system fell off, but by then it was past any semblance of warranty. I have always steered people away from Midas since then.
              RadioRoy, specializing in AM/FM conversions with auxiliary inputs for iPod/satellite/CD player. In the old car radio business since 1985.


              10G-C1 - 51 Champion starlight coupe
              4H-K5 - 53 Commander starliner hardtop
              5H-D5 - 54 Commander Conestoga wagon

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              • #8
                A co-worker years ago had worked for Midas. He said they gave a lifetime warranty on their mufflers and were very happy to replace them under warranty. He said they also used thin gauge metal in the pipes which would rust out pretty quickly. While they gave away a new muffler under warranty they also got to sell new pipes which weren't covered under a lifetime warranty.

                This was before aluminized steel and stainless steel exhaust systems became the norm.
                Poet...Mystic...Soldier of Fortune. As always...self-absorbed, adversarial, cocky and in general a malcontent.

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                • #9
                  Originally posted by BRUCESTUDE View Post
                  I bought a set of ratcheting open/box end wrenches...wow they are awesome! While I have amassed a lot of different wrenches in the last 40+years, I sometimes seem to not have the "right one". I am currently replacing the Flightomatic and converter on the Lark, and for removing/installing the flex plate to converter bolts these straight wrenches were just the ticket! I love it when a project "requires" me to buy new tools.....
                  [ATTACH=CONFIG]68878[/ATTACH]
                  Since this first post...some great stories. Like BRUCESTUDE, I bought a good set of Craftsman "gear" wrenches several years ago. Soon after that, I followed up by buying a set of Metric gear wrenches. Have never regretted either. Hardly a week goes by that both are not employed in one project or another. Wrenches are like children. Just because you get a new one...you never abandon the others.
                  John Clary
                  Greer, SC

                  SDC member since 1975

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                  • #10
                    REALLY John! Now WHAT in the World would a Stude. Guy do with a stink-n METRIC Wrench?











                    __
                    StudeRich
                    Second Generation Stude Driver,
                    Proud '54 Starliner Owner
                    SDC Member Since 1967

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                    • #11
                      Originally posted by StudeRich View Post
                      REALLY John! Now WHAT in the World would a Stude. Guy do with a stink-n METRIC Wrench?
                      Simple...like the computer you use to participate in this forum, your phone, your TV, your everyday car, helping your kids, grand-kids, your neighbors, and even your so-called American made vehicles...some things are required to enable you to live in THIS CENTURY, and not render you functionally illiterate, or disadvantaged to fully participate with appropriate tools for today's world.

                      In reality, if you have pliers, or an adjustable wrench, you have "metric" tools. Just yesterday, I changed the oil in a particular vehicle for the first time. It was a twenty minute job that took me two hours. Not because I'm so old, too slow, or inexperienced. Nope...I was merely uninformed about the special wrench required to remove the oil filter canister and replace the paper filter element.

                      Being as old as I am, I'll admit, it did take a little more time for me to crawl back from under the vehicle, stomp around a little while trying to figure out a "work-around," and finally, get in my truck, drive to my friendly parts store, buy the proper tool, shoot the bull with friends I met at the parts store, return home, and finish the job, confident that I did it correctly with the proper tool.

                      That's what I did with my "Stinking Metric Wrench (s)."
                      John Clary
                      Greer, SC

                      SDC member since 1975

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                      • #12
                        Originally posted by StudeRich View Post
                        REALLY John! Now WHAT in the World would a Stude. Guy do with a stink-n METRIC Wrench?











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                        I recognize the humorous intent, but metric wrenches can even be useful when working on Studebakers. I have occasionally found them to be just the right size to get a decent grip on rusty and rounded bolts, like on exhaust manifolds. A little bit of filing can make the bolt a perfect fit.
                        Skip Lackie

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                        • #13
                          Originally posted by StudeRich View Post
                          REALLY John! Now WHAT in the World would a Stude. Guy do with a stink-n METRIC Wrench?











                          __
                          Simple, a 14mm fits a rusted 9/16 bolt head. A 12mm fits a rusted 1/2" bolt head. Etc etc etc.
                          Jerry Forrester
                          Forrester's Chrome
                          Douglasville, Georgia

                          See all of Buttercup's pictures at https://imgur.com/a/tBjGzTk

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                          • #14
                            Haven't used the solid versions much since I found these.

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                            • #15
                              I seriously dislike those limp wristed gear wrenches.
                              Give me a solid version "most" every time. So far, I haven't found the need to buy the hinged wrench, no hinged ratchets either.

                              Mike

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