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Re: More wrench sizes requested

To: Adam Frankel <frankel@uhunix.uhcc.hawaii.edu>
Subject: Re: More wrench sizes requested
From: Scott Fisher <sfisher@wsl.dec.com>
Date: Tue, 28 Jul 92 15:57:08 PDT
    Any spitfire folks know what size the tie rods and sleves onthe spitfire
    steering rack is?  Its bigger than 1-1/4".  I'm not anxious to try every
    wrench sears sells until I find it.  Thanks in advance,
    adam

This is what Crescent wrenches are for.  No, not for rounding off the
flats and breaking the wrenches, for measuring.

A cheapie caliper set (you *could* buy a caliper, but that would be
cheating) can be approximated, for these purposes anyway, by using 
a Crescent wrench in good condition and a steel tape.  Adjust the
jaws of the wrench till they fit over the nut or bolt-head in question,
then carefully slide it off and measure the gap.  Then go buy a wrench
of that dimension (rounding up, of course, if you're on some really odd
number of 32nds of an inch; there's likely to be a little slop in the
system somewhere).

Don't bother doing this with a wrench that's already been hammered on
till it's notched and till the sliding jaw wobbles 1/16" when you look
at it crossways.  You need one with straight jaws and a tight fit.

BTW, I've been at the stage for quite some time where I really need a
caliper for making precise measurements.  I'll try to add it to the
mental list of tools I should get the next time I'm in Post or Sears.
It would have come in handy, for instance, doing the porting on the B
a few months ago, as well as for various other things.  I have a feeling
that it's the kind of tool that, once I get one, I will wish I'd bought
it a long time ago.

--Scott


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