Tappet wrenches

[spitfire]

Hey everyone,

I know this is the kind of question only someone like me would ask, being I've never had another car that needed valve adjustments, but I have a quick question.

My '50 Windsor seems to have a valve that's either out of adjustment or burned (probably burned). I did the test where you take a piece of paper and hold it over the tail pipe and see if it sucks the paper in. It does. Usually that's a sign of a bad exhaust valve? The car has a miss at idle and always has. Plugs, wires, cap, rotor, condenser, and coil have all been replaced. When I purchased it around 5K miles ago, it had 110 psi compression in all cylinders, except for #3, which had 100. The car currently has around 93K miles on it. I mentioned the issue to my boss, and being he remembers these flatheads, he says I need to try a valve adjustment, before I go off pulling things apart.

I've read the tech tips write up on it and looked in my service manual, so I think I know what I need to do, but my question is: Do I need to buy a set of tappet wrenches somewhere? If so, what sizes do I need? Not sure if I need two of the same size or not. Does anyone know a good place to purchase these? Craftsman had a set, but they don't seem to carry them anymore (not available for delivery). Most the wrenches I see are in sets that are around $150 or more, which seems a bit excessive for 5 wrenches that I'll use for only this every few years.

Thank you for your help,

Dan

[Merle Coggins]

You'll need a 1/2" and a 7/16" as I recall. As far as I knew Sears/Craftsman still has them. But if you can't get them from Craftsman do a little searching on the internet. Someone out there must have some that you can get.

You can get by with standard open end wrenches, but you're likely to burn your knuckles if you're doing the adjustment hot like recommended. Even with the tappet wrenches you'll want to wear gloves. I also recommend getting bent end feeler gauges. It's easier to get in there with the bent tips.

Merle

[james curl]

The last time I was in the Sears stand alone store in Austin they had them separately hanging on pegs. I do not think you will find them in the Catalog stores.

[Joe Flanagan]

I just used regular 1/2" and 7/16" crescent wrenches. I took a grinder to the 7/16 though, and made it flatter, or narrower, so that it fits where it's supposed to go without hitting the other wrench or anything else. You can just hold the crescent part of the wrench flat against the flat side of the grinding wheel. I used heavy gloves with the fingers cut out. You'll also want to wear a long-sleeve shirt. My elbows and forearms kept hitting the exhaust manifold.

[greg g]

the basic difference is in the lenght of the wrench and the thickness of the wrench.

Tappet wrenches are thinner than your regular open ends, this is so you can get both wrenches on att he same time one to hold the lifter and one to turn the adjuster.

You might want to go to you local hardware store and buy a couple wrenches from the clearence bin and then grind them down with your bench grinder till they are about half their original width.

I did a similar thing to an elcheapo 9/16ths plus heated and bent the head to get at those pesky nuts on the manifolds.

[daddyo23]

If you have a tool truck coming by, check with them. Usually a standard stock item.

[BobT-47P15]

Check ebay under tappet wrench........there"s a bunch of wrenches and

feeler gauges priced real reasonable. Here's a link to that section.

http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_trksid=p3984.m570.l1311&_nkw=tappet+wrench&_sacat=0

[martybose]

I bought my tappet wrenches at McMaster-Carr

http://www.mcmaster.com/#tappet-wrenches/=iv7hs8

Marty

[spitfire]

Thanks a bunch, everyone. That all really, really helps. Sorry it took me a day to get back. If I have the time this weekend, I may go ahead and attempt to grind a couple down. Might as well try. I think I have an assortment of "clearance bin" wrenches that I wouldn't mind ruining...I mean....modifying. I even have the bench grinder with a couple of crummy wheels that need some finishing off. If that doesn't work, I'll try ebay or McMaster-Carr. I have a pair of arc welding gloves from welding class a few semesters back. A long sleeve flannel and those gloves should at least help with burns.

I'd like to clean out the valve galley and then pull the oil pan and clean it out as well, so I can start running rotella, plus have the peace of mind of a clean engine. If I take care of it, I'm curious as to how long it will last.

Thanks so much for the help and I'll try and let you guys know what I find.

Dan