I posted an update a while back regarding the R&R of the manifolds on my 1980 Spitfire 1500. Part of the posting commented upon the Alden Wrench (http://www.aldenwrench.com/), a wrench with a movable head, designed to grip a fastener tighter as more torque is applied. I recommended against the use of this wrench in that posting.
A fellow lister pointed out privately that I slammed the product, and I can see why somebody may have that opinion. The wrench does deserve better treatment and the situation better clarification. The wrench works as advertised, gripping nuts and bolts tighter as you apply more torque. The design of the wrench I used has a very thin piece of metal as a part of its fulcrum design, and it snapped when I applied too much torque with my bare hands to loosen the outer manifold bolt. If I had waited until I pulled the water pump to allow for better access, I would not have needed the Alden wrench to loosen this nut, which did come off with a standard Craftsman open-end wrench. The company behind the Alden wrench is fantastic. I contacted them about the broken wrench, describing the nut removed (not heavily rusted) and that another wrench removed the nut. The designer of the wrench contacted me directly and advised that they are redesigning the wrench to eliminate the thin tang of metal that broke. The stainless steel used for the tool is quite appropriate for the tool, but none the less, this weak point can fail with too much torque. They replaced the wrench and insisted on refunding my money on top of this action, even when I told them that was not necessary. The bottom line is that the current wrench is a good addition to your toolbox. Just be careful to use it where access is an issue and heavy torque is not necessary. Keep an eye on their website. The makers of the wrench advised that they are also working on a combo wrench that will offer a flare nut wrench on one end and an open end wrench on the other end. Cheers, Ron Deaver Cincinnati, OH [demime 0.99d.1 removed an attachment of type application/ms-tnef which had a name of winmail.dat] /// [EMAIL PROTECTED] mailing list /// Send admin requests to [EMAIL PROTECTED] /// or try http://www.team.net/cgi-bin/majorcool /// Archives at http://www.team.net/archive /// Send list postings to [EMAIL PROTECTED] /// Edit your replies! If they include this trailer, they will NOT be sent.
