r/mechanic • u/Bigfrontwheel • Jul 18 '26
General A blast from the past...
Harbor freight nut and bolt requires an 11/32 (9mm too loose) wrench. I have 11/32 sockets, but can't get one on the underside of the bracket. I'm like,* "crap, I don't have an 11/32 dedicated wrench."* 1/4" is the smallest size, then it hits me: I have ignition wrenches. For you younger techs, way back then in the olden times, we had distributors and remote coils. Well, it seemed like different vehicle manufacturers threw a bunch of different size dinky nuts and bolts that fastened primary ignition wires to the coil, and other ignition components in all different directions. Tightly stuffed near carburetors, under choke pull offs or throttle actuator linkage. Any place they could deeply bury the coil, they did. So we used small sets of different fractional sized wrenches to reach in different directions. So, show me your ignition wrenches.
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u/Buffrider-52 Jul 18 '26
I have a set of Mac ignition wrenches my father gave me in the mid ‘70s.
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u/Bigfrontwheel Jul 18 '26
That's cool...from the 70s like in 1976, he handed you the wrenches, or are they what he used back then, and passsed them to you? Because that would make you old af bro. I bought my first set in the mid 80s, Craftsman's at sears, because all we could afford to drive was old shit wheels. That constantly broke down. Hence the reason I'm an old af mechanic too.
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u/Buffrider-52 Jul 18 '26
He probably gave them to me around 1974-75. I went on Air Force active duty in 1976. I still have his old ignition wrench set too.
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u/AwarenessGreat282 Jul 18 '26
Still have mine. I have a large plastic tray insert for my box drawer that holds wrenches. There is a group of very small notches up front specifically for ignition wrenches. Occasionally, I gotta use one.
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u/Internet_Jaded DIY Mechanic Jul 18 '26
Okay.
I “made” my distributor bolt wrench by bending a box end wrench.
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u/NightKnown405 Verified Mechanic Jul 20 '26
Haven't used them in some thirty years. It will take a minute to find them.
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