Anyone made their own wrench for the CIS intake manifold nuts?
 

Found a combination of wrenches that will remove these on the nuts closest to the centerline of the engine on cylinders 2 and 5, but its a bear -- especially on 5. (This is on a 930/09 engine, '80 RoW SC; engine is out of the car).

Tried to find a half moon wrench at Sears, Amazon, etc., that would do this, without much luck, and would like to have a wrench that actually (sort of) fits, and does the job reasonably well! So I was thinking of going to AutoZone, buying the cheapest box end they have, and bending it to shape.

Anyone done this, and have any tips? I was thinking of heating it with an oxy-acetylene torch and letting it air cool -- thinking that this would soften it; then bending to roughly the radius of the intake pipe plus a little more; then reheating it and quenching it in water to re-harden.

Don't see why, with all the other specialized tools one has to have for doing a rebuild, we (I) can't have one for this. Any tips appreciated, such as how hot I should probably heat it (how to roughly judge the temperature by the color), any tricks to use in quenching, etc. Or, is there already a tool for this, that I missed? Searched for half moon wrenches etc. but couldn't find anything. Thanks in advance...

- Bart

I bought a set of Sears metric sockets with a universal joint built-in. Worked just fine.

Yeah I tried using a universal joint but the angles made it almost impossible. Maybe our setups are a bit different? In any case, I thought, I'm going to all this trouble -- voluntarily, of course! -- to do a rebuild, and enjoying it so far -- so wouldn't it be nice to have a tool for this PITA operation that was actually fit for this use? What's nicer than to have a wrench that's exactly right for what you need it for, or that you can put together with other things to make the assembly just right for the purpose? So I thought, maybe other people have tried making their own. If not, I'll just go ahead and give it a shot.

I do think that, with all the money we all spend on wrenches, and the manufacturers spend on making them, it's surprising how undiversified they are -- basically straight, with some variation in length and depth and twist -- and how often you come up against situations where the available wrenches don't really work that well, and something with a different shape would work much better. They seem to put their money into developing different kinds of ratchet mechanisms, while what I'd like is to be able to go into a store and order wrenches in different shapes!

Anyway, enough ranting. Anybody who's done this and feels like talking about it, pls ping...

- B

The Sears set I bought had a really short universal action to it. I had tried a universal attachment on my 3/8" drive and it was too long to work on the CIS intake nuts. The much shorter set worked quite well. I've used that set in other locations and found it quite nice to work with.

All the intake nuts are suposed to be 12 mm.
I have a 1/4 12 inch extension and a swivel 12mm 1/4 inch drive and never have a problem but the secret is the correct nut in place
Bruce

For some reason I still think wrenches should come in a wider assortment of shapes and sizes than they do...grumble, grumble, grumble...anyway, heated up and then bent a spare 9/16" (14mm) box end into kind of an upside-down U shape, so it'll fit a 3/8" drive socket cap (http://www.sears.com/shc/s/search_10153_12605?keyword=socket+cap) which means I can use it not just to drive the 12 mm intake manifold nuts, but any size nut, should the need arise. Then reheated and quenched it. Not sure if it's as rigid as it was before I started, but it certainly won't bend under hand pressure, and seems to be perfectly suitable. Works on the nut on #5 cylinder the best kind. Kinda ugly now, though; all the heating changed the pretty shiny surface into a grey mottled one...

- Bart

NO Wrenches worked for me...

+ 1 on the Sears integrated universal socket. I have two sets, one 1/4 drive and the other 3/8ths drive. For the really tight nuts I had to use the 1/4 drive w/ extensions. It was a pain in the az getting it off... even more of a pain in the az getting it back on! Good luck!

-Michael

A 1/4" drive with universal joint an extension is the key. I like the type of extensions that has a small amount of freedom in the sockets.

now Bart... lets not make this a research project... just get the job done!! ;-)
Glad to see you back at it. I hope the family situation is working out for you all.
Ping me when you get some time.
Bob

It must be cold up there in Boston shrinking up the manifold and all. For me a 3/8 universal (craftsman) on a cheapo floppy extension has always done it down here in the near South land!

S+K universal sockets......Originally came in the S+K Super Set but are available individually. They are not a socket with the universal extension added on but rather a complete flexible socket. These are VERY short and have zero issues fitting down there to get at all the hardware.

Thanks for the suggestions. Will try the socket head, although Sears has a whole bunch of S+Ks with different item and manufacturer numbers, all listed as 10mm, so I've emailed asking them to clarify, pretty sure they're actually all different sizes...yeah it is cold up here, half the year you "can't" drive your Porsche but since I like living here and don't want to move I figure the only option is to build a p-car for winter use, SC/RS style, raised up rather than lowered, snarly, flying through the snowdrifts on the way to the ski hill; anyone else interested in this, pls let me know...and Hi Bob! Things going well here, seen you looking for answers here lately too. Will stay in touch.

- Bart