Bad mechanics

[dhoward]

More of a rant than anything, but here goes....
Bought a 69 t with bad rust, knew what I was getting into on the graft work, no problem. Finished up the interior last night after replacing entire floor pan, suspension pan, rear seat area and cargo shelf. Feeling pretty good and started opening the Pelican boxes with new valve and timing cover gaskets, thermostat seal, front and rear seal, etc.. Just gonna clean up the engine, 'cause I knew from the sludge it had been seeping a little. Pulled the timing covers and low and behold, no carrera tensioners, but at least the little collapser stoppers. Cool. Well, apparently, when installing these little gems, the PO snapped off the top 4 studs on the timing chain housing. Geeze! Anyone who torques a 10mm nut hard enough to twist the stud off is a nitwit. Using anything more than a 1/4" drive to tighen these things is overkill. Arrrrgh!

Okay, sorry for the rant, but now I feel a little better....

[zuffenhausen]

I know what you mean. Seems like most people don't apply proper torque the important things like lug nuts and caliper bolts, then they go crazy on the little non-critical fasteners.

You know, the 3/8" drive ratchet used to be the first thing I'd grab out of my toolbox when wrenching on something, but when I took the 911 engine school at G&W Motorsports I noticed that 90% of the time the instructor, Cole Scrogham, had a 1/4" drive ratchet in hand. Now I'm just a grease monkey, not a gorilla!

-zuff

[Wayne 962]

Don't be too hard - I bet it snapped off when removing the nut. It's nearly impossible to break these studs when tightening a nut - it will just strip out before it breaks off...

-Wayne

[awis321]

Slightly related... 3/8" vs 1/4" drive, is one better suited for certain tasks than other?

[Green 912]

Its not the tool, its the hand it is in and the brain controlling the hand. The best tool for a task is factored by many things.

[dhoward]

Originally posted by Wayne at Pelican Parts
Don't be too hard - I bet it snapped off when removing the nut. It's nearly impossible to break these studs when tightening a nut - it will just strip out before it breaks off...

-Wayne

You're prolly right Wayne, I just got a little hacked off at yet another 'little' thing that's keeping me from getting on the road!!


P.S. If I have don't have a Bosch distributor, am I screwed for tune-up parts?