Unknown wrenches. Identify?

natejohn · Dec 18, 2017

I picked up a bunch of stuff when I went to buy a Snap On angle wrench set from a fellow. He was trying to get rid of a ton of stuff so I ended up taking most of it off his hands.

I'm hoping someone can help me figure out what this set is? I can't seem to find any markings on the wrenches. They seem to be some sort of tune up set or something, but for what I can't say.

Rileysan · Dec 18, 2017

natejohn said:
I picked up a bunch of stuff when I went to buy a Snap On angle wrench set from a fellow. He was trying to get rid of a ton of stuff so I ended up taking most of it off his hands.

I'm hoping someone can help me figure out what this set is? I can't seem to find any markings on the wrenches. They seem to be some sort of tune up set or something, but for what I can't say.

Your imgur photos don't come through. Please post directly to the site using the attach icon on the tool bar.

Brian

natejohn · Dec 18, 2017

Whoops, thank you.

wrenchguy · Dec 18, 2017

a variety of magneto wrenches, surprised none r marked.

Mintgrun · Dec 18, 2017

I have seen similar wrenches (have one) with the fold out feeler gauges.
They are used to set the gap for spark plugs and ignition points.
My guess that some of these are for ignition systems/distributors.

The one that really got my attention is the long cylindrical handled one, with the single slot out at the end. I suspect it may be a tool for bending the advance weight tabs/spring attachment tabs for the centrifugal advance mechanism inside the distributor. I have never seen such a tool, but feel like this must have been how it was done.

I have tinkered around with distributors for early 70's BMW engines and made a similar tool, to be able to reach in through the port in the side of the distributor, to make bends/adjustments without having to disassemble the unit. (then test the results on an old Sun Distributor machine)
Tom

four.cycle · Dec 18, 2017

natejohn said:
I can't seem to find any markings on the wrenches.

Nothing? No stars, no symbols, no letters, no names?

Generally those were stamped with the type of magneto they fit, i.e., "Eismann" or "Bosch" or "Remy" or "Splitdorf" or "Connecticut" or.....

Unfortunately very few of them that I have seen listed on Ebay have any markings other than the types of magnetos they fit, so who made them is anybody's guess.

The only ones I can identify with any certainty are those made by Gilfillan Bros., and they have a stylized "GB" stamped on them, but not all of the wrenches in a Gilfillan set will be stamped. (I have two sets, and only one wrench in each set is stamped with their logo.)

Take another look and see if you can discern any markings on them.

If not, Private_Lugnutz is looking for one of those "leatherette" roll-up pouches.

d42jeep · Dec 18, 2017

Here are some that have come my way. They are mostly Magneto wrenches.
-Don

Gmonkee · Dec 19, 2017

Snap magnetos came before the distributer with points, they were each distinct in how to adjust them if all basically the same.

I have a complete no name set for all the popular styles myself. Not oddly the spark plug gapper tool I have one in the kit and two found as singles all with different names on the same exact tool.
I had read Indestro made some of the lower priced kits but never was sure which they were.

four.cycle · Dec 19, 2017

Don, I think that bottom one in your photo is a fishing reel wrench. I won't put money on it, though...

Gmonkee, Indestro made a 3-piece set that looked like the one third up from the bottom in Don's photo just above:

Indestro 137 3-pc Ignition wrench set - 1935 Indestro catalog pp 42.jpg

The did make a few "Ignition wrench sets" but it's impossible to tell what they looked like from the catalog illustrations:

Indestro 130A 12-pc and AX8 8-pc ignition wrench set - 1935 Indestro catalog pp 42.jpg

Here's the Gilfillan sets I have. These are the photo images from the Ebay ads. I never got around to photographing them myself:

Gilfillan Bros. ignition-magneto wrench set (Ebay 252745262665).jpg

Gilfillan Bros. ignition-magneto wrench set (Ebay 322407416881 01).jpg

Gilfillan Bros. ignition-magneto wrench set (Ebay 322407416881 02).jpg

==

There's a set currently available. Has some paint splatters on the pouch. Looks kind of like somebody put them on a wire wheel to me. He's on the high end price-wise. I told him to leave the paint alone and let the buyer deal with it:

https://www.ebay.com/itm/VTG-8-PC-C...GE-SPECIALTY-TOOL-AUTO-ACCESSORY/202148833592

wrenchguy · Dec 19, 2017

neat stuff guys! b4 my big d sale in 06 i had maybe 40 different mag/ign wrenches. since then i haven't gone back collecting them but 1 i thought was the neatest of all.

its a liberty v12 distributor wrench.

Gmonkee · Dec 19, 2017

Of the catalog pages I have the 12pc set and the handy ignition wrench set, original screw and all.
A few odd ducks and singles too.

Looks like SoCal was a hotspot to find Indestro ignition wrench sets. I did have to re-stitch the roll a bit to save it but complete and original is cool.

four.cycle · Dec 19, 2017

wrenchguy, there was one of those "Liberty" "Delco" wrenches like that listed on Ebay a week or so back, but it had what appeared to be the Williams logo forged into the shank where that round "button" is located on yours.
I couldn't make heads or tails of it.
What's the story on the "Liberty" ?? The aircraft engine?

wrenchguy · Dec 19, 2017

Yes, U.S. designed ww1 watercooled aircraft engine. Famously used after the war as a race engine for anything they could shoehorn it in! As for the williams logo 1 you mention, i never seen 1 till tonite and seeing it on google images. Is that a williams logo with diamond? The button u mention is a rivet head holding the gap thickness gauge to it. These are cast, (maybe forged) steel, not pressed. They don't bring to much on ebay i see… i guess not to many wrench collectors looking for "liberty" wrenches.

heres a neat video of a liberty starting and running. He's advancing and retarding ignition spark with his left hand.

four.cycle · Dec 19, 2017

wrenchguy said:
Is that a williams logo with diamond?

I couldn't figure whether it was Williams or Mossberg, but I lean toward Williams with that logo, from the "Logos and Trademarks" illustrations at Alloy-Artifacts.org.

Only reason it clicked for me is because there's a Liberty V12 (or what remains of it) at a monument site in Southern California.

https://www.sandiegoreader.com/news/2010/feb/17/arroyo-seco-monument-loop/#

wrenchguy · Dec 19, 2017

four.cycle said:
I couldn't figure whether it was Williams or Mossberg, but I lean toward Williams with that logo, from the "Logos and Trademarks" illustrations at Alloy-Artifacts.org.

Only reason it clicked for me is because there's a Liberty V12 (or what remains of it) at a monument site in Southern California.

https://www.sandiegoreader.com/news/2010/feb/17/arroyo-seco-monument-loop/#

thanks for the read. RIP Aviators Marshall and Webber.

Private Lugnutz · Dec 21, 2017

I've always found these two figures, extracted from two completely different tool mfgr's catalogs, the first (see Thumbnail 1) from a c. 1930's Bonney, and the second (see Thumbnail 2) from a c. 1940's New Britain, to be very instructive. When looked at together, they tell the story of the evolution of ignition wrench and set production. From sets of wrenches with individualized and specialized shapes and service openings tailored to specific brand ignition systems (magdynos, generators, etc), to standardized wrenches with standardized shapes (miniature DOE), standardized angles (15* x 60*, sometimes 75*)and openings (15/64" through 1/2", with each size getting each angle) covering all systems.

four.cycle · Dec 21, 2017

^ very interesting!
so the "modern" designed ignition wrenches evolved from the early "one-specific-wrench-for-each-brand-of-magneto", then?
makes perfect sense.

laser3kw · Dec 21, 2017

I always remind myself, when I see old ads with prices, that $1.00 for a tool may have been a whole days earnings (more or less) at the time.

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