Measuring the gap

[Ricky Joe]

.

 

[d42jeep]

I have quite a few gappers. I’ve been wondering if this one might have been made by Crescent? Never seen another one.
-Don

 

[Oldtuleguy]

Don't know if they made it but c.t. co sure looks like crescent tool company

 

[RTM]

My other thought was Cincinnati Tool Co (Hargrave), but don't see one in their catalog.

 

[d42jeep]

Dug out the gappers today for some pictures.
-Don

 

[nadogail]

That is the biggest collection of Spark Plug Gap Gauges I have seen to date.

 

[wrenchguy]

Caterpillar tractor company. I have some small serial number tags marked C. T. Co. exactly like that.

 

[BlakeTheCarGuy]

I’ve never seen a pen style like one you show in the pictures. That’s pretty cool.

 

[Ricky Joe]

.

 

[wrenchguy]

Here's 1 I purchased from eprey BIN right after posting "Caterpillar Tractor Co.". I believe its cadmium plated pot metal
Thanks Don.

 

[humber2]

The AC gappers have part numbers.

Here are GG8, GG10, GG14, GG15 from L to R

On the far right is CT-410 for Champion.

 

[humber2]

Automaster

 

[humber2]

Herbrand No140

 

[d42jeep]

Here are some GMTK gappers. The Auto-Lite war finish models are pretty hard to find. I’m constantly looking for them and have only found three intact with the magnifying lens.
-Don

 

[humber2]

Bluepoint FB361 in distressed condition, seems to be plated pot metal.

 

[Mintgrun]

Adding a magnifying glass to the one above was brilliant. I'd love to find one of those. I'm starting to carry a magnifying glass in my pocket, to help me read logos while shopping. I should probably carry a flashlight too!

I've got this tiny CROSS COUNTRY gapping tool that doesn't appear in Don's spread above. I'll bet this is one of the smallest ones ever made. OGT recently posted some CROSS COUNTRY tools, but until then, I hadn't heard of the brand. Tom

 

[d42jeep]

I finally located my absolute favorite spark plug gappers. I found the Snap-one one fairly recently but I’ve used the mystery brand one since the ’70s. Great tools!
-Don

 

[four.cycle]

humber2 - who is "Automaster" ? (post #12)

Mintgrun - that "Cross Country" piece is quite the oddity.

d42jeep - Indestro had the patent on that spark plug gapper. I think they were making them for everybody else.

 

[cowades206]

Never seen anything like that Champion tool. Looks pretty neat. All I have to add this thread is a Wards sparkplug tool. No idea how old it is. Unfortunately the .025 is broken off. I still pull it out and use it now and then.

 

[d42jeep]

I think the patent went to someone named Clark. A lot of the different brands part numbers are CF 71 which I think stands for Clark Feather. There are some of that brand currently on eBay.
-Don

 

[four.cycle]

Indestro 224 go-no-go feeler gauge

Indestro 225 master feeler gauge

Indestro 224 and 225 feeler gauge 1971 Indestro catalog No. 55

 

[four.cycle]

Kastar .0015 - .035 feeler gauge

Kastar .018 - .040 wire spark plug gauge

Millers Falls 701 0-1" micrometer

 

[four.cycle]

Very early Kastar blade-type .002 - .025 feeler gauge.

Note maker is "Kastar Specialty Mfg. Co. Inc."

 

[d42jeep]

I picked up this Kastar gapper at an estate sale kind of hoping that it would be one used in a GMTK but it was just a wire gauge gapper and kind of ugly to boot. I threw it in the gapper drawer with the rest.
-Don

 

[four.cycle]

^ I have that same little wire gapper, but mine's got all the little ears broken off that you use to adjust the plugs. Yours is much older than mine - star logo was older.

 

[four.cycle]

Indestro 208 8-blade wire spark plug feeler gauge

Indestro 208C (carded) 8-blade wire spark plug feeler gauge (ca. 1950s-early 1960s)

 

[Ricky Joe]

.

 

[Private Lugnutz]

That is nifty.

 

[d42jeep]

I had been watching this on eBay for a while and the seller finally sent me a reasonable offer. These undamaged GMTK correct dark finish gappers don’t come up very often.
-Don

 

[d42jeep]

This NOS Auto-Lite gapper arrived from an eBay seller yesterday. I mostly bought it for the box.
-Don

 

[four.cycle]

I'm getting down to the last half a dozen (or so) boxes and finally found my thread gauge, as well as a few more feeler gauges that got waylaid. They felt sticky so they got a drop of MMO.

on the plate: L to R:
Einer B. Johnson, Worcester, MA
unmarked thread gauge
Kastar Mfg. Co. Inc., Long Island, NY (prior to their joining up with John Lang and moving to Racine.)
Kastar "Akuret" plug gauge (probably ca. 1960s)

the ones in the box are Indestro and an old broken Kastar.

 

[four.cycle]

found another older Kastar "Akuret" tune-up gauge... probably ca. 1960s

 

[Private Lugnutz]

(probably ca. 1960s)

So the liner in the box is a perfect choice, then.

 

[four.cycle]

Stuart Tool two-blade feeler gauge (.008 and .010)

Stuart / Stuart Tool, Detroit, MI (1208 E. Maple Rd., Troy, MI 48083) / feeler gauge /

 

[four.cycle]

Kastar, Inc., New York, NY no. 21B "Akuret" feeler gauge

(* there's an .002 blade stuck behind the .003 but I didn't want to force it for a picture. it's going to soak for a while. )

 

[Private Lugnutz]

As first reported on the Garage Sale thread, I found this very unusual gap tool at the flea market yesterday. Called a Champion (as in the Spark Plug Company of Toledo, Ohio) "Miloset" Gap Tool. I very much admire the clever and efficient design. There are eight (8) retractable wire type blades, from 015 to 040, inside the aluminum tube. You just select the gap you need with that knurled selector and slide that knob up. Electrode bender on the other end. They advertised the heck out of them in 1948, but all of the examples I found on Google Books were Snippet Only views. I have posted the patent below. Searches on GJ revealed no other examples, and I was about to brag about it being a FOAK, but I decided to do some more difficult due diligence by looking through the thread picture by picture in case anyone posted one without naming it in the text. Sure enough, RJ posted one in his very first post! (Guys, I will make my periodic plea. if you don't name tools in the body of your post they will not register in the search engine and GJ becomes just one big long flat file with pretty pictures, worthless for research.)

 

[d42jeep]

I found this New Britain wire gapper at a garage sale today. I can’t quite make out the part number.
-Don

 

[Private Lugnutz]

Recent find.

 

[Private Lugnutz]

Recent flea finds. Auto-Lite and Dayton Engineering Laboratories Co. - which I might have to give up to Mrs. Lugz, who is from "Delco" (Philly thing).

 

[d42jeep]

This Kastar gapper was included in a Craftsman set I found at a moving sale on Saturday. I checked back and it seems to be a duplicate.
-Don