Tappet Wrenches Only: History, Use, and Examples!

[Username already in use]

I also found a Bluepoint tappet over the weekend. A first for me.
Love those SOE tappet wrenches.
This one is a #CT 14 and measures 12” in length. Looks like the date code is a 7. Seems thick for a tappet wrench.

 

[Ricky Joe]

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[Private Lugnutz]

This one is a #CT 14 and measures 12” in length. Looks like the date code is a 7. Seems thick for a tappet wrench.

I think that is a brake adjuster wrench for Bendix brakes.

I just spent a half hour nerding out on this with the old model-number-linked digital catalog system on collectingsnapon.com (yay!).

It's a tappet wrench, made between 1939 and 1955 for "late" Chrysler and DeSoto. They also made a CT-12 with a 3/8" opening for 1937 Chrysler and DeSoto, and an LT-17 with a 17/32" opening for Willys and International.

These SOE "Special Tappet Wrenches" were not always listed with the SOE "Long Tappet Wrenches" (LT-16, -18, and -20) on the tappet wrench page in every catalog in that timeframe, but sometimes in the back with miscellaneous special tools.

Not sure why they thought they had to make the CT-'s thicker than the LT-'s (Long Tappets) or the DOE ST's (Supreme Tappets) - which were advertised as "slenderized to the nth degree", but it was deliberate.

And if they were going to do that, also not sure why they gave them a different model numbering scheme from the other SOE "Heavy Duty Tappet Wrenches", which also had thicker shanks and heads and had LTX ('Long Tappet Xtra heavy duty', if I had to guess) series numbers through 1945 and XL- (Xtra Long?) series numbers after that. (@MadeinCanada posted a snippet on page 6, post #238.)

 

[Private Lugnutz]

While I was poking around in the Snap-on cats I couldn't help but notice this tool, also made between 1939 and 1955.



Like many special tools, there is zero doubt their inspiration came from shop-made "third hand" tools. Check out another "helper" idea (see Pic 2) I found described and illustrated in a 1915 issue of the American Machinist.

 

[humber2]

TA16 isn’t identified on the tool.

I’ll have to be on the lookout for one with the plunger not stuck or attempt to unstick mine.

 

[Private Lugnutz]

Very cool!!

 

[Ricky Joe]

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[Ricky Joe]

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[leg17]

Nice one. You and Unaiu are starting to make me wonder who has the longest one on the thread. .....

Size matters.
Williams single end. 15" OAL.
3/8 -- A100C
7/16 -- A100
1/2 -- A100A
9/16 -- A100B
5/8 -- A101

 

[RTM]

Picked up a Proto 3426 Tappet wrench the other week. This won't win the longest at 9-3/4" but it fits into the household.





I don't need it, don't ever plan to adjust tappets, so if someone can use it to complete a set, gimme a holler, it can go cheap.


This guy did arrive with a Herbrand 261 brake eccentric wrench, 1/4 & 3/8" w long skinny openings

 

[Mintgrun]

Do you suppose this is a tappet wrench?





I didn't find much about Continental wrenches when using the search function, or Googling. They sure used a funny script for their logo, with crooked letters that vary in size.





Tom

Edit-- the size is 3/4"

 

[Private Lugnutz]

That is the Continental Motors Corporation logo or trademark. Whether it's a tappet wrench or some other extra long reach SOE wrench for a different purpose, I don't know. But that is without a doubt a Continental Motors Corp wrench, despite the quirky obviously hand-placed figures in the die. Nice find. And it is a FOAK on this thread.

EDIT:

 

[four.cycle]

FOAK on this thread.

First time I've seen the name where it concerned a tool.

 

[Mintgrun]

A wrench like mine sold on ePay recently and it can be seen in the sold listings, but no other google images came up.

There's another Continental wrench for sale on that site, which is similar to mine, aside from the size and shape. That one is not a tappet wrench!



I generally think of tappet wrenches as thin, but have another single-ender that is fat and it's listed as a tappet wrench in a catalog I found online.

All I've done to this wrench is wash it with a toothbrush and soapy water. Part of me wants to dangle it in the electrolysis bucket and then scrub it CLEAN with a wire brush. I'll leave it as is, for now... I'm wondering if the traces of black paint could be original. I have trouble deciding where to draw the line when cleaning stuff. I've been cleaning a little less thoroughly lately, to stay on the safe side.

Tom

 

[Private Lugnutz]

Hmm. With the implied variety of the two very different wrenches, both of them what I would put in the "Special" category, both of them with the same stock number except for the letter suffix, I'm thinking they were a kit for an engine application. A tractor or a military vehicle, etc. The list of things that had a Continental engine are ginormous.

 

[Ricky Joe]

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[snapmom]

A Blue Point Tappet wrench for the 1930 Oakland "8" models. BP model number S8267. openings 13/32 x 1/2.
A special short handled wrench designed for valve tappet adjusting work on the 1930 Oakland "8". Equipped with a chain and ring for looping around user's arm or attaching to the radiator rod, so that if the wrench slips out of the user's hand and drops into the crankcase it can be easily recovered.

 

[Private Lugnutz]

Well ain't that itty bitty thing just the cat's meow! Wow!

 

[d42jeep]

I picked up this tappet wrench at an estate sale due to the similarity to the Barcalo tappet wrench layout but I’m starting to doubt the Barcalo connection.
-Don

 

[MisterEd]

Seems like another one shows up every now and then. But, where did these come from?

And here's one more for your viewing pleasure. Punch side up.

 

[Ricky Joe]

I just spent a half hour nerding out on this with the old model-number-linked digital catalog system on collectingsnapon.com (yay!).

It's a tappet wrench, made between 1939 and 1955 for "late" Chrysler and DeSoto. They also made a CT-12 with a 3/8" opening for 1937 Chrysler and DeSoto, and an LT-17 with a 17/32" opening for Willys and International.

These SOE "Special Tappet Wrenches" were not always listed with the SOE "Long Tappet Wrenches" (LT-16, -18, and -20) on the tappet wrench page in every catalog in that timeframe, but sometimes in the back with miscellaneous special tools.

Not sure why they thought they had to make the CT-'s thicker than the LT-'s (Long Tappets) or the DOE ST's (Supreme Tappets) - which were advertised as "slenderized to the nth degree", but it was deliberate.

And if they were going to do that, also not sure why they gave them a different model numbering scheme from the other SOE "Heavy Duty Tappet Wrenches", which also had thicker shanks and heads and had LTX ('Long Tappet Xtra heavy duty', if I had to guess) series numbers through 1945 and XL- (Xtra Long?) series numbers after that. (@MadeinCanada posted a snippet on page 6, post #238.)

I reviewed this thread and thought I’d show this wrench, a 3/8” opening on a Blue Points Chicago wrench, S8752. It also has the thick head.

 

[S-K Tool Fanatic!]

I have this Vlchek Scaterpillar tappet wrench I read post #95 & #99, pretty interesting.
I have this Fairmount wrench that might be a tappet wrench but I’m not sure, so I would love to know more about it. It’s a shame someone massacred one end of it.

-Tommy

 

[outofbounds]

A few recent “as found” examples in pretty good shape. Need only a good cleaning and a new home.

 

[leg17]

...... Need ..... a new home.

As in... for sale?

 

[outofbounds]

As in... for sale?

Well 2 of them anyway. 2 have already been claimed. The Duro Chrome and Wright are still available

 

[Private Lugnutz]

I was hoping the asymmetric Chro-Moly Barcalo I found this morning at the flea wasn't a dupe, and it's not. I already have one with 1/2" x 17/32" openings, but fortunately, they are on the opposite angles! So now I have one pair and an orphan. A long way to go. (Don has two pair and an orphan. See post #24 on page 1.)

 

[LesserSon]

Picked up two Williams Tappet Wrenches this morning, mostly because I was looking through this thread last night. They seem older than some others posted.

 

[Private Lugnutz]

Cool find, LS! Pre-Superrench for sure. What's on the flip side? Oval logo?

 

[LesserSon]

Here are better pics.

 

[RTM]

Another single wrench grab here from a local GS, an Armaloy Armstrong Made in USA 1090-A wrench 3/8" x 7/16". Again, if anyone needs it, holler.

Armstrong Tools : Catalog 700-A : Armstrong Brothers Tool Co. : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive

158 p., illus., 27.0 cm, trade catalog

archive.org

 

[Private Lugnutz]

Last year @Mintgrun found a tappet wrench marked "Continental 25254 - D", about which I said...

...that is without a doubt a Continental Motors Corp wrench, despite the quirky obviously hand-placed figures in the die. Nice find. And it is a FOAK on this thread.

This morning I found a second!



Model number "25254C 2 - 0" with a "T2" on the jaw face.

 

[matthew]

I have something that looks like one of those…

(It has character - the previous owner had not stored it properly)

 

[Jgaz]

I have these three that I bought years ago from someone on this site IIRC.

Side one


Side two

 

[Private Lugnutz]

I love the two-tone satin-polish finish on those Super era wrenches.

 

[outofbounds]

Tripped over these single end tappet wrenches this weekend. Bonney L402, Bonney 1601A and what I presume to be a Blue Point XL189 from 1948. Sadly looks like the makers mark was ground off for some reason.

 

[ararat]

These Herbrand Ultra tappet wrenches are from the late 30's early 40's and feature the "self-locating thin jaws" according to the 1937 catalog. They made T-1 through T-5, I'm missing T-3. Supposedly easier to use on tappet nuts that are not visible while adjusting.

 

[d42jeep]

I found this Vlchek Chrome Molybdenum tappet wrench on Saturday. It’s seen quite a bit of use.
-Don

 

[Stubby1743]

Here are two British military surplus tappet spanners/wrenches. One by Snail Brand and the other by Athol. The Snail Brand is crudely finished and dated 1953. The Athol 5/8 x 9/16 is better made with the faces of the jaws nicely ground and dated 1954. Both are 9 1/2" long.

I got both spanners in a job lot at auction 30+ years ago, both never having been used.

 

[Private Lugnutz]

I love the style and looks of the Snail Brand with that thin streamlined panel the length of the shank, the MOD crowfoot, and the perpendicular size markings.

 

[Ricky Joe]

Here is a set of Craftsman tappet wrenches in a holder. Second picture is where the logo was.