Tappet Wrenches Only: History, Use, and Examples!

[Private Lugnutz]

No thread would be complete without some Barcalo examples.

In more ways than one. Technically, they were one of only a very few mfgrs making tappet wrenches in this style, with a 15* angle on one end and a 22-1/2* angle on the other, with a different size on each end. Thanks to period literature and some tutorial marketing by Bonney, another mfgr who made tappet wrenches in this style, we know that the 22-1/2* angle was explicitly designed for the one-hand "scissors" manipulation for setting tappet lash. Between that and the large, bold, capitalized branding and compositional marking, they are very distinctive tappet wrenches. Between the two of us, we may one day build a complete virtual set, and maybe one day it will lead to some trades.

 

[Private Lugnutz]

In this post you identify part d as a locknut. It is not. It is the valve keepers. They go into the recess on the valve stem and are held there by spring pressure. E appears to be a single adjuster.

You are probably right. Only early jeeps had separate locknuts. Most jeeps had self-locking tappets with a hex nut at the top. Here is a set. You can see the separated threads and the split-spring like design.



Here is another TM figure that causes a lot of confusion in the jeep community, also depicting a valve construction only for early jeeps, Ford GPW's this time, with Ford part numbers. In this one, you can better see what I was trying to show, but misidentified. 355571-S is the early type locknut. And it shows different keepers (6550), the same compressed clip types that are installed in the engine block photo I posted upthread. Also only early and hardly ever seen. They still identify 6546 as a lock in this diagram as well, but I suppose they mean it more as a type of keeper.

I edited and deleted the unnecessary figure entirely. Thanks.

 

[Private Lugnutz]

Ford did not install adjustable tappets until quite late. Probably 1949 on the flathead V-8,

Very interesting, Jock, and just the kind of contribution I was counting on you for.

 

[Username already in use]

@Ricky Joe I've wondered about those Duro/Indestro combo style tappet wrenches as well. I have one that I picked up along the way. The appearance smacks of wartime. I wonder about the application?
Here’s mine (9/16) #2234 next to a DuroChrome D4.

 

[d42jeep]

I grabbed these awhile ago due to the famously unusual (and still numerically mysterious) compositional markings. I'm not attached to them and would put them in the Don Trade Pile if you're interested in beefing out your collecting in pairs, etc.

Thanks for the offer but although I have ended up with quite a few tappet wrenches, I don’t actively collect them (Barcalo excepted, of course). Most of mine are available for trade.
-Don

 

[Private Lugnutz]

Stahlwille A/F set of 5 pairs from 7/16” thru 7/8” includes 17/32” but not 13/16”

That is drop-dead gorgeous! From the wrenches themselves, with the "dart" or "streamlined" recessed panel and markings, to the design and color-combination of the vinyl pouch. (For those who are wondering, "VENTIL" is valve.)

From the 1955 Catalog this shows the same jaw size at each end and shorter in length.

The top one is stamped 11/16 on each jaw but has been broached using a 17mm forging.

I’m struggling to complete this extensive set.

If I'm following you, this is a second type of Stahlwille tappet wrench you are piecing together one or a few at a time as you find them, shorter, and configured differently (same size on each end), which also makes them more in number, and you suspect that at least some of them show how they were adapted for export with domestic metric forge dies, then stamped with imperial sizing. Interesting.

 

[Private Lugnutz]

Most of mine are available for trade.

"Put my name on" the Lectrolite .05/.05. Maybe some day I will take the time to figure out how many were in that set and try to complete it.

 

[Private Lugnutz]

tappet wrenches for old aircooled boxers (Volkswagen/Porsche) HAZET 2568 variants of 1963-1979

Are they classified as wrenches, though? If they work like the valve adjusters for most other overhead valves, similar to the Herbrand and Duro advertisements I posted in post #1, and the Snap-on and ZIM examples I own that I also posted in post #1, there is a hex opening to hold a locknut, but the adjuster typically has a slot turned with a screwdriver like blade self-contained within the same tool. Right?

I was hoping to keep this thread focused on side-valves and open end tappet wrenches.

Having said that - those are beautiful tools, and if you or anyone else want to sneak one past me every once in awhile, I'm okay with that.

 

[Private Lugnutz]

Here are some wright examples

Wow. Love me some early and rare long SOE's!

I made a tactical decision a few years ago to move my entire Cornwell collection to a new home in a Cornwell chest in Ohio in exchange for some help in acquiring an old wooden stenciled tools chest out of Wright Field, and despite how much I love the chest and how well it serves me in the Lugzsonian, looking at your Wrights makes me miss the Cornwells.

It's so cool how certain manufacturing features are regional, and the hand-forging, the markings, and the hex throat on those tappet wrenches are unmistakably Ahian.

I like how they graduated the OAL's with the milled opening sizes.

What are the model numbers? (I see some, not all.) How many were in a set? Do you have any catalog/old ads info?

 

[Private Lugnutz]

Blue Point

Lovely.

The long single end Blue Point is 21/32” opening...[ ]...I have no idea who used it.

Very interesting.

I am not attached to any of these per se. Any interest, just ask. I am downsizing.

Thanks. I will definitely take some time to go through your pics more thoroughly with my needs (and maybe wants) in mind.

 

[Orangina]

Are they classified as wrenches, though? ..., there is a hex opening to hold a locknut, but the adjuster typically has a slot turned with a screwdriver like blade self-contained within the same tool. Right?

yes.
the screwdriver head could be moved around 1 inch upward and downward and adjust the valve clearance.
The long handle with a wrench at the screwdriver end used to open or close the locknut.

Because over the time the engines and its exhausts/heat-exchanger nearby get bigger and bigger - the tool changed its design.



this is the working place (VW type 4 engine used in Porsche 914 or VW bus):

 

[Private Lugnutz]

As I was saying in the intro, and amply exemplified already, tappet wrenches came in a dizzying array of configurations. I'll dip into a nuance of that here that also circles back to the 2- vs. 3-wrench topic.

Don and I posted our Barcalos upthread, with one end set at the more typical 15* angle and the other at a 22-1/2* angle. Both ends have different milled opening sizes.

Here is my Bonney No. 412 set. Bonney 412 series tappet wrenches also used the 15* x 22-1/2* configuration, but the ends have the same milled opening size. They came in pairs, like some ignition wrenches, affording each size each angle.



When used in tandem on a tappet (15*) and a locknut, the 22-1/2* angle provides a little more "bite" (turning radius) than the 15* end, made more manageable to accomplish with the same hand's thumb. As implied here...



...and shown (again) here...

 

[Private Lugnutz]

the screwdriver head could be moved around 1 inch upward and downward and adjust the valve clearance.
The long handle with a wrench at the screwdriver end open or close the locknut

Thanks. Same principle as the others I was showing as examples of later vintage overhead valve adjusters. Love the amber knobs. But I really want to try to focus on side-valves and open end wrenches here.

 

[Oldtuleguy]

This lone herbrand came in a box of random wrenches

 

[Username already in use]

@Private Lugnutz I'm a bit envious of your Bonney #412 set.
Mine isn't complete and the roll is nowhere as nice as yours.
I've only got two #402s and one #404. Got any spares?



Here's a few extra Bonney tappets. A pair of Zenel #s 3422 and 3424, a Bonnaloy #420, and a chrome vanadium #402

 

[Private Lugnutz]

You guys are all going too fast!

No, seriously, and I wish all y'all pain-in-the-butts would type more and Attach/Insert Image less. (If you want to know why 'the GJ Search function *****' - a claim I disagree with - THAT is part of the reason!) Describing your wrenches by name and model number is searchable; photos are not.

This lone herbrand came in a box of random wrenches

Your Herbrand H-2 9/16 x 1/2 tappet wrench with a 1340 AISI number forged in was made during WWII. If you scroll up to Don's, he is also showing a few wartime examples with 1340 (manganese) and 87xx (nickel-chro-moly) AISI numbers. If the simple block letter branding (as opposed to earlier fancy script logo) wasn't enough, the AISI numbers really do the trick. It would be neat to see an all wartime complete set. They were not issued to a GMTK, and although I have dabbled in tools that belong to other 2nd and 3rd echelon sets, I never had the inclination.

 

[Private Lugnutz]

Got any spares?

I did at one time, but I'm pretty sure they are all gone in earlier trades. I will look, though.

 

[ttpete]

I am not attached to any of these per se. Any interest, just ask. I am downsizing.

Interesting that in the Bonney 33 catalogue that Ford is ignored.

Ford didn't have adjustable tappets until 1954's OHV engines. They had flared ends on the valve stems and 2 piece guides. Clearance was set by grinding the end of the valve stem.

 

[Private Lugnutz]

@Username already in use

...I'm pretty sure they are all gone in earlier trades. I will look, though.

Just checked. Yep, all my 412 series are gone. Sorry.

The only loose orphans I have are wartime 420 series. The 424B (9/16 x 5/8) is classic early war with the Chrome-Vanadium (CV) markings on the shank and an "LT" (1942) date code. The 425A (11/16 x 3/4) also has the (CV) markings on the shank and a very late "?U" (1943) date code. The 424 (5/8 x 11/16) is core wartime with a blank shank and a 1944 date code. I found them awhile ago and haven't lucked into any others since.

 

[Private Lugnutz]

...a previously posted Williams tappet wrench. They didn’t want there to be any confusion about what the wrench was to be used for.

As Leg was saying with respect to Herbrand, because their thin beam required the additional strength through composition the most, tappet wrenches were some of if not Williams' first wrench types to get the alloy treatment, and their really early ones had some funky markings.

I've only ever managed to find two much later examples in the wild.




I'm not sure when the SPECIAL -TAPPET- ALLOY wrenches were made, to be honest. But mine is an A90D. The "A" mimicking the "A" in Alloy.

The one with the odd-looking openings (larger die probably used for larger openings prior to milling...) is a Superrench Chrome-Alloy 1090-A (3/8 x 7/16) and probably just prewar, maybe 1942 at the latest. Satin finish with polished heads.

If you're not keeping that SPECIAL -TAPPET- ALLOY A92F, I'll take it. At least I would have two (2).

 

[four.cycle]

Describing your wrenches by name and model number is searchable; photos are not.

Thank you.

 

[Private Lugnutz]

Ford did not install adjustable tappets until quite late. Probably 1949 on the flathead V-8,

Ford didn't have adjustable tappets until 1954's OHV engines.

I'm going to sit back and watch you two amiably duke this one out.

 

[Provincial]

Here is the page from the 1949-1959 Ford Parts Manual showing the valve tappets. I have circled the 1949-53 part. This may be a service part update, as the manual wasn't printed until 1964. I believe that adjustable tappets came into use by early 1950, because they were first offered as a service part for the N-series tractors then. I'm sure the tractors were not the first to get the updated part.



Here is a screenshot of the bulletin announcing use of the adjustable tappets in the 8N engine. I don't have a date, but the reference to the "Service Parts Release and Change Notice No. 50-2" indicates it was very early in 1950.

 

[Oldtuleguy]

Some bluepoints

 

[Oldtuleguy]

Billings, vlchek

 

[Private Lugnutz]

Billings' approach to the tappet wrench was unique. Not just unusual, but literally unique. No other mfgr that I know of made them in that 22-1/2* angle x 22-1/2* angle style, and it seems almost too obvious to deduce that it was derived from their approach to textile and loom wrenches, which used the same orientations.

I have one. It's a 3002 with ends marked "1/4 NUT" (U.S.S.) "5/16 CAP" (Hex Cap) "5/16 S.A.E." and "1/4 CAP 1/4 S.A.E", which translates to 7/16" x 1/2" milled openings. Made as early as 1926 but no earlier. I have seen others on AA and elsewhere - and yours - but I have never seen another one in the wild yet.

What I have NOT seen another specimen of - on AA, or anywhere else - is the Billings "S" wrench No. BA-32 (7/8 x 7/8). They don't appear in the 1934 or 1948 catalogs, either. Billings made all kinds of "S" wrenches (Car, Light Duty, etc), so that was probably a natural, too, but also unique as far as I know.

 

[Username already in use]

A pair of wartime Armstrong ‘ HI TENSILE’ tappets. #422 (1/2&9/16) and #424 (5/8&11/16)

 

[Private Lugnutz]

Wow. Those are shhhhhweeeet.

 

[Private Lugnutz]

What I have NOT seen another specimen of - on AA, or anywhere else - is the Billings "S" wrench No. BA-32 (7/8 x 7/8).

There is the possibility it could be for Brake Adjustments. And not just because of the potentially phonetic part number prefix. That is one of a couple sizes that other mfgrs explicitly advertised the dual use of some of their tappet wrenches.

As a Billings guy, whose stuff includes a fair share of "S" wrenches...



...it's just so strange to see an "S" wrench with large milled openings that is so thin and low-profile.

 

[Username already in use]

The totality of my Plomb tappets. Works to about 1&3/4 wrenches. I guess someone wanted an SOE tappet What a shame.
Plomb #3426 (9/16&1/2) and #3435 (3/4&11/16)

 

[leg17]

E. Edelmann Tappet Wrench Set

This set appears to be pre-1920, maybe 1910-1916. Stamped construction and case hardened.

The thinner tappet wrenches for the relatively ‘lighter’ automotive market seemed conducive to economical stamping rather than all that is involved in the forging process.

The materials readily available were mostly some grade of carbon steel that had the ability to be hardened, or case hardened like these. Tools could be made harder with carbon, but not necessarily stronger. That’s why the alloys were explored. Photo shows examples of failed wrenches that either broke or cracked at the stress risers in the corners. Like today’s cheap ignition wrenches, these stampings are OK if they are not under too much stress.

Still in business today as Plews & Edelmann.

 

[leg17]

Williams Tappet Wrenches

Working on a complete set of each of the usual DOE tappet wrenches. Just need a couple more.

Shown also are the five long SOE tappet wrenches offered.

This logo is my favorite era that spanned from the 1960’s to 1990’s approximately. These were the wrench of choice in one of the plants that I really enjoyed working at. (Sorry English majors.)

 

[leg17]

Cornwell Tappet Wrenches.

Shown is an assortment of early Cornwell tappet wrenches marked either ‘CORNWELL-‘ or ‘CORNWELL-A’. That era of Cornwell uses the early-to-mid 1920’s bolt sizes rather than the wrench opening sizes.

 

[Private Lugnutz]

E. Edelmann

That is truly drool-worthy, sir! I may be a little biased. The E. Edelman flaring tool in my flaring tool collection is far and away my fave. I think I might could have a couple few wrenches from a little auto kit set, but I've never even seen the tappets before.

That era of Cornwell...

Nice!

 

[Username already in use]

Cornwell Tappet Wrenches.

I’ve got the perfect place to keep those Cornwell tappets…
Cornwell toolbox

 

[four.cycle]

RE: leg17's E. Edelmann & Co. tappet wrench set -
I have to concur with Private Lugnutz - that is indeed a rare find. I am going to take the liberty of posting a couple early catalog snips here - one of which appears to pre-date your No. 3 set.

 

[Private Lugnutz]

The totality of my Plomb tappets. Works to about 1&3/4 wrenches...[ ]....Plomb #3426 (9/16&1/2)

You have the right good humor about it though!

(Dear Abby, How long should a person wait to post a complete set of tappet wrenches in a brand that someone else just posted 1 and 3/4 wrenches before it is not seen as rude oneupsmanship?
"Genteel Jim" in Jersey)

 

[leg17]

RE: leg17's E. Edelmann & Co. tappet wrench set -
I have to concur with Private Lugnutz - that is indeed a rare find. I am going to take the liberty of posting a couple early catalog snips here - one of which appears to pre-date your No. 3 set.

Thanks for this post. Those old catalog pages will help me greatly. I have a pile of Edelmann that I need to sort out. Thanks again.

 

[leg17]

I’ve got the perfect place to keep those Cornwell tappets…
Cornwell toolbox

Yup that would be a perfect place. Very cool.

 

[Oldtuleguy]

Here's a cornwell