Why o why Thorsen

[neonnblack]

Did i have to see your wrenches. Now i want the whole set!!!
this style

 

[chris142]

Back in the 80's I had a Chevy with headers on it. I needed a 5/8 wrench to get to a sparkplug as a header tube blocked a plug. Walked into a Chief Auto parts store here in town and bought a Thorsen 5/8 wrench. Made in USA and I still have it.

 

[Jarhead0408]

I have exactly 1 of that older style Thorsen wrench. But I agree, once you get one, you want the rest of them.

 

[neonnblack]

I honestly dont think i have ever wanted a full set of wrenches like i have with this one.

 

[Toolhorder]

Back in the 80's I had a Chevy with headers on it. I needed a 5/8 wrench to get to a sparkplug as a header tube blocked a plug. Walked into a Chief Auto parts store here in town and bought a Thorsen 5/8 wrench. Made in USA and I still have it.

Chiefs, haven't heard that in awhile. Miss that place. Now it's vatozone or the o'riellys.

 

[nine4gmc]

I have exactly one as well, a 12mm that style. Could be yours today!

 

[Conductor562]

I have 1 Thorsen open end wrench and a 1/2" Model 77 ratchet. The 77 is a beast.

 

[chris142]

Chiefs, haven't heard that in awhile. Miss that place. Now it's vatozone or the o'riellys.

They sold some junk parts though! I remember thermostats from there that would stick closed just a few days after putting it in. Rebuilt starters and alternators that failed for no reason, U-Joints that didn't last a month etc.

The phone # for the Chief here was 948-1140. They got bought out or merged with Trak auto, kept the same #. Then Trak merged or got bought out by A-Zone. The # for A-Zone here is still 948-1140

In 1992 we had 2 large Earthquakes the same day here. The Big Bear one struck while I was working at a Goodyear tire place.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1992_Big_Bear_earthquake

I remember watching the Asphalt parking lot move like water and seeing the guys in the Chief across the lot come running out. Every thing on the walls and shelves came down. Chief kept everything on the floor, nothing behind the counter.

They made the local news paper! The store was 4 ft deep in car parts on the floor.

 

[rick carpenter]

My father-in-law's tool box in the truck he lets us use has a couple of old Thorsen wrenches, as do I. They've held up good. I thought I read somewhere that they had gone down in quality. After I saw that Sears sells some Thorsens, I looked around a bit but please don't ask where those comments are. What about Thorsen these days?

 

[lbgradwell]

What about Thorsen these days?

Today's "Thorsen" has absolutely nothing to do with that vintage stuff. Just a whored-out name for cheap imported junk...

 

[Jarhead0408]

Bingo ^^^ I think they moved production to Taiwan. Then combined with a few other companies to be called "Tatools". Quality was way down by that point.

I do like they're old open geared ratchets though!

 

[Zeke]

Today's "Thorsen" has absolutely nothing to do with that vintage stuff. Just a whored-out name for cheap imported junk...

Too bad as I have a lot of older, maybe vintage, Thorsen tools.

 

[neonnblack]

No thanks on t he mm, I'm building a sae set. Have the 3/4 right now

 

[Exceller8]

Of course I had to run over to the bay and order one to see what all the talk was about. Just what I need, another tool to collect!

 

[lbgradwell]

Thorsen made them for Wards too:

 

[neonnblack]

Of course I had to run over to the bay and order one to see what all the talk was about. Just what I need, another tool to collect!

You bought one of em!!!! Nah its cool im gonna buy em slowly anyways.

The 3/4 saved me *** today to. Needed a sparkplug for a weedwaker but forgot to take the plug out at work so i was in the car and the only tool i had with me was the wrench. It was the right size, this is a signal.

 

[Packard V8]

Thorsen must have sold tools to the Air Force at one time. I see a lot of them around here, especially 3/8"dr stuff.

jack vines

 

[SCscoutguy]

Snap On also made wrenches in that exact same style as well.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/snap-on-wre..._Automotive_Tools&hash=item2c6adf9d02&vxp=mtr

 

[neonnblack]

so what your saying is i have an affinity for Montgomery ThorsOn wrenches

 

[nine4gmc]

side by side

 

[senlow]

I've always liked the style of those wrenches. I don't have any Thorsen wrenches. I have several Snap-on wrenches with the same style beam. I like 'em alot.

I also like the old open ratchets that Thorsen used to make.

 

[SO/PW newbie]

I think up here, Grand Auto used to sell those. Chief had Duratest, and Pep Boys had TrueCraft. I liked Chief Auto, they were usually open 24 hours. Some parts were good, others garbage.