Re: Ford Tools
 

[QUOTE=FL&WVMIKE;527103]RYAN .........................
I have three more old-time automobile tools that I can share.
1. ... A pair of universal drain-plug wrenches, to fit any drain-plug. One is a KEN TOOL and the other is a HERBRAND.

Mike, I have a tool similar to your #1 that is adjustable to either fit in a recessed square drain plug or open up to fit over a square plug.

Re: Ford Tools
 

Noting the five-point configuration on the wrench in the picture, it is still common today to see locking mechanisms and valve-actuating devices that are generally not intended to be accessed or operated by "un-authorized" individuals, that are configured in the five-point variety. The early thinking was that the average "Joe" didn't have a five-sided wrench to mess with stuff. The five-point configuration is commonly found in fire-fighting and other "authorized-only" water devices even today, such as the caps and valves on most fire hydrants. You're likely to find that the covers to access shut-off valves down in the ground for individual fire hydrants also have the five-point build configuration. Like indicated above, the one in the enclosed picture was probably manufactured for water meter access. DD

http://api.viglink.com/api/click?for...13520428422961

Re: Ford Tools
 

On genuine Ford tools...
They came in 3 (at least) forms in the early '30's, with similar offerings from Model T days into the flathead epoch.
A deuce came with a pretty good kit as original equipment, enough for general maintenance and minor disasters. The smaller tools came in a little pouch, and it all came with the car under the front or back seat, standard equipment! From hasty memory:
Jack, lug wrench, tire iron, screwdriver, 7/16--5/8 open ends, spark plug/headnut combo, pliers, little grease gun, tire pump. Dealer options if you had an extra 35 cents included a little Ford script box of lightbulbs and a tin of fuses...nobody bought that stuff because it was cheaper at Western auto. (Forgot I had a catalog here...add in an extension for the lug wrench so it could be used as a starting crank. Tire patch kit I think was an extra, an outrageous 15 cents at the dealer...a deuce jack replacement was $1.10, actually a fairly expensive part of the car! Tire gauge was another extra, 95 cents. By the late 1930's there were more service stations, and the tire pump and grease gun became dealer supplied extras except on export cars.)

Next layer of tools was a small army of special service tools, not the dealer tools but consumer level tools equivalent to Western Auto and aftermarket...these are listed in different period groupings in the backs of the parts catalogs. There was a huge collection in the Model T catalog, then a new set emerged and evolved in 1928-32 to service the newer iron. These mostly had Z part numbers like 5Z-2031 and included fixed socket wrenches for this and that , valve grinder suction cup, hub pullers, etc.
They allowed the owner to do more repairs and to turn odd fasteners beyond the range of the car kit. Most things cost well under a dollar in the '32 catalog!
The special wrenches were closely matched by a number of aftermarket suppliers.

Next up the line...K R Wilson, KRW, the official dealer tools. Expensive and super-duper quality tools for everything from popping hubs without sweat to pouring new babbitt for the mains...KRW believed in highly specialized tools with a special puller or driver for each part rather than complicated universal sets. Your average Okie could not have afforded any of that stuff, and of course now all of it is absolutely shockingly valuable. KRW supplied all the dealer stuff from late Model T days until a few years after Henry died.

Re: Ford Tools
 

Whenever I read a maintenance instruction that says "Using Ford Tool No. . . . .," I wonder what it looks like. Ford presumes you have one, so you know what it is.

Often it turns out to look just like a bent screwdriver (because a straight one won't fit in the space), or a regular drum brake adjusting tool with 1/4" shaved off one side, and so on.

My personal connection with the Ford Model A is from before I was born. In the early 1950s, my father worked as a mechanic for a car owner in the Three Quarter Midget Racing Association. One day the driver showed up hung over/drunk when he was scheduled to drive the qualifying run - no qualification run, no entry - so my father was asked to try his hand, just to get around the dirt oval track. It was a cut-down Model A flathead four, with a Miller overhead valve conversion. To save weight, rather than cut the driveshaft, they took out the differential, put a gear reducer/sprocket on the end of the transmission, and put in a chain drive. He rolled the chain-drive car, and the chain came up through the guard. Between his legs. He already had seven children, and was told that was it. I was No. 10 of 11.

Since he was the mechanic, I've always wondered how much of the damage was due to his driving, and how much to the modifications to the frame/drivetrain, which he probably also did, but I suspect his driving mostly, because he was a virtuoso of improvisation - he taught me how to weld by reconstructing the front axle of a 1937 BF Avery tractor, which was a cast piece that had been cracked completely in two, using coat hangers as welding rod. It held intact from 1970, when we put it back together, until he sold the tractor in 2001.

Re: Ford Tools
 

My Grandfather work for Ford from 1910 to 1962. He was a steam fitter at the Rouge. When he passed.....my Dad threw all his tools in the trash. Only if I would have known better.....!

Still have the gold pocket watch they gave him at 50 years though !

Re: Ford Tools
 

During the shoebox era, Manzel became the manufacturer of the Ford-authorized special service tools, replacing K R Wilson.....Bob L