Daniel5691

Hi !

Looking at degree torque wrenches, and, sheesh ! The prices are all over the place....

Having a hard time narrowing this tool purchase down a bit... any advice
or shared experiences would be very much appreciated.

thanks for your time and help.

Want to be

Just curious why you need a degree wrench?

upstate bob

using it for stretch bolts?

GregBBRD

With used (or even new) head studs and bolts and with 30+ year old threads in the blocks, it is virtually impossible to angle torque the heads without a torque wrench that spells out how many ft. lbs. you got when you turn the hardware 90 degrees......and visa versa.

Things have gotten so bad that I now use a set of pre-crushed head gaskets to do a "torque inspection" of the block and hardware, so that I don't ruin a good set of head gaskets when I discover that there is a problem (often).

Keep in mind that the workshop manual was exclusively made for warranty purposes at the dealer and was exclusively made using brand new parts. They had not "aged" an engine to know what was going to happen 30+ years later.

And 30+ years later, one needs to be very aware of the differences.

And 30+ years later, the parts that are supplied are often quite different than what was supplied 30+ years ago.

Let me assure you, there's no way a new set of replacement cylinder head studs will accept 3 90 degree turns.....they will stretch so badly that they yield, resulting in a loss of torque.

Brand new studs turned to junk.

There's no way to know this, without a torque wrench like the OP is asking about.....

RFJ

Trust me he knows and so do I

Want to be

I have no success stories using the 90 degree technique.

If it fails, you have no way to verify it. Your done and the gasket kit is scrapped.

Using a torque wrench is the better way.

GregBBRD

The digital torque wrench I have gives you a reading of the torque required to reach the angle that you just turned.

This gives one the ability to know that the fastener that they just ruined is, indeed, junk.

RFJ

What the man said!

Daniel5691

Thanks for the input....
Any suggestions for a reasonably-priced (LOL)
and reasonably precise wrench for the hobbyist on a budget ?

Nobody wants to waste money on crap tools,
but I am truly uneducated in this matter and uncertain of what I am actually paying for with the available options.
I suppose as "a hobbyist on a budget" I would use this tool 2 or 3 times a year max?? (Good grief one hopes no more than that ha ha !!)

I'm leaning toward this Eastwood product,
http://www.eastwood.com/digital-elec...Ea4aApV58P8HAQ
but at $99 wondering if it's too good to be true LOL...

Especially when compared to this GearWrench monster at $569
http://www.gearwrench.com/torque-wre...50-ft-lbs.html

Or the $750 steamer from SnapOn...
https://store.snapon.com/TechAngle-1...i-P823314.aspx

I appreciate the input thus far.
Again THANKS for your time.

Daniel5691

Greg,
I just re-read your post referencing the use of a set of pre-crushed gaskets to check your torques...
Do you just use these initially to run through the assembly procedure and then re-assemble? Are you just using a "prior" set of gaskets or something specific? Thanks in advance !

granprixweiss928

I have this one, and I like it.

I bought it from Home Depot, its actually re-branded as a Husky. they no longer stock this model.

http://atdtools.com/102

For 1/4 drive I have this one.

http://www.homedepot.com/p/Husky-1-4...4DTW/203541509

PaulD_944S2

Look for GearWrench 85074; 1/2" Flex Head Electronic Torque Wrench with Angle 25-250 in/lbs.

http://www.gearwrench.com/torque-wre...50-ft-lbs.html

I don't know if it's in your budget but watch Amazon (sometimes damaged box special $250-300)

and Zoro Tools:
http://www.zoro.com/gearwrench-Elect...g&gclsrc=aw.ds

I have one and it works as stated and is accurate and reliable.
Also, Harbor Freight has torque wrenches that are cheap and fairly accurate, but they are click type and don't do degrees.

BC

I have been gearing up for the snap on. It's a 20 year purchase. So the high price, while tough, is well amortized.

FredR

Interesting discussion topic- but feel as though I am missing something here.

I understand the specified approach, I also understand there is concern that once the technique has been applied to a given head and studs two or three times then things may not bode well the next time it is applied but never really understood why.

Bolts are designed to be "torqued" to a given stress/strain level such that they retain their elasticity and can still operate successfully over a range of operating temperatures. Presumably there is some degree of creep expected and taken into consideration but as I am aware there is no specified "shelf life" on this concept.

This begs the question as to what is to be done when having to tighten a cylinder head on a 30 year old engine. My experience of this type of work is with British motorcycles- some bolt into cast iron barrels and some into alloy barrels, all of mine had alloy heads. I rarely used a torque wrench in those days and often only had cheapo box keys using copper gaskets that I reused after what I believe is known as "solution annealing" - this involved heating the gasket with a blow torch until it glowed reddish and then dump it in a bath of cold water- softens the copper. Never had a head gasket fail on me when doing this. British motorcycle cylinder heads generally had bolts rather than studs so that one could remove the heads with the engine still in the frame [headroom].

Just makes me wonder what is so different in a car engine and what is the real problem here? Earlier 928 motors used studs [I believe] and later models used bolts to permit head removal whilst still in the car[?].

Presumably the OP wants a torque wrench to comply with the WSM specified approach or are we saying that something over and above is required to monitor what is actually going on?

Trust the above relevant to the thread- just interested to learn what specifically to watch out for in future need.

Rgds

Fred

Hilton

I've had the 3/8 Techangle for a few years and its fantastic.. 5-100 ftlbs covers pretty much everything on the car except the crank, rear axle nuts and rear eccentrics.

I'll get the 1/2" 250ftlb model at some point to do head gaskets on my '89.. I bought the gasket kit recently, so its just a matter of time.