Had to replace the Head Gasket last Thursday - all was well untill I went for the3rd ride in it. I had forgot to tighten the radiator drain plug........was driving along and all of a sudden the temp guage went sky high, so I pulled over, discovered my error, got another plug in and topped up (after about half an hour) with HOT water. Got to our destination about ten minutes later and the water pump was next to'cark it', possibly due to running dry.

Ok, Watto loaned me a water pump so I could get home, went ok.......Next day, I Drove about 5minutes around the corner to help Rod get Oscar ready for the road, and it sounded like a blown head gasket again....ok, probably from overheating when the rad drain plug fell out and I lost coolant (see above). There was also water coming out of sparkplug hole no.3 when I was doing a compression check.

Pulled the head off today and the head gasket is fine - I will get the head checked for cracks and flatness.

Now, assuming the head is fine, is it possible that my torque wrench is up the creek??? I wouldn't think so as it's a Sidchrome one and only about 5 years old. What do you think.

Cheers all

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Rod
http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v607/Rodney/

I don't trust the clicker type torque wrenches one bit! when I went to the US 2 years ago I bought myself and Kev a bendy bar Craftsman torque wrench. It's very good. Even if it's not 0.5 ft/lb accurate, it's good enough for home applications.

Graham Russell uses a more expensive version of a bendy bar torque wrench. He won't use any other type.

I think Drmini was saying some time ago that there was one Kinchrome clicky wrench that was something stupid like 40 ft/lbs out!!!

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Lillee - 1969 Morris Mini K

I use a big old twenty year old 'clicky' torque wrench and it works fine. I think it's a sidchrome (becasue ALL my dads old tools are). He bought it back in the 80s along with all the other sidchrome tools and they are the only thing's that have lasted. All my cheap chinese spanners I have had to buy to have a crappy set to take to local wreckers (as I may forget a tool there!) Anyways moral is buy good quality stuff, crap may seem cheap and look shiney but it's not worth it in the long run when you gotta replace all the stuff all the time.

OK Rant over.

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1964 Morris 850, 1330 Supercharged - 81.8hp atws.
1975 Leyland Mini S 1100S powered - Nice and reliable.
1977 Leyland Mini LS - Project LS-T

No it wasn't a Kincrome, it was a no-name one I think, Aaron had it.
To get 42 lb/ft he had to set it to 72....
I checked my Kincrome wrench against my new Craftsman and it was pretty good.
Trouble is, with clicky ones they can wear with use, or the spring can get weak if left tightened.

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DrMini- 1970 wasaMatic 1360, Mk1S crank, 86.6HP (ATW) =~125 @ crank, 45 Dellorto (38 chokes), RE282 sprint cam, 1.5 rockers, 11.0:1 C/R.

US$24 bendy bar!!!!

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Lillee - 1969 Morris Mini K

Are there places where you could get a torque wrench checked and calibrated?

I wouldn't mind getting mine checked just for peace of mind.

Rick

I use a clicky and its fine as long as you check it every six months or so and when it gets to inaccurate it becomes a long handled wrench.

I replace about every five years.

Most major capital cities will have a place, try this one in QLD, my last employer sent all of our stuff there for checking. I don't know if they do them cheap if you just want it checked. All of our stuff got calibrated regularly with a report and everything. For those who have a more expensive one they also carry out repairs. Call them and see.

http://www.torquetools.com.au/html/service.asp

Check it yourself - grip the square socket prong (whatever its called) in the vice with the bar horizontal. Hang a known weight 12" from the pivot point and Bob's your proverbial...

Hmm - not feeling so confident about my el-cheapo wrench from Bunnings now.

Probably cost me more than the wrench cost just to get it checked though...

You drop or knock or give your torque wrench a mild to reasonable hit get it checked and calibrated as it will be out.

Steve

Wouldn't you damn well know.....with the hassles last weekend etc, the engineers rang me this morning and gave the bad news......got a cracked head.

Got a spare one in the garage so thats now going in for a crack test, if it's ok, do the flatness check too.

Hopefully Ribena will be back on the road within a week.

Check a couple of torque wrenches in the meantime.

Hooroo

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Rod
http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v607/Rodney/