Rep Power: 813

Okay people, I went out last night and got one of those $20 torque wrenches from Sears to check how good my spark plugs and neuspeed bar were tightened.

The neuspeed bar was pretty close, and maybe a little too tight. Spark plugs were almost loose! Not tightened well at all! It showed maybe a few ft/lbs instead of the 14 it says in the manual. You guys absolutely need a torque wrench when installing stuff like plugs, header, and strut bar type stuff. Please go get one, as $20 is nothing compared to repair costs from your car. I hope my engine didn't get damaged, cause it was like that for a while.

 
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granted a $20 torque wrench has a much higher margin of error than a $100 wrench does. even so, its should be the most important tool you have.

 
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I bought my torque wrench this year.. before I just tightened to point where I can't tighten anymore. But now I'm playing it safe, don't want to drive and my wheels comes off..

 
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actually if the $20 wrench hes refurring to is the old beam and pointer style. They tend to be more reliable then the spin the handle to the desired torque type. Granted the newer style is by FAR easier to use!

 
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Yeah, I got the pointer and beam. It's a little bulky but does the job. I had one with the spinning bottom and couldn't figure out how to set it right.

 
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what happens if the strut bar isn't torqued correctly? just wondering

 
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If you go the harbor freight, you can get the spinning bottom for about $20. I got one and its really nice. I think this is easier to use than the other one.

Why couldnt you figure out how to work it? On the spinner, there are #'s 0 2 4 6 8. On the handle there are also #'s 0 10 20 30........ (you get the idea). If you want to torque 86 ft/lbs, you would loosen the bottom to get the spinner loose. Then you would spin the piece to the line (-) where 80 ft/lbs on the 0 mark. Then you would spin to the 8 is even with the center line down the middle of the bar. Now your at 86 ft/lbs.

 
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I got one a few weeks ago very useful tool.

 
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Someone should do a "DIY" on using the two different torque wrenches. I just got my first use of the spinning style when I swapped my motor out. It's not hard to use but I had someone show me which made it much easier.

 
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I have both the point and beam along with the turn style. I tend to like the trun style because that shaft is a lot thicker.

 
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yeah, somebody should make a DIY for torque wrench...it confuses me...

anyway, gearbox, r u planning to sell ur car and get the '04 or '05 civic?
based from ur car's description.....rattles, mpg sucks, etc?

 
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Whats all wrong with your car gear?

 
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If I can get a hold of a digital camera, I can write one. I only have the spin style. I'll see what I can do.

 
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Cool that will be very useful. I think the torque wrench is probably one of the most important tools for any car. I have snapped many bolts without one.

 
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at Home Depo, u can get one Husky made torque wrech for about $50.....10~150 lbs......very good product

u defin. needed one of these for changin ur spark plug, if overtighed, thats going damage ur motor

 
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luckily...replacements are available at ur service from the dealer and majestic...

but they sure are expensive....

the funniest part to play with? i think it's t he plastic clips on the front bumpers...LOL

front bumper removal looks hard....IMO it's actually easy. damn.

 
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Ya, I've done plenty of business with Majestic. They are great! I get most of my replacement bolts from a local hardware store though.

I haven't taken the front bumper off yet. I removed the rear one though. It virtualy snaps into place.

The most challenging thing I've done on this car besides my engine swap (d17 to d17 nothing exciting) was the passesnger front hub. You have to take the complete wheel assessmbly of the car out and beat the hell out of it with a mallet to get it out.

 
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I got a digital torque wrench It rules a lil over kill but still worth the money.

 
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WHere did you get that from?

 
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Whoa, digital. That would be nice, but I don't use mine alot anyway. The pointer style is cool, just a bit bulky.

No, I'm keeping my car forever hopefully. Just has problems like any other car. I'm working on making it faster now that the exterior and interior are pretty good. My mpg is up to 25 now, and I really want it to stay that way. It's better than before, and that hyper boltage system really helped out.

 
Rep Power: 329

The nice part about the pointer style is calibration consist of you flexing/bending the pointer to zero with no torque applied to the wrench. The spinning handle types are much more user friendly thou. Down side of the spinenr is you dont really know when and if its out of calibration. well at least the tool used to check calbration used to cost in the $1000's as i recall? My gray hairs are overwhelming my brain at the momment

 
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I need to get me one of those. I just use my best judgement.

 
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Yeah, i like to have tools for every job and i don't have one. I'm gonna go buy one.