The Triumph Dolomite Club - Discussion Forum

What spanners fit - I had a low profile, thin wall, 1/4 drive, snap-on socket that did, but it's wandered off somewhere. I wondered if one of the crescent/c/s spanners would fit? Pics or links to sim would help.

Graham

I just use an extra short combination spanner and struggle a bit!

Steve

Carledo wrote: ↑Sat Jun 01, 2019 9:47 pm I just use an extra short combination spanner and struggle a bit!

Steve

Can you get the ring end on, or just the open end?

Graham

GrahamFountain wrote: ↑Sun Jun 02, 2019 8:46 pm

Carledo wrote: ↑Sat Jun 01, 2019 9:47 pm I just use an extra short combination spanner and struggle a bit!

Steve

Can you get the ring end on, or just the open end?

Graham

It depends on the exact position of the distributor, mostly I can get the ring end on, which is preferable, but sometimes the dizzy is in exactly the wrong place and it's not possible! Obviously I deal with more than one Sprint and dizzy position varies from car to car with virtually none being "as original" now!

Steve

My solution to this was to turn down a 1/4in drive 7\16 in A.F. socket to fit.
The overall length was turned down to just fit over the hex bolt, and the length was turned so that the 1/4 drive section fits under the distributor with a 1/4in drive wobble drive socket. If the bolt is initially released so that this modified socket doesn't have the full bolt torque it works well.
I did 4 of these for TDC spares some years ago. They may still have some.
HTH.
Tony.

You need a bent 7/16" ring spanner. Our American cousins call it a distributor wrench. I was lucky enough to find one on Ebay, its the real Triumph special tool a Snap On S349

I replaced the bolts with Allan head machine screws. A ball end Allen wrench
works very well.
Doug

dursley92 wrote: ↑Mon Jun 03, 2019 12:53 am You need a bent 7/16" ring spanner. Our American cousins call it a distributor wrench. I was lucky enough to find one on Ebay, its the real Triumph special tool a Snap On S349

I have one of these as well, unfortunately, mine is a 1/2" AF version, so no good for a Sprint! And I haven't seen my Snap On rep since Christmas!

I guess I have a professional's disdain for fancy gadgets as i've never been so stuck that I needed a special tool to do this, though there's no doubt it would make life a bit easier, I don't do it often enough for it to be an issue, with the increasing use of EI, I do it even less!

Steve

Carledo wrote: ↑Sun Jun 02, 2019 9:07 pm

GrahamFountain wrote: ↑Sun Jun 02, 2019 8:46 pm

Carledo wrote: ↑Sat Jun 01, 2019 9:47 pm I just use an extra short combination spanner and struggle a bit!

Steve

Can you get the ring end on, or just the open end?

Graham

It depends on the exact position of the distributor, mostly I can get the ring end on, which is preferable, but sometimes the dizzy is in exactly the wrong place and it's not possible! Obviously I deal with more than one Sprint and dizzy position varies from car to car with virtually none being "as original" now!

Steve

Are you getting to it from the front or rear of the engine? What do you reckon to the chance of getting a C or S shaped ring spanner in there? Something like one of these:
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Tool-Hub-C-S ... VwjA0H0asQ

Looking there at the 11mm one. A bit cheaper than the distibutor spanners from the US. There are 7/16ths c spanners from Australia on eBay, but 11mm is only 1.0% off, which is less than half the error between 1/2" and 13mm and the other way - AF > metric.


Once out, a cap screw sounds like it might be the way to go - got a set of imperial, ball-ended keys in Blackpool Aldi the week before last. £3.99 IIRC.

Graham

Despite having done this many times, I didn't realise that a special tool was necessary?

Why not just buy another 1/4" drive socket?



Ian.

sprint95m wrote: ↑Mon Jun 03, 2019 1:20 pm Despite having done this many times, I didn't realise that a special tool was necessary?

Why not just buy another 1/4" drive socket?



Ian.

I've bought several, including another snap-on 7/16ths, and they didn't fit. What set you got?

Graham

Like Steve I use the ring end of a 7/16" AF combination spanner.


I have just went and tried this and can access the bolt reaching from the offside
and using the space to the left of the distributor.
However, this being a late car, the other bolt is more troublesome (because the metal
pipework for the cooling system are an obstruction) but not impossible.
The brand I used was Teng Tools.


Ian.

I went and looked at the job on the Doly and realized what I didn't say was I having trouble doing it on the TR7 Sprint. I now realize there's enough room to get the the back bolt in the Doly because the transmission tunnel allows access. The TR's tunnel is tighter and the bulkhead is close again the back of the engine, and the back bolt's a bugger to get to. I've nearly never done the job on the Dolomite, and never bothered to look if it was easier, till I lost my old socket that fit.

But, I've possible solved the problem with a grinder.

Don't worry, it was only a Silverline, and I've at least 3 other 7/16ths 1/4 drive ones.

I still may need a flexible drive shaft or knuckle if the TR's dizzy is turned more than the Doly's, but at least the socket fits on the set screw head.

Graham

That seems like a good solution.



Ian.

Elora and Brittool used to have ranges of short offset ring spanners. I hit Ebay and picked up one of these plus a combination Bahco one and combined use of these will do the trick.