ChicagoX and Hydrazine, thank you for your replies. Now can anyone point me to the correct tool to use for the install. I have already visited my local Sears, OSH, Home Depot and Kragen without any luck.

 

Hey Cru, isn't everything described in the instruction kit. I think I saw it on the web site. 4mm,10mm socket; inch pound torque wrench or 1/4" rachet. Is there anything else or what exactly are you looking for?

 

I didn't get any instructions with my spacer.
Hydrazine, am I missing something???

What I was looking for is where I could buy the correct torque wrench.

 

I hope someone can suggest a source for you. That said, I hope you can borrow one. In the shops that worked for me the requirement was to use a Torque Wrench to torque only to values in the middle third of its rating. In other words not down at the bottom nor at the top of its range.

Contrary to what was suggested, Torque Wrenches can and should be quite accurate - however, they should and must be treated as instruments rather than tools.

 

Here are the instructions from the motordyne website:

http://www.motordyneengineering.com/installHTML.asp

To tell you the truth, I think you can use a regular wrench and tighten it manually. That's what I did after my torque wrench mishap, and that's what other people suggested on this forum.

 

SaltiDawg,
AMEN to that! This is so true.

Skeleton,
Yes, the instructions are available as both HTML and PDF on the website. It describes everything needed for a smooth install.

 

Sounds like you could skip it if you can trust your butt meter errr- hand meter. Good luck.

 

Cru,

I used this wrench from sears and it worked great. It's cheap and goes in 2.5 ft/lbs increments.

http://www.sears.com/sr/javasr/produ...id=00944690000

The only downside is the needle isn't 100% accurate. But I couldn't get myself to drop $170 for a digital wrench.

 

This should be a sticky. This is good information to know in case it hapens to anyone else. I am going to get a spacer soon and am glad that I ran accross this so as to know what pitfalls to avoid in the future, Thanks for posting your experience. It helps all of us and I hope that the extractor works out for you.

 

Cru: I picked up an in/lb wrench (clicker-style) for about $70 @ Sears.

 

AutoZone has them for like $20-$40. Not sure of the brand's quality, but it seemed to have worked!

Before installing my spacer, I did not have the tq wrench. I took note of how "tight" the screws were to loosen and made sure to not overtighten when completed. When I double checked w/the tq wrench, I did pretty good!

Also, check the screws again after a few days...mine became loose and I had to re-tighten.

 

For something that required 6ft/lb torque I would use an inch/pound or inch/oz wrench and do the conversions. Do a search on the internet. Probably Snap-On or one of the specialty makes. Not real common

 

Thanks for all the sources and info guys. That's why I love this forum!

 

UPDATE:

I finally installed my 3/8” spacer earlier today. I used the instruction supplied by the Motordyne website which can be found here:
http://www.motordyneengineering.com/installHTML.asp

The PDF link was dead so I used the HTML link. I copied and pasted the text onto a Word doc. because when I tried to print directly from the web page it was cutting off the text at the end of each paragraph.

My biggest worry was snapping a bolt while tightening it, as illustrated by the original poster. Since I did not have a torque wrench that had a range of less then 10 lbs/in., I decided to use a nut driver (see pic) instead of a socket wrench. The nut driver has much less leveraged then a socket wrench and I would be less likely to over-tighten.

I tightened each bolt in order, per the instructions, with very little force. I then started from the bolt #1 and worked my way around a second time. I torqued the bolt to a point where the resistance would have required me to really bear down on it. That’s where I stopped. I then rechecked each bolt one last time. After a 30 min. drive all bolts were still securely fastened. I will check them again after a few long drives.

 

With a description like that, I'll bet you got it just right on the torque!
The torque required is surprisingly little force. It only needs enough to make a good seal on the gaskets and to hold it securely in place.

The nut driver is a good idea.

I've also been considering describing the use of a nut driver in the install manual when a torque wrench isn't available. It will certainly limit the amount of torque that could be applied.