I'm from the metric part of the world...

[JoeWay]

Originally Posted by Steinar

...I ordered a standard open Whitworth 3/16 wrench...

Thanks to all of you!

If there is room, you can reinforce the open-end wrench by clamping a pair of vise-grip pliers over the jaws of the wrench after placing it on the tube nut.

Another trick I've often used, again space permitting, is to clamp the tips of the vise-grips across the flats of the tube nut in the three directions. Apply with enough force to distort the nut SLIGHTLY. This often breaks the rust bonds enough that the nut will turn when the wrench is applied.

Joe

[Dave72dt]

If replacing the lines, which I would recommend, clip the line off close to the nut and try your 6 point socket on it.

[Steinar]

I asked the seller about the same. But he said they made this tool so slim, with thin walls, that he was afraid it would not keep the right shape under pressure. But if I don't remember wrong, the one I bought was closed in one end and open in the other end. So I could always give it a try.
Thanks for link to Whitworth table, could be nice to have for the future!

[Steinar]

I was thinking the same Joe, I might try to cut a slot in the boxed end of the wrench as Roger suggested, and then reinforce the now open-end wrench by clamping a pair of vise-grip pliers over it.
Thanks to all! I'll let you know how it turned out on monday, or more likely tuesday, since I'm going out with my old car club buddies monday evening, in my '33 pontiac while waiting for the Ford..

[Steinar]

Well, finally got my 3/16", but even this one was a bit too small. Somebody told me I should go for the 29/64" (=11,5091 mm), so I went back to store to order a new one. But the clerk told me unless I was doing a job on some aircraft, I would never get used for this one. I said I just tried to keep up with my model A Ford. He looked at me like we did not speak the same language. Then he told me, after looking into some catalogs, getting this one would be very expensive and time consumption. It could not be picked up from any of their normal suppliers. So I went back home emptyhanded. Put on an adjustable wrench and hoped for the best. I know, I'm not supposed to do that. But every now and then a man face a situation where he has do to what he has to do. In this case it turned out fine, I was able to pick the parts apart, and are now about to do some sandblasting to the brake shields. Shoes are delivered to a company for new linings. By the time they are finished, in about one week, I should have finished priming and painting all parts taken apart. So far, so good.

But again, I discovered something strange, as I showed a picture of in my posting 'I don't understand my A'. This car has had a bit troublesome history, and it's built from a mix of different cars. But mostly it should be an A. Except from hydraulics it's got a 32-36 front axle. It is a '31, indented firewall, but it wears a '30 radiator shield. Still hope to bring it back out on the road within the summer..

[callcoy]

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If you have a pair of veiner calipers that measure in American thousands of an inch, you can check to see if the nut is inch size. Common nut sizes for non-metric hydraulic brake line nuts are .375 (3/8") and .437 (7/16"). If you can get a 1" American mike on the nut, you can use it instead of the caliper. You may want to pick up one or the other of these measuring tools to aid in identifying the American (US) fasteners, undersized componets and etc.

[Steinar]

I do have a metric vernier caliper, but should of course look for one with a inch-scale. My english is not too good, I didn't understand the other alternative, about the 1" American mike? But maybe not important, the vernier caliper should be a good alternative to sort out those problems.
Thanks!

[JoeWay]

Originally Posted by Steinar

...I didn't understand the other alternative, about the 1" American mike? ...

He's referring to a micrometer. As far as I'm concerned, you're welcome to post dimensions for this sort of thing in metric, and we'll convert if we need to.

Or--if you use a PC--go to Convert-for-Windows and download one of the best freeware programs I've ever used.

Joe

[sturgis 39]

Some of the rod nuts are thirty seconds. I have my dad's old Ray socket set and they are in thirty seconds. Pretty old set of sockets. My dad was a big Model "A" fan.

[Steinar]

Ok, thanks Joe, not too often I run into this problem, so maybe just do some posting here on Fordbarn when the situation appear, and let you folks sort it out for me. Sounds good to me!
Fordgarage, interesting tool you had there, thanks for picture, makes it much more easy for me to understand what you're talking about. Haven't seen this one before. I know the system with adjustable clamps, my welding tools are built the same way, but I never saw any with this jaw. Or maybe I saw one, without realizing to what purpose it was built for. I sure will pick up one of those!

Thanks to all of you, I'm learning a whole lot out here. Makes me feel smarter. But then again, sometimes it also make me feel rather dumb...
Sturgis 39, did you say 'thirty seconds'? In my world, seconds are related to time. 'Thirty seconds' should be about half a minute... Are you talking about an other measuring system, being neither metric nor inches, named 'thirty seconds'...?

[dumb person]

Maybe they mean #/32 like 8/16th's would be 16/32ths

[Steinar]

Thanks a lot! You may not be as dumb as your nickname give impression of...!