I am changing the spark plugs in my car and find myself without my spark
plug gauge. The gap is supposed to be .045" or 1.14 mm.

Is there any way I can simulate this gap (thickness) of .05" by using
standard items in my garage, like nails, wires, drills bits, etc?

Thanks for any help. Would save me a long trip to the nearest supply house.
This may be OT, but people in the group are familiar with tools and
materials.

--
Walter
www.rationality.net
-



--
Posted via a free Usenet account from http://www.teranews.com

Walter R. wrote:
I am changing the spark plugs in my car and find myself without my spark
plug gauge. The gap is supposed to be .045" or 1.14 mm.

Is there any way I can simulate this gap (thickness) of .05" by using
standard items in my garage, like nails, wires, drills bits, etc?

Thanks for any help. Would save me a long trip to the nearest supply house.
This may be OT, but people in the group are familiar with tools and
materials.

In umpteen years I don't think I've had a plug I've checked out of the
box be off by enough to fool with.

But if you have a full set of bits, 3/64" is 0.046... I don't recall
which numbered bit would be roughly right, but one of the smaller number
sizes will be as well...

--

"Clark" wrote in message
...
"Walter R." wrote in
:

I am changing the spark plugs in my car and find myself without my spark
plug gauge. The gap is supposed to be .045" or 1.14 mm.

Is there any way I can simulate this gap (thickness) of .05" by using
standard items in my garage, like nails, wires, drills bits, etc?

Thanks for any help. Would save me a long trip to the nearest supply
house. This may be OT, but people in the group are familiar with tools
and materials.


Well a 3/32 drill would be real close. Don't 'spose ya have one handy. A
lose fit on a sawzall blade (~0.035) might get ya by but don't think I'd
do

????? 3/32" is .093!

18 gauge wire is 0.040 something
16 gauge wire is 0.050 something

copper wire will deform...

maybe somebody else will get closer

--
---
there should be a "sig" here

In article ,
"Walter R." wrote:

I am changing the spark plugs in my car and find myself without my spark
plug gauge. The gap is supposed to be .045" or 1.14 mm.

Is there any way I can simulate this gap (thickness) of .05" by using
standard items in my garage, like nails, wires, drills bits, etc?

Thanks for any help. Would save me a long trip to the nearest supply house.
This may be OT, but people in the group are familiar with tools and
materials.

--
Walter
www.rationality.net
-

Well, a dime is .050

On Fri, 8 Jun 2007 20:59:45 -0700, "Walter R."
wrote:

I am changing the spark plugs in my car and find myself without my spark
plug gauge. The gap is supposed to be .045" or 1.14 mm.

Is there any way I can simulate this gap (thickness) of .05" by using
standard items in my garage, like nails, wires, drills bits, etc?

Thanks for any help. Would save me a long trip to the nearest supply house.
This may be OT, but people in the group are familiar with tools and
materials.

--
Walter
www.rationality.net
-

I had that same problem once. I took out some nails and found one
that fit in the gap of one of the old plugs, since they should have
been gapped to the proper gap. (of course they tend to burn a little
wider). I found one that fit well, and used that. I believe it was a
3 or 4 penny finish nail. (of course my gap may have been different).
Normally the gap is close out of the box, but once and awhile one is
way off. Until you can get the proper tool, see if you can find a
close nail.

On Fri, 8 Jun 2007 20:59:45 -0700, "Walter R."
wrote:

Is there any way I can simulate this gap (thickness) of .05" by using
standard items in my garage, like nails, wires, drills bits, etc?


Flatten a nail point until it is the required gap thickness and keep
that as your handy gauge.

In article , "Walter R." wrote:
I am changing the spark plugs in my car and find myself without my spark
plug gauge. The gap is supposed to be .045" or 1.14 mm.

Is there any way I can simulate this gap (thickness) of .05" by using
standard items in my garage, like nails, wires, drills bits, etc?

Probably, but why bother? Buy yourself another spark plug gauge for a dollar
or two -- I'm sure the place you bought your spark plugs at will have them.

--
Regards,
Doug Miller (alphageek at milmac dot com)

It's time to throw all their damned tea in the harbor again.

Doug Miller wrote:
In article , "Walter R." wrote:
I am changing the spark plugs in my car and find myself without my spark
plug gauge. The gap is supposed to be .045" or 1.14 mm.

Is there any way I can simulate this gap (thickness) of .05" by using
standard items in my garage, like nails, wires, drills bits, etc?

Probably, but why bother? ...

What in "Would save me a long trip to the nearest supply house." didn't
you understand, Doug?

--

Meat Plow wrote:
On Sat, 09 Jun 2007 09:06:33 -0500, dpb wrote:


Doug Miller wrote:

In article , "Walter R." wrote:

I am changing the spark plugs in my car and find myself without my spark
plug gauge. The gap is supposed to be .045" or 1.14 mm.

Is there any way I can simulate this gap (thickness) of .05" by using
standard items in my garage, like nails, wires, drills bits, etc?

Probably, but why bother? ...

What in "Would save me a long trip to the nearest supply house." didn't
you understand, Doug?


If he has a 9/200's drill bit he could use that.



A #57 drill bit is .043; a #56 is .046. Or your FLAPS likely has a
little tool with pieces of wire in the common spark plug gap sizes
sitting in a bin next to the checkout for less than $5.

nate

--
replace "roosters" with "cox" to reply.
http://members.cox.net/njnagel

"dpb" wrote in message ...
Doug Miller wrote:
In article , "Walter R."
wrote:
I am changing the spark plugs in my car and find myself without my spark
plug gauge. The gap is supposed to be .045" or 1.14 mm.

Is there any way I can simulate this gap (thickness) of .05" by using
standard items in my garage, like nails, wires, drills bits, etc?

Probably, but why bother? ...

What in "Would save me a long trip to the nearest supply house." didn't
you understand, Doug?

--
Supply house? You mean supermarket, 7-11 store, corner market, etc..

If the OP is so paranoid about the gap that he won't risk driving to town on
slightly incorrectly gapped plugs - then have him use a CD - CD's are .047"
thick.

Eigenvector wrote:
"dpb" wrote in message ...
Doug Miller wrote:
In article , "Walter R."
wrote:
I am changing the spark plugs in my car and find myself without my spark
plug gauge. The gap is supposed to be .045" or 1.14 mm.

Is there any way I can simulate this gap (thickness) of .05" by using
standard items in my garage, like nails, wires, drills bits, etc?
Probably, but why bother? ...
What in "Would save me a long trip to the nearest supply house." didn't
you understand, Doug?

--
Supply house? You mean supermarket, 7-11 store, corner market, etc..

If the OP is so paranoid about the gap that he won't risk driving to town ...

I don't see anything "paranoid" about it -- w/ fuel prices they way they
are, I don't make needless trips, either, plus there's simply the
nuisance factor. And, who knows what OP's "long trip" actually is?

Granted, it's a little overkill to ask usenet about 0.045*64 = 2.88 --
3/64" is closest fractional drill bit, but seemed a little overly harsh
reaction to me. Of course, I probably should have just let it ride,
to...

--

On Sat, 09 Jun 2007 11:13:08 -0500, dpb wrote:

..

If the OP is so paranoid about the gap that he won't risk driving to town ...

I don't see anything "paranoid" about it -- w/ fuel prices they way they
are, I don't make needless trips, either, plus there's simply the
nuisance factor. And, who knows what OP's "long trip" actually is?

And he doesn't want to do it twice. If the plugs are out now, he wants
to put them in and be done. He doesn't want to do them again next
week either, even after he drove past the supply house anyhow.

Granted, it's a little overkill to ask usenet about 0.045*64 = 2.88 --
3/64" is closest fractional drill bit, but seemed a little overly harsh
reaction to me. Of course, I probably should have just let it ride,
to...

"dpb" wrote in message ...
Eigenvector wrote:
"dpb" wrote in message ...
Doug Miller wrote:
In article , "Walter R."
wrote:
I am changing the spark plugs in my car and find myself without my
spark plug gauge. The gap is supposed to be .045" or 1.14 mm.

Is there any way I can simulate this gap (thickness) of .05" by using
standard items in my garage, like nails, wires, drills bits, etc?
Probably, but why bother? ...
What in "Would save me a long trip to the nearest supply house." didn't
you understand, Doug?

--
Supply house? You mean supermarket, 7-11 store, corner market, etc..

If the OP is so paranoid about the gap that he won't risk driving to town
...

I don't see anything "paranoid" about it -- w/ fuel prices they way they
are, I don't make needless trips, either, plus there's simply the nuisance
factor. And, who knows what OP's "long trip" actually is?

Granted, it's a little overkill to ask usenet about 0.045*64 = 2.88 --
3/64" is closest fractional drill bit, but seemed a little overly harsh
reaction to me. Of course, I probably should have just let it ride, to...


--

You weren't exactly Mr. Nice to Doug either.

Driving to the auto store for a spark gap guage is an irritation even to me
and I can ride my bike cause it's only 2 miles away where I'm at - but I
wouldn't drive or bike to it unless it was a dire problem. Picking one up
at the store the next time he needs groceries or a half-rack of beer seems
reasonable and it's not like the OP can't just put the old ones back in the
holes or put the new ones in the holes and not worry about it. Either the
engine won't be impacted or it will run badly - but it will still run.
Spark plug gap is NOT that critical if the need is great. They should be
properly gapped, but they don't have to be if you don't mind poor
performance.

Eigenvector wrote:
"dpb" wrote in message ...
Eigenvector wrote:
"dpb" wrote in message ...
Doug Miller wrote:
In article , "Walter R."
wrote:
I am changing the spark plugs in my car and find myself without my
spark plug gauge. The gap is supposed to be .045" or 1.14 mm.

Is there any way I can simulate this gap (thickness) of .05" by using
standard items in my garage, like nails, wires, drills bits, etc?
Probably, but why bother? ...
What in "Would save me a long trip to the nearest supply house." didn't
you understand, Doug?

--
Supply house? You mean supermarket, 7-11 store, corner market, etc..

If the OP is so paranoid about the gap that he won't risk driving to town
...
I don't see anything "paranoid" about it -- w/ fuel prices they way they
are, I don't make needless trips, either, plus there's simply the nuisance
factor. And, who knows what OP's "long trip" actually is?

Granted, it's a little overkill to ask usenet about 0.045*64 = 2.88 --
3/64" is closest fractional drill bit, but seemed a little overly harsh
reaction to me. Of course, I probably should have just let it ride, to...


--

You weren't exactly Mr. Nice to Doug either.
....

Which is why I recanted/said I _should_ have just let it slide...

Sometimes we do things we regret later...

--

Thank you all!

The 16 gauge wire and the CD came the closest. Yes, I did feel pretty stupid
after I bought the sparkplugs and then realized that I had lost my gauge.
Thanks for saving me a 25/50 mile trip to Pepboys Auto Supply.

--
Walter
www.rationality.net
-
"Walter R." wrote in message
...
I am changing the spark plugs in my car and find myself without my spark
plug gauge. The gap is supposed to be .045" or 1.14 mm.

Is there any way I can simulate this gap (thickness) of .05" by using
standard items in my garage, like nails, wires, drills bits, etc?

Thanks for any help. Would save me a long trip to the nearest supply
house. This may be OT, but people in the group are familiar with tools and
materials.

--
Walter
www.rationality.net
-


--
Posted via a free Usenet account from http://www.teranews.com




--
Posted via a free Usenet account from http://www.teranews.com

In article , says...
Doug Miller wrote:
In article , "Walter R." wrote:
I am changing the spark plugs in my car and find myself without my spark
plug gauge. The gap is supposed to be .045" or 1.14 mm.

Is there any way I can simulate this gap (thickness) of .05" by using
standard items in my garage, like nails, wires, drills bits, etc?

Probably, but why bother? ...

What in "Would save me a long trip to the nearest supply house." didn't
you understand, Doug?

Pretty much any place that sells spark plugs will sell wire feeler
gauges, too -- auto parts store, hardware store, Wal-Mart, whatever.

On Sun, 10 Jun 2007 01:31:49 GMT, Doug Miller
wrote:

In article , says...
Doug Miller wrote:
In article , "Walter R." wrote:
I am changing the spark plugs in my car and find myself without my spark
plug gauge. The gap is supposed to be .045" or 1.14 mm.

Is there any way I can simulate this gap (thickness) of .05" by using
standard items in my garage, like nails, wires, drills bits, etc?

Probably, but why bother? ...

How about the lip of the box the spark plug comes in?

"Terry" wrote in message
...
On Sun, 10 Jun 2007 01:31:49 GMT, Doug Miller
wrote:

In article , says...
Doug Miller wrote:
In article , "Walter R."
wrote:
I am changing the spark plugs in my car and find myself without my
spark
plug gauge. The gap is supposed to be .045" or 1.14 mm.

Is there any way I can simulate this gap (thickness) of .05" by using
standard items in my garage, like nails, wires, drills bits, etc?

Probably, but why bother? ...

How about the lip of the box the spark plug comes in?

Wouldn't even be close, card stock is like .5 mm or something. Like I
suggested back when, use a CD, they're .047" thick.

"Doug Miller" wrote in message
.net...
In article , says...
Doug Miller wrote:
In article , "Walter R."
wrote:
I am changing the spark plugs in my car and find myself without my
spark
plug gauge. The gap is supposed to be .045"

Very very close to 3/64 which is .0469 (rounded off). If you absolutely
can't go get a plug gap gauge use a 3/64 drill bit. Assuming you have one
that is.