A picture of an obscure wrench on my old garage floor is unglamorous, I know. But this tool saved me hours of aggravation and heartbreak, and it’s the “right tool for the job,” a luxury that the home enthusiast isn’t always afforded. It’s a Snap-On S-Wrench, designed so those hardworking body shop men and women could adjust the door hinge at the cowl of a GM vehicle. I’m not ashamed to tell you that I paid $60 plus shipping for this oddly shaped tool that is probably older than I am. I’m even less ashamed to tell you it was worth it.
The part number on this quality American tool is S9606, with the fraction denoting that it has two 1/2 inch box ends. Most of the sellers online are asking around $100 for this particular wrench, so I guess mine was actually a bargain.
I bought the tool because I didn’t want to do this again. Two years ago, I disassembled the front end of my ’65 Skylark to fix some rust. Somewhere in its 55 year past, the car took a pretty decent hit to the passenger side; I know this because I stripped the passenger door down to fix some rust two weeks before I used the Skylark as my wedding car back in 2005. It had about an inch and a half of filler covering a cave-in the size of Carlsbad Caverns. Without much time to work, I just filled it right back in, and it’s been there ever since.
I look happy enough anyway.
Regardless of my hackery and the hackery of previous owners, the door and fender have never gotten along well together. The door has always had a tendency to rub the fender when it’s opened or closed, even though it should have plenty of clearance. When I had the fender off in 2018, I decided to just move the door back a little to clear the fender, but the unsightly door to fender gap even bothered me, a guy who is notoriously nonplussed about such matters. I decided to do something about it.
And this is why I’m so excited about my new/old Snap-On wrench. As you can see, it would be nearly impossible to adjust the hinge at the cowl with the fender on the car; there’s just no room for a socket or any normal kind of wrench.
There is room for the S-Wrench, however, because it was designed (and priced) for the job. It has two different ends so the mechanic can tackle the bolts from the top or bottom, whichever works best. Here’s I’m addressing the bottom lower hinge bolts. ***I know I need new door weatherstripping; thanks for not mentioning it.***
Barely visible between the door and the fender is the business end of the S-Wrench, doing its job to save me time and labor.
On an A-Body, there are also several places to adjust the fender with shims, including here inside the door opening.
And here under the hood, where you can adjust the fender for height. Every move throws everything off balance, so adjusting doors and fenders takes time and patience, and most garage mechanics will have to make some compromises. The real time to make these adjustments is when the car’s in primer, but we don’t always have that luxury.
Regardless, I got the alignment to a place where I’m satisfied with it, which is really all that matters. After years of rust and collision repair, the bottom of the fender isn’t quite in the right spot, so the gap’s larger than I’d like down there. That’s fine; I don’t want the door to rub, which is the reason for doing this in the first place. I adjusted the door slightly inward compared to the fender for the same reason; that adjustment is done by way of the door hinge-to-door screws, a totally different operation needing a totally different set of tools.
The rear of the door also looks better than it did. Every adjustment you make at the cowl also affects the height of the door at the rear, so more compromises must be made to get it all lined up, front and back, side to side. I worked on it for several hours; a perfectionist would work several more.
So there you have it, the story of a tool that will probably spend the rest of my life lost in the toolbox; however, I’m glad to own it, glad to have used it, and maybe I’ll get to use it again someday.
Previous entries on my Skylark:
Hearing you on the ‘one adjustment affects another” I spent a fun filled couple of hours adjusting the passenger door window on my ’69 Skylark.
The job mad me wish for a framed door, with one or two adjustments, not the in/out, forwards/aft, height stops/ and anti rattle pads that the frameless windows of a true hardtop bring.
Anyway, it’s done. No more rattles- that side at least and the glass seals better.
It’s funny you bring this up. Yesterday, I was replacing the belt line weatherstripping in my ’74 Firebird, and I decided to replace the door lock cylinders, which will take a couple days to come in. Then I started wondering if I should pull everything out of the door to clean the mechanisms…
No way! The chance of breaking a hard-to-find clip or something else when it’s working just fine is too much to risk, PLUS I’d have to realign that frameless glass. When I was a little younger, my motto could have been, “If it ain’t broke, just give me a minute!” Heck, sometimes I STILL feel that way. Sometimes, it’s best not to disturb the crust. 🙂
I recently realign the frame-less window glass on my Malibu. Years ago when my dad had the car, he had the door apart to replace the belt line window sweep and he wasn’t able to get the glass adjusted perfectly. The glass was a bit too far out from the body at the top of the window frame when rolled up. It would go up fine most of the time, except at very high speeds on the highway. The wind would pull the glass out just slightly, causing the glass not to be able to roll up. So you’d have to slow down to get the window up. A real PITA.
I lucked out and was able to get it adjusted pretty easily though. The window now goes up and down and properly. Unlike dad who was just trying to do it by trail and error, I used the Fisher Body manual, which was a huge help. I highly recommend it to anyone who messes with a GM frameless door.
I think a person should just factor in the cost for the service AND body manuals for any GM car s/he buys. They save so much time…
One thing I like about Fords and Chryslers is that their manuals were a one-stop shop, whereas GM made you buy the Fisher Body book. 🙂
I think this post was excellent. Tools are always ingenious and knowing that this one exists for this purpose and how well it works, is a good story. We could easily go into the history of other auto machinery and I would find everything about it amazing.
My frustration is finding the specialized tool when I need it. I have a special C-shaped distributor wrench. In the 20 years between uses I’ve managed to lose it. I did find my clutch adjustment tool for the Class 8 heavy trucks that I sold 18 years ago, so there’s that.
“You gotta have the right tool for the job” is an old maxim that a wrenching buddy taught me when I was a teen; it has served me well over the years. It’s a good metaphor for life, too.
Professional mechanics often resent the design flaws that make them buy expensive specialized tools which are needed but can rarely be amortized. The tool companies they wind up indentured to sure love them though.
Well said. Snap-on, in particular, while the quality of their tools is unquestionably the highest (as they should be, given the exorbitant prices), the flip-side is they’re quite sleazy in not only forcing professional mechanics into deep debt, the owner/operators of the tool trucks are treated poorly, as well. Some time ago, Snap-on lost a class-action lawsuit which was based on the company intentionally overlapping territories to manipulate their truck operators into failing.
In effect, what Snap-on was doing was selling a truck full of tools to a driver, he’d be unable to make a living in the small area he’d been given to sell his tools, Snap-on would then foreclose on the poor sap’s truck at a fraction of the price he’d paid, then resell it at full price to the next guy and repeat the process.
From a business point of view that’s a terrible policy. No legitimate sales-based business wants their sales people to fail. Recruitment and training cost money its better to equip and develop successful representatives instead of setting them up to fail.
Unfortunately they definitely had a reputation for being ruthless. If you knew a dealer well enough that he’d level with you, chances are it’d be his opinion too.
Then, I believe, after possibly decades of hard work building “their” business, a dealer was allowed zero value with any sort of a sale or exit plan.
I’ve gotten the impression that Snap-On is well into its brand-equity-burn phase. When my friend outfitted his dream shop, he bought four lifts through Snap-On, with Snap-On branding. That was early 2017. He’s since gotten tired of repairing them and replaced most or perhaps all of them as of today.
In the good ole days, Chevy and Ford both had massive dealer networks which sprawled out across the US, even in smaller towns. But then the big contraction occurred as consumers began switching to better-built Japanese makes, many of these smaller, less profitable dealerships closed up, the tool-truck industry surely took a similar big hit. Suddenly, it was a lot tougher to make any money selling tools with a lot fewer dealership service departments in a specific territory.
I can see this being a big reason that Snap-on corporate became, as stated, a lot more cutthroat in their business operations. One of the things that they’d done years ago was to start selling their name on not only tools, but other, non-US-made products which undoubtedly helped cheapen the good name they’d built over decades. I’m not even sure that all Snap-on branded tools are still completely made in the US.
Over the years I’ve made a bunch of my own specialized tools, in part because the Snap On guy refuses to come to my house. Often the tool is a variation on an existing design. My latest was an adapter to allow my ball joint press to work with my 98 Continental. I made it from some 2inch exhaust tubing in about 10 minutes.
I made the same tool twice because I had forgotten I’d done it! I had to bend a tool to retorque the head on my Buick straight 8 with the rocker arm shaft in place. I’ve bent cheap wrenches for Corvair transmission mount replacement; I had my dad make me a tool to adjust Corvair differential side bearings…sometimes it’s easiest just to get out a torch and a long bar or a cut-off wheel and get it done.
Yes, you look happy enough at your wedding, and did not miss the rehearsal because you were adjusting a door. I was late for my rehearsal because I was looking at motorcycles and although it’s been over 20 years I will never hear the end of it 🙂
The right tool for the job is always a good tool, even if you use it once. $60 sounds like a bargain to save that amount of aggravation, why oh why did they put the bolts on the other side of the hinge?
If I had a need for that tool, I’d be all over it. You can’t put a price on avoiding frustration.
I have this Snap-on in a 13mm version, purchased when I was a VW mechanic back in the 1980’s. I do not recall what specific task I needed it for.
I have that wrench, it’s to adjust the valves. Not quite as convoluted as Aaron’s.
Job specific tools were the pride of Snap On. My Dad made a bunch of $$ demonstrating and selling these. He’s 85 now, Mr Snap On for 33 years. I’ll send him this link.
I remember our Snap On guy from my time in the trade 30 years ago. He had virtually memorized the tool catalogs and was a fountain of useful information about unique and specialized tools.
Fascinating essay, and reminder of times when I just should have spent the money early on for the tool and saved time/headaches.
Sure enough, three of these wrenches on eBay right now, and I guess I can appreciate that the $55-71 one is a relative bargain:
Paul, could this be a new category for CC? I could probably do at least a dozen posts on the special tools I have. Detroit Diesel, Cummins, some GM stuff, a few home made.
Sounds good to me!
While reading your story on the tool and look at your pictures I also tend to notice paint. The only time I comment on paint is when I see it glass smooth, not seen on production cars, or when there seems to be a lot of orange peel. The close up picture of the rear door made me go Wow for orange peel.
I watched A-cars moving down the line and recall the door/fender alignment operation.
I don’t recall the special factory alignment tools exactly, but I do recall that the original factory fit was achieved with tools more akin to random blocks of oak and a wrecking bar. Oh… all used while the car was moving. LoL
Sorry it’s not up to your standards. It’s also got a billion chips, 55 years of poorly done bodywork, and cracks and crazes.
Me?
Aaaron, I think your car’s perfect. Thanks for the post. I was just commenting on the “hurry up, here comes another” reality of auto assembly.
Today, anyone who wants to know what new cars were actually like in the “good old days” has a chance to see original build quality preserved in one of the untouched original “Lamrecht” cars.
No Jimdandy, I was responding to tbm3fan up there…our wires must have gotten crossed. 🙂 Sorry for the confusion. As much as I love my old cars, fit and finish has come a long way in the last 50 years. Come to think of it, I was using a wood block to adjust the door the other day, and then I just used brute force with one hand and a wrench in another. 🙂
As someone who only wrenches from time to time, I’ve had those aggravating circumstances. Makes me wonder though, how does one know they’re in a situation that calls for a specialized tool, and not simply in a difficult situation?
Sometimes it’s years of experience, other times it’s the internet! This time, it was the internet…I popped on a Buick website and asked if anyone was able to adjust the door hinge at the cowl, and I got a few good answers.
Trying to line up a door is a real chore. I had to remove a rear door on my 66 Fury III (long story) and getting it back on and fitting properly was not easy.
I have never had the special wrench, but did use the 2×4-as-pry-bar method when adjusting the height at the rear edge of a door a time or two. Then there was my 71 Scamp with really worn, floppy hinges that I straightened with a bunch of washers used as shims under the lower hinge.
One specialised tool that I could not live without is the “spring long shaft socket flexible practical extension bar adapter ratchet wrench.” Quite a mouthful description!
That wrench is perfect for loosening and tightening the “inaccessible” spark plugs in the rear bank of 2.8-litre V6 motor fitted to my Buick Skylark and Chevrolet Celebrity. The spark plugs in the rear bank were mostly hidden and could be accessed by feeling the way around due to their close proximity to the firewall.
I tried the solid extension bars in various lengths with universal joints and ended up breaking the ceramic housing if the angle was wrong. This specialised tool had saved me lot of headaches and eliminated the risk of breaking spark plugs.
Side note: GM redesigned the A-body engine bay to accommodate the new 3.1-litre and 3.4-litre V6 motors that can be rotated forward for easier access. Neither of my cars had that useful feature, unfortunately.
Wow. I could use that now. Where did you buy that from?
You can enter “Flexible Socket Extension Adapter Socket” in amazon.com, autozone.com, homedepot.com, etc.
The one I had is very similar to this one:
https://www.amazon.com/Flexible-Socket-Extension-Adapter-Sockets/dp/B072K5MCS3/ref=sr_1_2?dchild=1&keywords=1%2F2%22+Drive+Flexible+Flexi+Socket+Extension+Bar+Adapter+For+Sockets+Bergen&qid=1593185905&sr=8-2
I had an 81 and 84 X-11, don’t remember having trouble Changing the rear plugs on those. The right rear plug on my 67 Bonneville and 67 Catalina, is kind of a bear because of the a/c box.
Great article Aaron. Sheetmetal alignment is far from my favorite thing to do. As you may recall, I had the whole front clip off my Torino not too long ago. With the very convoluted front end sheetmetal deign on that car, alignment took a lot of time. It’s not perfect, but as you are well aware, the cars from these years were far from perfect even when new. One day when I get it painted, I am hoping to really fine tune the alignment to better than new.
I have been putting off some door issues with my A-body, although mine is a Colonnade. The massive and heavy doors, has resulted in some slop on the drivers door pins. So at some point, I have to get around to replacing them, but I am dreading having to probably have to realign the door afterwards. Other than the slight slope, it is aligned perfectly (by 1970s standards) now.
BTW, I think your Buick looks great as is. 🙂 Very cool that it was used as your wedding car. I used my Torino as our wedding car, and my brother also used my Malibu (his at the time) as one of the wedding cars. I have some great wedding photos with the wedding party around the cars.
Thanks Vince! If panel alignment wasn’t perfect when new, it’s certainly gotten no better with time, worn parts, and in some cases, reproduction parts! It’s nice to have repop doors, quarters, and fenders for the more popular cars, but they require some work, and even then they’re iffy. The side windows on my Mustang don’t quite touch the quarter glass because I wouldn’t be able to open and close the window if they did. I tried just about everything I could when I had that car apart.
When you have to do the doors on the Malibu, you’ve got a wrench option! 🙂
Damn sure looks like a Dr Suess creation to me.
“These bolts are far!
These bolts are tight!
I’ll never to these bolts get, quite!”
Then
A splash! A crash! A GEEM appeared
and said
“Why, this problem must not be feared
A patent wrench that’s just for you
A wrist, a twist, and all is true.”
An S-wrench on his fin had he,
and this (for 60 bucks) he handed straight to me.
Thus it was those bolts got loosened
and the door and guard made near-truesome.
So when you think things cannot be
Remember the S-wrench
that GEEM
And me.
If you can illustrate, you’re set for life! 🙂
I have the exact same wrench, i thought itwas for 67 mustang, thx’s forthe well informed article i enjoyed very much, thetool junkie.
I just ran out and checked on my ’65 Mustang – it won’t work. The bolts on the Mustang are 9/16″.