At 08:39 AM 11/7/2004, you wrote:
>  I am a great believer in torquing to
>spec, but I've observed many situations, including a few larger shops,
>where a torque wrench is the exception rather than the rule.  Yes, I do see
>torque wrenchs on cylinder head bolts, but not often elsewhere.

My brother in law is a mechanic and he hardly even uses a torque wrench.
Heads and front end, he uses one, but everything else is by feel. He says
he can usually get within a ft-lb or so of the spec by feel just because
he's been doing it so long. He says he could probably do the head bolts by
feel too, but he feels more comfortable with the torque wrench there. Like
he said, an unevenly torqued thermostat housing is no big deal. An unevenly
torqued head can turn into an Expensive Problem.

John Bange
'90 Vanagon "Geldsauger"