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TPI 911 Cover, Tough Guy Spring, & SW Helix with EVO Flash 4


I just had to mention this. The 911 cover idea and many more clutching innovations came from a guy named Duane Watt. I hope I spelled his name right. He had a business called Hi Tech performance. He was a machinist and a great innovator and a great person to deal with. I first used his products on my 93 Vmax4. I had a 911 cover and a roller secondary conversion that used an Arctic Cat secondary. He also developed the Paragon secondary and more. I had many phone conversations with him in those days and he was a fountain of knowledge. I often wonder if he is alive and well and what he is up to.
 
Damn. 90% of all my tools are Craftsman, but I didn't have a 22mm socket in the sets I bought 25 years ago. So I ran up to both Lowes and Home Depot and got each of theirs, both are too thick a diameter.
6 point vs. 12 point sockets maybe?
 
6 point vs. 12 point sockets maybe?
Tried both, at least Kobalt and Husky are too thick. I now have 3 sockets ground down to fit, so I'm good. But if I run across a Craftsman 22mm I'll buy it just to test.
 
I made a trip today to Sears since it was bugging me. I'm going to call Lonn tomorrow, I wonder if there's something different about the cover I got from him. This is 3 brands of sockets, 12 and 6 point, all the same result. Craftsman, Kobalt and Husky, each too thick to fit inside the bushing collar to get to the clutch bolt head.

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Since I'm also an avid reloader, I happen to have a decent digital caliper, so I just busted it out and I'm not nuts. Well . . . I am nuts, but it a different way. Here's what I found.

1.165" - TPI 911 cover inside diameter of bushing (surrounds clutch bolt head).
1.175" - Craftsman 22 mm 6 pt socket outside diameter
1.180" - Husky 22 mm 12 pt socket outside diameter
1.172" - Kobalt 22 mm 12 pt socket outside diameter
1.120" - Kobalt 22 mm 12 pt socket outside diameter where I ground it down so it would fit

I'll call Lonn tomorrow. It's almost like my bushing missed a final machining step or something.
 
Since I'm also an avid reloader, I happen to have a decent digital caliper, so I just busted it out and I'm not nuts. Well . . . I am nuts, but it a different way. Here's what I found.

1.165" - TPI 911 cover inside diameter of bushing (surrounds clutch bolt head).
1.175" - Craftsman 22 mm 6 pt socket outside diameter
1.180" - Husky 22 mm 12 pt socket outside diameter
1.172" - Kobalt 22 mm 12 pt socket outside diameter
1.120" - Kobalt 22 mm 12 pt socket outside diameter where I ground it down so it would fit

I'll call Lonn tomorrow. It's almost like my bushing missed a final machining step or something.

I would call Lon, thats really strange, I had no problems.
 
It's official - I'm not crazy, Lonn even said so, lol. Tom, you got lucky with that old Craftsman socket, Lonn confirmed you need a thin walled socket or to grind them down like I did. He said Snap-On makes a specific thin walled socket series and some of the impact socket brands are thin enough, though that surprises me as I think my impact sockets are much thicker. Anyway, at least we now know and anyone else that gets one of these fantastic 911 covers knows they may or may not have to grind down a 22mm socket a little bit.
 
It's official - I'm not crazy, Lonn even said so, lol. Tom, you got lucky with that old Craftsman socket, Lonn confirmed you need a thin walled socket or to grind them down like I did. He said Snap-On makes a specific thin walled socket series and some of the impact socket brands are thin enough, though that surprises me as I think my impact sockets are much thicker. Anyway, at least we now know and anyone else that gets one of these fantastic 911 covers knows they may or may not have to grind down a 22mm socket a little bit.

Thats nuts.. why dont they have that machined out so there is no problem.. its very slight, right?
 
Thats nuts.. why dont they have that machined out so there is no problem.. its very slight, right?
Good question and I didn't ask. Just guessing but there's probably a minimum thickness for the bushing integrity. Still, another .015" larger opening would accommodate any of the sockets I bought. These 3 brands are likely what most of us have based on convenience, unless you're super cool and get to go inside the Snap-On truck once a month.
 
Good question and I didn't ask. Just guessing but there's probably a minimum thickness for the bushing integrity. Still, another .015" larger opening would accommodate any of the sockets I bought. These 3 brands are likely what most of us have based on convenience, unless you're super cool and get to go inside the Snap-On truck once a month.


lol some days i wish i only saw the snap-on truck once a month. some might say i spend too much on that truck and others for my work tools.
 
I just had to mention this. The 911 cover idea and many more clutching innovations came from a guy named Duane Watt. I hope I spelled his name right. He had a business called Hi Tech performance. He was a machinist and a great innovator and a great person to deal with. I first used his products on my 93 Vmax4. I had a 911 cover and a roller secondary conversion that used an Arctic Cat secondary. He also developed the Paragon secondary and more. I had many phone conversations with him in those days and he was a fountain of knowledge. I often wonder if he is alive and well and what he is up to.
The site is still up but looks as like it has not been updated for a long while. There is a phone number there.
 
They should include a socket with the cover or make it so any standard socket will work.
 
Just use a thin walled "lug nut" socket available off of Amazon for pretty cheap. I have a couple sets, they are designed to fit over recessed lug nuts in today's ever popular aluminum wheels. I had to get them because standard sockets wouldn't fit into recesses on my aluminum trailer wheels, so I bought a metric set.
 


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