Matra VW 109 10 mm wrench

[crankshaftdan II]

I know this is a special 10mm vw wrench-with a milled slot on the face-have never heard of the brand-does anyone know what specific job it is intended for?  Very neat design and I was thinking it came with a certain vw as in a special tool kit.  Cannot seem to find any reference to it??  Any comments appreciated..Cranky

[Bill Houghton]

Been a long long time since I wrenched on a VW - can't remember the size of the head on the clamping bolt for the distributor, but that seems like one possibility.

I've heard of Matra, but haven't ever seen many.  Hazet is the dominant name in VW-specific wrenches.

[rusty]

Seems to be for removing Oil Cooler bolts. Snappy has a similar (function) tool S5915

[ron darner]

Some of the air-cooled cars with automatic or auto stick-shift transmissions needed a special tool shape & 12-point head to access the torque converter-to-flex plate (or whatever the exact terms were) bolts.  This one might not have offered sufficient torque to move one, though; wonder if it was used mostly to immobilize one end of a nut-&-bolt pair?

[lauver]

cranky,

Your Matra wrench is way nicer than any of the wrenches supplied with VW's in the 1950's or 1960's.  It's also nicer than any of the specialty wrenches supplied to VW dealership service departments.

I think it's a high quality aftermarket wrench.  That said, I've never heard or seen the Matra brand before nor have I seen a VW specialty wrench of that particular size/bend.

I like rustys idea though.  Another possiblity would be a clutch cable adjustment wrench.

[amertrac]

I have found that a wrench that was made for a special condition will be used for other jobs. and several people end up using the wrench for their own uses . after generations of use thirty people call a wrench by different names. the original usage may be lost .  bob w.

[Murph]

The clutch cables never needed any wrench for adjusting, air or water cooled.

[skipskip]

I knew Matra rang a bell from my race car fan days

according to wiki:

Mécanique Aviation Traction or Matra (Mécanique Aviation TRAction) was a French company covering a wide range of activities mainly related to automobile, bicycles, aeronautics and weaponry. In 1994, it became a subsidiary of the Lagardère Group and now operates under that name.

Matra was owned by the Floirat family. The name Matra became famous in the 1960s when it went into car production by buying Automobiles René Bonnet. Matra Automobiles produced racing cars and sports cars, and was successful in racing.

[Bill Houghton]

The clutch cables never needed any wrench for adjusting, air or water cooled.

Not true.  On 1960 and older cars and buses, the clutch cable had two nuts on it, 14mm and 11mm, and required you to have three hands to adjust it.  The big wing nut was a great improvement.  However, this wrench would not have been very useful even if it were the right size, because there wouldn't have been clearance for the handle.

A lot more fun to adjust those old clutch cables on the buses than on the cars; but that's a relative statement.  Not having to adjust the cable on either vehicle was even more fun.

[ron darner]

 Hmmm - don't recall that on my '56, but then, I traded it off in 1964, so could have forgotten by now.  The water-cooled VW clutch cables are really easy to access; I've done an adjustment (no tools) while waiting for the engine to rest a couple of minutes so I could properly check the oil level.
I did think of one other possibility: handbrake cables.  MAYBE even the seat-track stop pin, but can't imagine making up a special for that one.

[rusty]

*sigh*

http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=523772