'Hand-tight'

[Little Mo']

Hello all,

This might be a silly question, but I'm going to ask it all the same:

What does hand-tight mean?

I've looked online and seen it variously defined as:

'as tight as can be made by hand without the aid of tools'

or

'as tight as can be made with only the assistance of hand tools' (i.e. without hydraulics, etc.).

I am thinking particularly in relation to replacing the sump bolt after an oil change, which I intend to do soon.

Many thanks.

[les]

The sump bolt should be more than hand tight; use a spanner. Different people have different strengths, hand tight
to my mind is as tight as possible without undue force.

[philthehill]

Hand tight means as tight as you can get it without mechanical assistance/advantage.

As the sump plug has a hexagon head it does require a spanner/socket to tighten. The sump plug should be tightened to 25lbf ft.

If fitting a new sump plug washer the tightness of the sump plug should be checked after say 25 miles.

The sump securing bolts should be tightened to 6lbf ft.

[Myrtles Man]

If, however, your car has a 'spin-off' filter, 'hand-tight' means exactly that; tighten by hand only - do NOT use any sort of socket wrench or other filter removal tool to tighten it.

[geoberni]

To me, you're asking TWO entirely different questions.
1- What is Hand tight
2- How tight to do the Sump Drain Plug


'Hand tight' is until it's done up with a spanner/tool until it stops because it has reached the end of the threads, then give it just a 1/16th - 1/8th turn tweak. No use of extension bars etc.

As Myrtles Man says, Oil Filter Canisters are definitely 'hand' only; never use a strap wrench or Oil Filter Removal Tool in reverse.
I use one of these type tools to remove Oil Filter Canisters. They only work to Remove, as they are one way tools. Far better tool than the strap types. This is just a photo I lifted from ebay, I've had my tool some 12 years.

Filter.jpg (28.49 KiB) Viewed 1264 times

I've never seen mention of the Minor Sump Plug in terms of Torque setting, perhaps Phil has a list of such things somewhere, but I've always used Hand Tight plus a tweak appropriate to the Plug being fitted, whatever the engine.
By that I mean the size of it, how fine the threads are and what tool it requires.
Quite a few modern cars for example use an Allen Key or Torx Bit, both of which are easily rounded out with excessive 'hand tightening' using just a short hand tool.

[philthehill]

To answer the question as regards sourcing the Minor sump plug torque setting.
A Minor sump plug was removed and hand tightened plus a tweak. A torque wrench was then applied to the sump plug and adjusted until the torque wrench clicked which was 25lbf ft. The sump plug was undone and tightened using the torque setting then hand checked with a spanner. The tightness was the same.
The Haynes manual also quotes a sump plug torque of 25lbf for the 1500cc MG Midget. The 1500cc sump plug is near identical to the Minor sump plug.

[geoberni]

Thanks Phil
I've never seen it mentioned in the BMC manual, not for want of looking, but then I guess that sort of thing would have been common across the board, a basic 'skill & knowledge' for every Austin/Morris mechanic of the day, so no need to specifically mention it with regards the Minor manual.

[myoldjalopy]

...and then there's 'finger tight'.

[geoberni]

...and then there's 'finger tight'.

[kennatt]

most Yorkshire men are said to be tight ,certainly my wallet is always tight,take more than ring spanner to get it open

[Myrtles Man]

Yes, I've heard it said that a Yorkshireman is exactly the same as a Scotsman, but without the generosity.

[philthehill]

Before torque wrenches became widely available the torque or tightness of the fixing was determined by the length of the spanner. Those spanners were mainly single ended items.
During the second world war the torque wrench became widely available as then anyone skilled or not could set the tightness of the fixing.
In relation to the Minor series MM - Churchill special tool 18G 330 Cylinder Head Nut Spanner with a tommy bar was designed to give the recommended maximum torque to the cylinder head studs with normal hand pressure.

[Monty-4]

I've often wondered about this too - are my wimpy arms getting it to a normal amount of "hand tightness"? Etc.

Best to just check things don't leak afterwards...

[Mark Wilson]

Yes, I've heard it said that a Yorkshireman is exactly the same as a Scotsman, but without the generosity.

I made that joke to the tea lady when I moved to Yorkshire 45 years ago. (Yes, there were such things as tea ladies then!). I never got tea again, and she didn't even know I was originally from Lancashire.

[Myrtles Man]

Ah, if she had known that you were a Lancastrian too you may have been well advised to send the tea off for analysis before risking a sip!