Champion CT-410 Gapping Tool

First post of the new year! And let's start by taking a look at a nifty little vintage tool I have.

It's a Spark Plug Gapping tool made by Champion (spark plug company). The model code says CT-410. I tried to do a web search and the only info I can find is that it's old. I inherited this tool from my Dad who says it was given to him by someone in the 80's.

The front part of the tool has the measurements in millimeters from 1.0mm to 0.50mm. The reverse side displays the equivalent in inches and would be useful if you're working on an american car that lists specifications in Inches. Apologies for  lack of pic of that side, I forgot to snap the pic and the tool is back in the shop as of this writing.

The side profile shows the wedge.

To Gap a Spark Plug simply slide it across from the skinny side of the wedge to the fat side until the tip lines up with the specified gap setting. This is also useful for checking to see how much the gap of used plugs have 'opened up' before resetting the gap.

The top end of the tool has a little hook thing that fits into the electrode that will allow for it to be pushed down to close down a gap that has opened up too big.















It's interesting how simple the concept of this tool is yet I have not seen this really catch on. To date I don't know of anyone else who has one. I'd like to hear from you if you do or if you have something similar. I don't really get to use this much since I started using Iridium Spark Plugs in my engines, as those come pre-gapped and the Iridium is so hard it's impossible to re-gap them without breaking the tip off (Yes, I've tried). But it is an indispensable tool when working with ordinary copper plugs.