A neat little mystery tool

[Hickory n Steel]

I have this little guy from my grandfather and am not 100% sure exactly what it's intended for.
It's got a screwdriver, 2 wrench sizes,and 3 what I have assumed were spark plug gaps.



I had found the patent in an online search maybe a year ago, but cannot turn up anything today because some things were changed in the system and a bunch of stuff is unavailable or something.
I remember it having been patented sometime in the 60's, and the patent describing " feeler gauges " or something,  but not exactly what the tool was intended for.
I also don't remember there being any explanation of the tit in the center,  my assumption was that it would store inside one of those little folding ignition tools of some type.


Maybe somebody has seen one of these, or can succeed in turning up the patent that I can't find.

[goodfellow]

Looks like a pocket distributor point adjusting tool. Very common back in the day. Auto parts stores had them on the counter for just a few cents, or they gave them away as advertising promotions

The two wrench like open ends were used to loosen the condenser (aka capacitor) connection, while the A,B,C divisions were feeler gauges set to a point gap, and the screwdriver end was used to loosen and then adjust the points to that specific gap.

Back then, there wasn't much of a difference in point gap spacing among the many car manufacturers, and those three gap settings probably met most all recommended point gaps.

In an emergency, most old timers used a matchbook cover to space the point gap. It wasn't perfect, but absent a feeler gauge or dwell tachometer, it was good enough to get you back on the road. I did that quite often in my old British sports car days. Lucas Electric points were so bad that I kept a spare set in the car
knowing full well that they'd fail after about three/four thousand miles. Many didn't even last that long.

In those days an ignition point tune up (either cleaning and adjusting, or replacing) was recommended every three thousand miles. Most folks never followed that recommendation, hence a lot of points and condenser related starting problems, fuel mileage problems, and ignition timing issues.

[Hickory n Steel]

Looks like a pocket distributor point adjusting tool. Very common back in the day. Auto parts stores had them on the counter for just a few cents, or they gave them away as advertising promotions

The two wrench like open ends were used to loosen the condenser (aka capacitor) connection, while the A,B,C divisions were feeler gauges set to a point gap, and the screwdriver end was used to loosen and then adjust the points to that specific gap.

Back then, there wasn't much of a difference in point gap spacing among the many car manufacturers, and those three gap settings probably met most all recommended point gaps.

In an emergency, most old timers used a matchbook cover to space the point gap. It wasn't perfect, but absent a feeler gauge or dwell tachometer, it was good enough to get you back on the road. I did that quite often in my old British sports car days. Lucas Electric points were so bad that I kept a spare set in the car
knowing full well that they'd fail after about three/four thousand miles. Many didn't even last that long.

In those days an ignition point tune up (either cleaning and adjusting, or replacing) was recommended every three thousand miles. Most folks never followed that recommendation, hence a lot of points and condenser related starting problems, fuel mileage problems, and ignition timing issues.

That makes perfect sense.
I didn't really think of these feeler gauge spots being able to really fit in there very well, but my familiarity with P&C ignition doesn't go beyond small engines.