Topic

A section to talk about appropriate tools for car maintenance.
If you have knowledge in this area, please feel free to contribute.

Oh excellent, I had to cancel my door hinge bush replacement yesterday as I couldn't find a long enough punch (plus it was monsoon weather here) so I spent a bit of spare time organising the 'mobile toolbox' I intend to keep in the boot.

I spent quite a bit of time trying to establish which size spark plug tool to carry (16mm tool for an F, the plugs are 10mm).
I hope that saves another mechanical newbie a bit of searching

Well done to those who have started new threads here.
One small point though. It would be helpful for those who in the future are searching for information, if the title of the thread described the tool featured within.

Thanks to all who have made contributions to Tooltime.
Hopefully we can keep up the momentum and have a useful reference tool for anyone who want to know which tool they need for a particular job.
So keep the contributions coming, be they whole new threads or just helpful additions or tips to existing threads.
Please feel free to suggest any type of tool you like to know more about.
And please do show you latest additions to your tool box, we all like a good tool perve!

You might be thinking that you can't justify buying a lot of the stuff I've featured here because you'll never get enough use out of it.....Fair enough!
I put this stuff on here so a you can have an understanding of what it is and how it works to provide you with a basic working knowledge.
Armed with this you know what the ask your mechanic for and understand the results he returns.
You'll now know what to hire, beg, borrow, steal or put on Santa's list if you can't justify buying it.

And remember: He/She who dies with the most tools wins!

Do inherited tools count?

Argen69 wrote: wrote:

Do inherited tools count?

Yeah....some of that old stuff is brilliant.
I'm lucky enough to have both my fathers and my grandfathers tools!
A lot of it is obsolete these days but they are still interesting.

I don't know what a lot of does, so perhaps we could do a "what tool is it time"

Yeah, no worries.
You post some clear pix and we'll have a go at recognising them.
I'll start a new thread for the purpose of identifying tools that people may've acquired without the knowledge of what they are and/or how to use them.
"Name That Tool!" sounds a good title.

I've been a little busy to write up any new subjects for Tooltime of late, but rest assured there are more in the pipeline.
In the meantime please continue to add suggestions for stuff you'd like to see.

Would members suggest buying cheap Chinese made tools for jobs, that are little often done? I brought a large cheap power drill a few years ago, and its never been used, fortunately it was very cheap, but workable. Then spend more on the say 12 most used tools in the bag?

I bought a cheap Italian pillar drill 20 years ago. I have worked it long and hard. It is still serviceable. The modern Chinese equivalent I chose to replace it with was returned the next day. My ( fairly expensive- four figures) Chinese lathe was delivered within a thou in all settings, proving that you get what you pay for. Generally, money spent on good tools is not wasted unless you are old like me and will not begin to wear it out!