Hello all!

Back with a 3rd Fiat, a mk1 98 Punto 60 . Anyway, I have little hands on experience with cars and near enough no tools. The old girl needs a few things to tidy her up and ideally I would like to service her my self in the very near future as well as perhaps the more simple repairs/maintenance as and when necessary (brakes, for instance). I do mechanical engineering at uni so know the basics of the car in theory, but have never done more than change an air filter! Would this be silly to assume that armed with a haynes manual and the world wide web that I can do this? If I can, what sort of basic essential tools should I look at investing in, as I do plan on doing as much as I can do when needed on my drive!

Cheers folks,
Sam

P.s. Sorry if in wrong section!

A multimeter will probably be the best thing to get straight away! Most faults on cars are electrical. Quality spanners and sockets (both long and short in length), Snap On if you've got the dough cause of their lifetime guarantee but my 20 year old Stanley set is still going strong. Nice set of insulated screw drivers including a circuit tester. Good set of wire strippers and crimpers. Maplin and RS Components do some of the top brands. A magnetic pick up tool! Very bloody handy when you drop a nut into the engine bay and can't reach it. With tools though, don't buy cheap you will regret it. Car boot sales are an excellent source for branded tools at next to nothing prices.

Also a security bit drive set! The ones with all the weird and wonderful shaped heads.

Thanks for that, plenty of info to go on. I will try a car boot before spending a lot of money, however if i don't find much i won't mind spending a decent amount of money knowing the tools will hopefully last near on a lifetime!

there are a few things that once bought and looked after will last you for life.

1. a good socket set I recommend halfords own brand
2. a set of screw drivers that cover a range of different sized flat and philips heads and preferably with a 'bit' holder for...
3. a set of screwdriver bits that include torx bits. (T10 - T30 at least)
4. a decent set of spanners well worth investing some money here not get cheap ones off a market stall (if you value your knuckles)
5. A good set of allen keys going up to large sizes you will need a big allen key to change the oil on any fiat (I forget the size)
6. set of pliers i got 6 in a set for £5 branded JCB (which have taken abuse well)
7. a big hammer (when used in combination with a big screwdriver can fix many problems)

I would personally put multimeter on the end of your list. most problems can be checked with a bulb on a wire but if you want one wait till you actually need one can be bought from maplin for £5-8

once you have these in your tool box you'll not find many situations when your stuck.

if you ever intend to own anything built by british leyland or a fiat over 15 years old then a mig welder wouldn't go a miss

Decent socket set baldness advanced have life time warranty so have their spanners forget fancy oil filter removers just get a old screw driver and hammer

12 mm Alan key for sump plug

andy monty said:

decent socket set baldness advanced have life time warranty so have their spanners forget fancy oil filter removers just get a old screw driver and hammer

12 mm alan key for sump plug

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dyac

Halfords bloody I pod

Go for 3/8 socket set.

1/2" breaker bar and 1/2 to 3/8 adamptor.

Axle stands

Trolley Jack

Crawler or mat to lie on.

A less than 5 quid oil filter tool will save you lots of time/mess. Washing up bowl from ASDA to drain the oil into.

I recently serviced my sons 1998 Punto 60 Mk1. I used a metric socket set, metric ring/open end spanners, 12mm hex allen key for the sump plug, oil filter strap wrench. I had to search for the spark plug socket that was thin enough to fit as the cyl head is pretty tight. The easiest was the air filter, its held by over center clips you only need your fingers. Without a doubt this engine is one of the simplest to service a real pleasure to work on.

I'm not going to add any other tool suggestions, & although as said very easy to work on, rust will be your main enemy. If you want to venture further than just the servicing, & I expect you will. Certain areas of the car will vex you to say the least, because a certain bolt, nut or what ever wont budge.

Be prepared...

Great stuff guys thanks for your input - I think I'm gonna tackle this oil filter and sparks pretty soon, the air filter was already done with just my bare hands

This is why I love FiatForum!!! I've had a Corsa and a 307 and the forums are unfriendly and quiet respectively.

Sam574 said:

Great stuff guys thanks for your input - I think I'm gonna tackle this oil filter and sparks pretty soon, the air filter was already done with just my bare hands

This is why I love FiatForum!!! I've had a Corsa and a 307 and the forums are unfriendly and quiet respectively.

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Best of luck young fella. Off topic I have a seven year old diesel hack that I use from time to time, & although I'm pretty handy with the spanners, I joined a certain forum just for information. Lets just say the average age is 19. Talk about abusive angry young men. I'm a man of the world, but what an eye opener. The terminology that they use combined with their chosen street speak is baffling, & if any new guy on the block asks the wrong question or that's deemed "gay" just short of death threats are sent out.

I could go on & give you an account of a facetious comment I posted up on a thread:devil: I still smile about it now. Talk about taking things too seriously. One member was banned & that was just for starters. Ah happy days..

One last one! A sledge hammer for when it just gets too much! Lol. Happy motor tinkering.

A decent blowtorch for removing stubborn nuts - heat just the nut & it should expand slightly more than the corresponding bolt - will help to shift it. I have also found a decent nut splitter to be invaluable at times, especially on nut/bolt combos that are so rusted that they turn together & you can't get a decent grip on one to turn the other.

A good toolbox to keep them all in, one that will enable you to carry them all and put the smaller tools in their own little pockets etc so your not diving through all the bigger sharper tools to find them.

sludgeguts said:

A decent blowtorch for removing stubborn nuts - heat just the nut & it should expand slightly more than the corresponding bolt

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and one of these



Not that i ever set fire to the under-seal on dads last car trying to heat and straighten the exhaust bracket with a large propane blow torch after it came back from repair and they hadn't done it...

Quick blast of afff and out went the flames :slayer: (thank fook)

Always, ALWAYS start a job with the flick of a switch - the one on the kettle!!

And another golden rule is never lend your tools to ANYONE they either never come back or come back bent/ broken/ damaged

Hey, I didn't break your axle stands did I?