General Tool box and tools

[hodgy18]

Afternoon all.

Just a quick general question. In a months time i will be getting my new garage in which my 500 will live. With that I would like to buy a tool box chest and a few new spanners etc. I have seen many ads in car magazines etc, but I was looking for recommendations for well priced good quality ones. Any suggestions?

 

[chris3234]

not the cheepest but halfords advanced have a lifetime warrently on them if you break them

 

[MOD500]

I bought a Britool set of sockets about a decade ago.
The sockets are good although I need to strip and check the ratchet, it's a bit sticky these days.


I was encouraged by a friend to opt for 6 sided sockets because they are a bit more sympathetic on rounded nuts and bolts.


Fiats are metric so I opted for a metric only set, then you can afford to get a better set.


I've always used Halfords professional spanners, never had any issues with them.


Buy the best tool chest you can comfortably afford. A good set of roller bearing draws will pay for them selves in the long run. cheaper ones will jam up over time. Mine were made by a work cell manufacturer called treston. They are probably 20 years old and still run very smoothly. Worth keeping an eye out on ebay for ex-industrial benches.

 

[Toshi 975]

not the cheepest but halfords advanced have a lifetime warrently on them if you break them

I second the Halfords advanced tools and it is worth signing up for the Halfords emails as they often do some stunning offers on tools quite often and they have a lifetime no quibble warranty.

 

[perelaar]

I've done all the repairs and maintenance on my Nissan Terrano2 for years, and found out the hard way that it is more economic to buy the best tools you can afford.

My favourite: Facom. Not sure if available in the UK, I'm sure there are similar brands over there.
Depending on the extent of the work you plan doing, make sure to get a proper hydraulic jack and a full set of axle stands - and use them, even for "quick" jobs. I still have the 3,5ton / 55cm lift jack I got when I had the Nissan.

 

[fiat500]

My suggestion is not to buy any sets of tools, regardless of how good they are or the guarantee they carry....you're more likely to lose or have good tools "borrowed" from you rather than break them.

My policy is to buy tools as the need arises. Tools that aren't used very frequently can seem proportionately expensive but if you intend to stick with the car you'll be glad you bought them sooner rather than later. I have a "Bahco", long-reach plug spanner which I bought for my first 500 in 1982 and is still doing excellent service.

I think it's far better to have duplicates of common sizes of spanner and socket rather than having a complete range of them. I mainly use 8,10, 11,13,16, 17, 19 and 32mm.

A really accurate torque-wrench is expensive but a cheap one is almost useless.

There are lots of good-quality, inexpensive screwdriver sets available these days and one of these will be a good investment. The salient point with these is to choose the correct one for the screw head.

There are a few specialist tools which make electrical work a lot easier and less daunting; so I recommend getting a digital multi-meter and a good-quality professional, wire-cutter, stripper and crimping tool.

Happy spannering.

 

[hodgy18]

Thank you for the replies and tips. I've signed up for Halfords newsletter, and also had a look at eBay etc.
Good point as well from fiat500 - buys tools as and when required. Think going out and buying everything is tempting but not a good idea. Thanks for the reminder to keep a sensible head. [emoji6]

 

[chris3234]

My suggestion is not to buy any sets of tools, regardless of how good they are or the guarantee they carry....you're more likely to lose or have good tools "borrowed" from you rather than break them.

My policy is to buy tools as the need arises. Tools that aren't used very frequently can seem proportionately expensive but if you intend to stick with the car you'll be glad you bought them sooner rather than later. I have a "Bahco", long-reach plug spanner which I bought for my first 500 in 1982 and is still doing excellent service.

I think it's far better to have duplicates of common sizes of spanner and socket rather than having a complete range of them. I mainly use 8,10, 11,13,16, 17, 19 and 32mm.

A really accurate torque-wrench is expensive but a cheap one is almost useless.

There are lots of good-quality, inexpensive screwdriver sets available these days and one of these will be a good investment. The salient point with these is to choose the correct one for the screw head.

There are a few specialist tools which make electrical work a lot easier and less daunting; so I recommend getting a digital multi-meter and a good-quality professional, wire-cutter, stripper and crimping tool.

Happy spannering.

Disagree with the more likely to loose them part

Having broke 3 sockets and two extensions last year trying to remove a set of over tigtned wheels nuts from a car

 

[MOD500]

.
Good point as well from fiat500 - buys tools as and when required. [emoji6]

autojumble stalls are great for old good quality tools. I bought a set of genuine mole grips for 50p last moth.

 

[Toshi 975]

Disagree with the more likely to loose them part

Having broke 3 sockets and two extensions last year trying to remove a set of over tigtned wheels nuts from a car

Easiest way to loose tools is to lend them to a friend or neighbor
Lost count of the number of times I have had to chase up items or received incomplete items returned. Some people seem totally oblivious to the fact that you are or may be using these things daily or that you have spent thousands getting the right tool for the job.
If those sockets & extensions had been Halfords advanced you would have got free replacements
I did by a set of impact driver sockets to cope with heavy duty applications though.
Through a series of events I ended up with literally hundreds of old tools. So much so that I had to sell large job lots just to make some room. There were some interesting items in there including an old Britool Vauxhall Bedford spanner that is stamped WAR FINISH so it is black and not shiny.
I think this thrifty style is soon to be reintroduced under the new name BREXIT FINISH

 

[chris3234]

That was promoted me to get the Halfords advanced set this was a 25 year old cheep set that's about as old as me ?

 

[gordinir8]

A really accurate torque-wrench is expensive but a cheap one is almost useless.

Happy spannering.

I bought a cheap Chinese torque wrench for 25 euros, it even had a calibration certificate inside. One day the calibration guys came at work to check our torque wrenches so I said to the guy from the lab if he can check my tool to see how accurate it was. To my surprise it was within acceptable limits and any deviations where same as on expensive snap on wrenches. Ofcourse I will not reccomend such a tool for professional work but at list in my case it is ok for our little cars.

 

[fiat500]

I bought a cheap Chinese torque wrench for 25 euros, it even had a calibration certificate inside. One day the calibration guys came at work to check our torque wrenches so I said to the guy from the lab if he can check my tool to see how accurate it was. To my surprise it was within acceptable limits and any deviations where same as on expensive snap on wrenches. Ofcourse I will not reccomend such a tool for professional work but at list in my case it is ok for our little cars.

Good point...my cheap one also had the certificate but I get concerned when setting very low torque fixings which are at the limits of its range. I also had a heavier duty one which quickly developed some internal fault which made it hard to detect when torque was achieved; I ended up tightening the suspension bolts the old way...by feel.

It's just that although what I call a good one is at least twice the price of a bottom-range one, if I had been aware of the pitfalls I would have bought a better one at the beginning.:bang::bang:

Incidentally, I don't necessarily think you even need a torque-wrench on this car if you have a good feel for mechanical issues.

 

[Bigvtwin996]

Good tools will always pay for them selves over time....
but savings can be made... in a socket set if you can get the 6 sided sockets they are always better, but ratchets are usually cheap and break.. and so I acquired some Britool ones..
One of my best investments was a set of Draper expert ratchet spanners, incredibly slim and rather than turn over to use the other way have a tiny lever... needless to say I only have one left.... Now who did I end them toooo???


I always clean tools now when I have finished and treat them with more respect than I did...
Using the correct tool for the job and the correct way...
I was told never to use a ratchet to undo a very tight nut/bolt, an example being a wheel nut/bolt...

 

[AndrewRL]

I know that I will never use all of them (to Peter's point!) but I bought a Halfords Advanced socket and spanner set (I was a bit worried as Halfords always come in for stick so pleased to see them recommended here ). I see they have the same 170 piece set at £120 (£200 reduction) at the moment (although I think I bought mine with even more discount at £99 several months ago). So that works out at 70p per piece (or £12 per piece that you will actually use )

 

[Bigvtwin996]

I was a bit worried as Halfords always come in for stick so pleased to see them recommended here )..................

I only used Halfords sockets recently at a mates workshop and I too am impressed...
See if you can find someone with a trade card, you get up to 20% discount even on sale items I believe...

 

[hodgy18]

Thank you for all the posts and advice! Main one for me is to spend and buy wisely! Very much looking forward to getting the fiat home and kitted out with a new/2nd hand toolbox to get it up and running and to cure that nuisance hot running issue!

 

[gordinir8]

So here is my basic toolbox alghough I have other tools also with those I manage to rebuild my car. Combination spanner set 6-22 less than 40 euros, 1/4 socket set on a rail 7 to 13 and two socket handles 1/4 and 3/8 drive by facom top quality. (I prefer to use the 1/4 drive sockets, they are small, light and up to 13mm there is no need for bigger drive size) A cheap ratchet combination spanner set very useful bought from lidl supermarket. Two big 30 and 32 sockets. A small ispection mirror, couple of screwdriver is pretty much all you need. I usually have this toolbox onboard. I hope you get your little car soon, I guess we have a lot to talk. All the guys here are dying to help.
Thomas