I need to buy some tools before my build starts in ernest, but which ones? I can't afford SnapOn so what would be the next best thing, I've looked at Teng, Britool and Draper, but what would you recommend?

Cheers
Colin

Halfords.

Lifetime warranty and open on a Sunday when you break something.

Get yourself to Halfords... look at their Proffesional range... the tools are pretty damn good and have a lifetime waranty..

Get a set of spanners, sockets, torque wrench and a couple of big hammers... and you should be ok... Then just buy the tools as and when you reqrie them from that point onwards

i have this
http://www.halfords.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/product_storeId_10001_catalogId_10151_productId_177693_langId_-1_categoryId_165572,
well worth the money

ANother vote for Halfords, the warranty is pretty much a no quibble job, I've only broken one bit so far and just took it back and they exchanged it on the spot no questions asked.

as above, Halfords do very nice tools

you really don't need all that many spanners or sockets for a 7 as the sizes you'll use are 10, 13, 17 and 20mm so getting a huge set isn't necessary. If you need some special tool like an engine hoist, cylinder pressure gauge, ball joint breakers, colour tune, lazy riveter, pullers etc etc just let me know and you can simply borrow mine.

Yep, I use a mixture, some halfords. Well made, decent price and as said, open late and at the weekends.

I also use some Teng, Facom, Britool, Sykes Pickavant. Keep trawling ebay for cheaper prices.

And I have a small collection of old tools. At car boot sales (and ebay) I have picked up old, second hand good quality tools, given them a clean and they have out performed the 'mistakes'** I have made.

** by mistakes I mean the cheap £1 items, they look nice and shiney, but are made from the shittest metal I've ever seen. My dad once told me you should never break a tool. Well the only ones I have were the cheap ones, which were then replaced by good quality ones for not much more money.

Teng are a current fave of mine, but all those mentioned will get the job done without fuss.

Car boots can be a great source of good quality used tools, just avoid the cheap (Chinese) cr8p which WILL break and probably skin your knuckles when it does.

quote:

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Originally posted by Mr Whippy
as above, Halfords do very nice tools

you really don't need all that many spanners or sockets for a 7 as the sizes you'll use are 10, 13, 17 and 20mm so getting a huge set isn't necessary. If you need some special tool like an engine hoist, cylinder pressure gauge, ball joint breakers, colour tune, lazy riveter, pullers etc etc just let me know and you can simply borrow mine.

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if you have a compressor invest in a air riveter

the CV joint bolts are very very tight, so tight that many just cut the heads off and replace them new ones. You'll need a very good tommy bar to remove the hub nuts. Do that before you remove it from the car, IIRC the passenger side one has a left hand thread

quote:

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Originally posted by omega0684
if you have a compressor invest in a air riveter

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quote:

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Originally posted by Mr Whippy
the CV joint bolts are very very tight, so tight that many just cut the heads off and replace them new ones. You'll need a very good tommy bar to remove the hub nuts. Do that before you remove it from the car, IIRC the passenger side one has a left hand thread

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I also have Halfrauds tools and have never had any probs (and they have had their fair share of abuse )
If you can get your hands on a trade card, you can also get an nice discount

I would sugest 3/8 inch socket set over 1/2 inch.

I have both and will always grab the 3/8 over the 1/2 inch, the 1/2 inch only usually comes out with the 24 inch craking bar or *cough* end of the impact gun

Regards

Agriv8

Another vote for halfords pro stuff, pretty well made, probably equal to Teng in quality.

The rest of my kit is Britool and Teng.

Also buy yourself a decent hacksaw frame and blades (nothing but Eclipse in my book) and some good files. Makes those fabrication jobs so much easier than struggling with cheap stuff.

I would go for a 3/8" and 1/2" socket set. Also make sure you get some 6 point sockets as well as some 12 point. Much better for those really tight bolts as you are less likely to round them off.

You'll also want a 4.5" (115mm) angry grinder, get a decent one with plenty of grunt and a pack of 1mm cutting discs.

David

quote:

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Originally posted by GrumpyOne

quote:

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Originally posted by Mr Whippy
the CV joint bolts are very very tight, so tight that many just cut the heads off and replace them new ones. You'll need a very good tommy bar to remove the hub nuts. Do that before you remove it from the car, IIRC the passenger side one has a left hand thread

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Don't know if Scorpio hubs are the same as Sierra's but I got the big nut in the middle off alright but the four bolts behind the hub holding the carrier on just wont budge, nearly killed myself yesterday trying to move them and I am no small person. Haven't tried the CV bolts yet, need to get a Torx bit first. Needs to be done for the weekend though.

Cheers
Colin

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i think halfords are great i had snapon and sold the lot and got loads of halfords tools around £3k worth ,

NOW FIND SOMEONE WITH A TRADE CARD TO GET A DISCOUNT DONT PAY FULL PRICE FOR THEM.

NOW FIND SOMEONE WITH A TRADE CARD TO GET A DISCOUNT DONT PAY FULL PRICE FOR THEM.

NOW FIND SOMEONE WITH A TRADE CARD TO GET A DISCOUNT DONT PAY FULL PRICE FOR THEM.

NOW FIND SOMEONE WITH A TRADE CARD TO GET A DISCOUNT DONT PAY FULL PRICE FOR THEM.

NOW FIND SOMEONE WITH A TRADE CARD TO GET A DISCOUNT DONT PAY FULL PRICE FOR THEM.

NOW FIND SOMEONE WITH A TRADE CARD TO GET A DISCOUNT DONT PAY FULL PRICE FOR THEM.

did you get that

Just realised, I probably own at least one thing from every major tool maker, apart from Snap-on. None of my tools match one another. Nothing has broken or worn.

Yet some people I know with the Snap-on kit often tell me how good it is because its got a lifetime guarantee, and if it breaks they will replace it for free. Quite a few mates have had to do this.

Three things...
1, I don't want my tools to break, so don't make a big deal about that in your sales pitch
2, Most tool makers will replace broken items anyway, so snap-on does not have the monopoly on that anyway.
3, You are paying more for snap-on, not for the quality, you are actually paying for the future replacements you may be getting 'for free' when you break them.

I think thats part of the reason I have never bothered with them.

Second the Halfords trade card, since I got mine I've saved a fortune!

[Edited on 24/6/09 by coozer]

i agree, air riveter is an absolute must. worth it just for the noise they make, which is why the underside of my car looks like a world war 2 bomber!
clunk-pshhhhh clunk-pshhhhh clunk-pshhhh

Another vote for Half-Fords

3/8" set is used most, aslo good for geting in small places.

As for the Hub Nuts... Look in my Archive for the tight nuts Pic. This worked well, even when the hub was off the car.

Get a short length of scaffold pole, its very very useful for all sorts of jobs.
Dont get the cheap halfords tool chest (on wheels) its not that good. Invest ins a better quality item, and with roller bearing drawers.

When buying 1/2" sockets, buy impact ones. Even if you dont have an impact gun, they are hex sided and rounf the nuts less, and are VERY strong.

Stuff I have got and have used a lot:

Hilka socket set (metric + imperial) that I have had for over 25 years (haven't seen the brand recently, but I just googled and there is a UK web site).

Halfords professional metric spanner set - C spanner at one end, swivel ratchet head at the other. Goes from 8mm to 19mm - some of them I don't use that often, but I've used all of them at one time or another. Great quality and I got my set on a special offer

Halfords 1/4" socket set - something like 4mm to 12mm plus imperial equivalents and I found a 13mm socket which I keep in there as well). Very useful for smaller nuts that don't have to be massively torqued up.

Mole grips

Hammers

Angry grinder

Plus odds and sods that I have picked up from time to time.

Just looked what qualifies you to get a Halfords trade card... the usual suspects of qualifications, job etc. but also "High Volume Parts Buyer (or frequent user of car parts) or High volume of local motor factor invoices from last 3 months". So, if you buy some stuff you might be able to blag a card before buying all the tools?

The Scorpio and sierra use the same rear suspension components; only difference is the number of wheel studs. The bolts for the carrier are made of good steel and have the threads sealed with blue compound so shouldn't be rusty. I'd use a socket with a hexagonal slot to drive them or you’ll round the edges of the bolt. I'd recommend using a puller to remove the hub flange first as that’s quite tight too, then remove the carrier. Its good you got the hub nuts off, mine where really tight and quite difficult as they weren’t on a car at the time.

quote:

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Originally posted by thunderace
i think halfords are great i had snapon and sold the lot and got loads of halfords tools around £3k worth ,

NOW FIND SOMEONE WITH A TRADE CARD TO GET A DISCOUNT DONT PAY FULL PRICE FOR THEM.

NOW FIND SOMEONE WITH A TRADE CARD TO GET A DISCOUNT DONT PAY FULL PRICE FOR THEM.

NOW FIND SOMEONE WITH A TRADE CARD TO GET A DISCOUNT DONT PAY FULL PRICE FOR THEM.

NOW FIND SOMEONE WITH A TRADE CARD TO GET A DISCOUNT DONT PAY FULL PRICE FOR THEM.

NOW FIND SOMEONE WITH A TRADE CARD TO GET A DISCOUNT DONT PAY FULL PRICE FOR THEM.

NOW FIND SOMEONE WITH A TRADE CARD TO GET A DISCOUNT DONT PAY FULL PRICE FOR THEM.

did you get that

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I got a set of Bahco sockets from ebay next set up from this for less money and it's good stuff. Look for seller maybank-potter, has some bargains and will do a buy it now if you contact them.

[Edited on 24/6/09 by Peteff]

Snap on will replace or repair the tool regardless of how it was damaged most manufacturers only replace because of manufacturing or material defect.

Stripped the teeth of my snap on ratchet trying to get a wheel nut undone took it to the snap on guy he sourced the ratchet service kit and repaired it no muss no fuss

quote:

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Originally posted by thunderace
i think halfords are great i had snapon and sold the lot and got loads of halfords tools around £3k worth ,

NOW FIND SOMEONE WITH A TRADE CARD TO GET A DISCOUNT DONT PAY FULL PRICE FOR THEM.

NOW FIND SOMEONE WITH A TRADE CARD TO GET A DISCOUNT DONT PAY FULL PRICE FOR THEM.

NOW FIND SOMEONE WITH A TRADE CARD TO GET A DISCOUNT DONT PAY FULL PRICE FOR THEM.

NOW FIND SOMEONE WITH A TRADE CARD TO GET A DISCOUNT DONT PAY FULL PRICE FOR THEM.

NOW FIND SOMEONE WITH A TRADE CARD TO GET A DISCOUNT DONT PAY FULL PRICE FOR THEM.

NOW FIND SOMEONE WITH A TRADE CARD TO GET A DISCOUNT DONT PAY FULL PRICE FOR THEM.

did you get that

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NOW FIND SOMEONE WITH A TRADE CARD TO GET A DISCOUNT DONT PAY FULL PRICE FOR THEM.

did you get that

I used to work there part time through my studies and have to say the Halfords gear isnt bad for someone starting out, actually built half the MNR with there tools. only problem i have ever has is breaking the 1/2 - 3/8 adapters and one or two of the torx sockets but i think a few manufacturers have this problem and like mentioned earlier cheap and lifetime guarantee. The rest of my kit is a mixture of bits - a few from machine mart - i have to say there hand tools liek riveter etc arent great but my new stanley one is so buy decent brand stuff if you think you may need it alot. A few important tools i have are the multimeter - get one that beeps for continuity as its a massive help when working alone. Also the laser rivnut tools is budget and the smaller heads have broken but replaced quite easily.