Guys,

Bought my car in April mainly for the driving experience and never really thought too much about the mechanical side of things.

I now want to start tinkering e.g. new brakes, replace the rear wheel bearing, new lights and indicators and some other little bits and pieces.

My tool kit is woefully inadequate! Consists mainly of claw hammers and pliers!

I was given £110 worth of Halfords vouchers when I left my job last week and wondered what tools you guys would recommend to get me started?

What essentials would you have in your starter kit?

Sockets?
Torque Wrenches?
Drivers?

Anyone used the Halfords Professional range? Is it any good?

I'm a complete novice but I'm really enjoying the mechanical side of things more than I ever thought I would.

The Halfords professional tools are excellent.
I'd start with (as a bare minimum) a 3/8 socket set, some ratchet spanners and a screwdriver set, that should see out your £110

I would say the Halfords professional range is fine so toddle off to the local store and go tool shopping

I would have:

a 3/8" drive socket set and a 1/2" drive socket set

A set of combination spanners going from 8mm to 19mm - Halfords do some nice ratchet ones with swivel heads which I like but not everyone does

A decent set of screwdrivers

A decent set of allen keys

That should get you started and use up your vouchers

If you want to spend more then a torque wrench is a good idea as if you are still getting used to this stuff, it will help you not strip threads etc.

After that just buy stuff as you need it

Cheers

Mark

I quite like the Halfords Pro stuff, I've got a fair bit of socketry from them and only ever managed to break one so far, and they have a lifetime guarantee so you can just pop back and get another

1/4" drive socket set
1/4" drive breaker bar (i've go an 18" long one (fnar fnar ) and it's good for most things)
Combination spanner set
soft faced mallet (coper or plastic/hide)
jack and axle stands
good set of screwdrivers
pry bars (much better than using a flat screwdriver)

If you can afford it get a 3/8" socket set as well. They're much nicer to use for most jobs than a 1/2" set, but if you can only afford one set then go for the bigger one so you can still do the more manly jobs

The halfords profesional spanners and screwdrivers are very good, i dont rate any of there sockets or ratchets, for the couple of extra quid i would get facom, beta, teng or signet sockets/ratchets.

Halfords normally stock a range of sykes, draper and lazer tools.

So for £110 i would buy spanner set and a few spanners to fill in the gaps, a screwdriver set and big flat head and phillips not included in the set. The halfords torque wrenches look good quality but they are a bit pricey for the occasional user.

With whats left i would get a
1. Test light
2. Ball joint splitter (wind up type, not hammer in fork type)
3. brake hose clamps (plastic plier type)
4. wire stripper/terminal crimp tool

Paul

wouldn't worry too much about a torque wrench. i bought one about 8 years ago, hardly used it.

if new brakes is what you need/want to do first, and jack and axle stands are pretty much a defintite need

as said before, sockets (19mm will probably be the one you need for wheel nuts) ratchet handle (i'd go half inch drive), one of those long handle bar thingys for the sockets, screw drivers, wire stripper and crimper.

thats should see you for getting the wheels off, brakes done, lights replaced.

Atm you can get the halfords pro tool set (150 peice) for £99 atm.. Ive got one, had it for about 2 years and its got just about everything you need in there for a beginner.

I would say almost exactly as above, apart from I wouldn't invest in a set of ratchet spanners if these are going to be your first set of decent tools - get a set of normal (decent - halfords are fine) spanners because ratchet spanners don't always get in all the places you might need. And then one day in the future if you think you need some then buy the ratchet ones when you want/need!

I would also invest in a very good 1/4 drive mini socket set with hex sockets in it. I bought a lesser named but very good set (was quite dear actually but got it from smaller local tool shop!) that I find invaluable!

Steve

Thanks for the replies guys some really good ideas.

I've already got the axel stands and trolley jack so thats a start.

I saw that 150 piece Halfords Professional set and it looks fairly good.

http://www.halfords.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/product_storeId_10001_catalogId_10151_productId_173083_langId_-1_CarSelectorCatalogId__CarSelectorGr oupId__varient__categoryId_76863_crumb_33958-76859_parentcategoryrn_76863

What a URL!

I assume it contains most of what I need.

[Edited on 29-10-2007 by Worzey]

Other stuff

Digital vernier - there are/were a lot of cheap ones in woolworths/aldi/lidl/netto a few months back. Got mine for £8 from netto and it's very useful.
12" and 6" Steel Rules
Couple of different sized ball pein hammers
Soft faced hammer
Decent quality hacksaw and top quality blades
Small fridge.

[Edited on 29/10/07 by iank]

reckon that set has most of what you need! good choice i reckon. add to that some screw drivers and you're done, though a long bar handle for the sockets would be a good idea, somethimes ratchet handles aren't long enough to give the leverage you need for loosening very tight nuts, or tightening wheel nuts properly

I too can recomend Halfords Pro stuff.

A couple of other items you may want to consider....


Deep sockets, there have been a number of times I've needed these, but not a real number one priority.

And a breaker bar, very useful. Not too long, approx 300 to 400mm, it will fit in your toolbox then.

As mentioned above the Halfrauds Pro stuff comes with a lifetime guarantee so make sure you keep your receipt

On the whole I have had no problems with the Pro stuff, the sockets seem up to the job. I didnt really like the ratchets so bought some better nicer ones elsewhere.

As one or two people have mentioned i would also buy a 1/2" breaker bar just to save wear and tear on the comparitively expensive ratchets when you need to use some brute force.

digital vernier, I've got 2 (1 is mricometer) and waste of time as far as I am concerned, batteries die in no time.

nowt wrong with manual ones once you learn how to read them.

save £ 5 and buy a maplins multimeter.

Just to add my voice of support for the Halfords kits - I've got a slighty smaller set than the 150 piece set and it did me for almost every job on the car. I did manage to break a couple of bits but I got them replaced no questions asked.

As for other stuff, all the above suggestions are great, although you might want to hold off on the more expensive items until you find you actually need them, just incase.

Pete

Another bit of kit that is very handy is a clip-on spotlamp. I bought a cheap+nasty 2nd hand one on Ebay for 99p and it was one of the best purchases I made for my garage.... An inspection lamp is an alternative but I like the fact that the spotlight only illuminates what I point it at!!

Hammers! Cold Chisel! Impact screwdriver! All essential to remove rusted and overtightened fixings. Big breaker bar, if you get 1/2" socket set you break the fixing with 3/8th you break the socket!

Caber

I wouldn't buy complete socket sets. I find I only ever use about six 10,12,13,14,17,19 mm and the rest just sit there. It depends a) how far you are from Halfords and b) how important it is to you to have the odd one immediately to hand late on Sunday evening. I buy the tools ( breaker bar, ratchet drive etc as I need them)

I would say torque wrench is pretty important.