I'm at the planning stages of the restoration of my Spitfire 1500, this currently involves drinking tea and spending my hard earned on building my tool collection. Before I splash out on a load of stuff I'm never going to use can I have some input on what the 'must have' tools are for a restoration (I intend to go back to bare chassis).
Although I'm a believer in the maxim 'you get what you pay for' I also don't want to shell out unnessasarily, so some advice on where it's worth paying the extra for and where I can save a bit would also help.
I have the basics (sockets, screwdrivers, pliers/grips, hammers etc) and have also invested in a compressor. A mig welder is next on the list, so what else should be there ..
Everybody will have their own views on these things, but the tools used will vary very much on what you're doing.
Initial stripdown- Angle grinder - on any restoration project, seized bits are going to be inevitable, and quite often a grinder is the quickest way off removing seized parts. Ideally a 4 1/2" or 5" electric one is best for this kind of work. Cut-off saw - Not necessary, but often handy for the tighter corners/finer bits a angle grinder can't get to.
Clean up- Wire brush for angle grinder - Ideally a twisted knot brush, which will quickly remove surface rust, exposing clean metal with the minimal amount off damage to the remaining good metal. Needle scaler - Not necessary, but is ideal for removing excess rust from thick metal parts (don't use on any thin sheet metal, unless you want to do alot off patching!) Sand Blaster - Certainly the best method for ensuring rust is removed, but will quickly highlight any areas where the metal isn't thick enough. Drill + taps/dies - with the inevitable problem off broken/cut off fastners, it will be necessary to drill them out and probably clean up the remaining thread (be it a nut or stud) with tap/die.
These are the major tools, but as always you'll find out that various other tools will probably be needed along the way. But to get started, an angle grinder along with normal workshop tools (sockets, spanners, etc...) will get you well underway with the stripdown, and you purchase the other tools as you go along.
As for where to spend extra on tools, I wouldn't say it's going to be too major a problem with the amount off work you'll be doing with them, but it's always worth while going to the shop and having a look at the vairous tools on offer. Personally I'd recommend going for a trip to your local machine mart, as they'll have all the tools you're likely to need.
Just a note, set the Mig welder up for 0.6mm wire when you get it, as it'll make welding thin metal far much easier.
"Jim" realised it was Thu, 04 Aug 2005 18:44:26 GMT and decided it was time to write:
It all depends on how far you want to go, how far the car is gone and how much you want to do yourself.
I'd start with a good set of AF spanners and sockets (a Triumph Spitfire is not much more than a giant Meccano set), some axle stands and an angle grinder with wire brush (and protective gear!). If you don't already have a sturdy work bench with a good vice, get one. It's indispensable for working on subassemblies. If it's to be a nut & bolt job, invest in a (digital) camera with flash, a notebook, a wide selection of ziplock bags, stackable plastic boxes and a marker pen. Photograph major parts from all angles before you take them apart, put bolts back where they came from until you get to the part and put assemblies like instruments, brake parts, carbs, distributor, lights, wiring looms and such in ziplock bags until you get to them. Put bolts that came from a particular assembly into a bag and write on the bag where they came from. Put all the bags in the boxes and write on the boxes what's in them. Meccano sets are enjoyed most when the parts are sorted systematically. ;-)
Get both a workshop manual and a parts manual - the latter is for reminding you how everything goes back together. Trust me, you will forget.
For rebuilding, you'll need a good torque wrench. The workshop manual will tell you what its range should be.
Even though it's not about restoring, there's a write-up on tools from a Spitfire owner here:
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- I heartilyagree with the views on tool quality. Do not be tempted to buy cheaptools. Good tools are more expensive, but most (except Snap-On) areworth it.
Lets start by getting one thing straight. If your sockets, ratchets and screwdrivers are anything other than MAC/Snap-On/Britool or at a push Halfords Pro range, you need to buy new tools. If you don't, you'll damage the car, damage parts, damage yourself and end up paying twice as much as that expensive £8 13mm socket by the time you've broken several saturday market special ones.
OK...
Safety: Gloves Overalls GOGGLES Welding Mask Face mask. Boots.
Tools: Brake pipe flaring kit. Full set of taps and dies. G clamps. Grinder with both grinding,cutting discs,wire brush attachments and polishing mop head. Valve spring compressor. DECENT torque wrench. Impact sockets. Impact driver DECENT set of drill bits. Bench grinder. Bench drill Bench Press Vice. Pop rivet gun. Lots of axle stands. BIG trolley jack. Strongarm Scaffolding pole. Schutz gun Selection of spray guns. Orbital sander. Sanding blocks. Set of body hammers and blocks.
There are many more brands than that which will be more than good enough for a home mechanic. The halfords pro range is excellent stuff, made by Facom. (the lifetime guarantee is better than snap-on, they simply change the tool without arguing, which is more than I can say for my snap-on supplier!)
Snap on and MAC are fine if you like paying extra for the name, as long as you steer clear of the really cheap and nasty stuff, you should be OK. If you can find an independent tool van in your area, you will probably find decent tools at good prices. Try asking at local garages if they know of one.
Don't forget this is a very noisy tool at close quarters. Get some good ear defenders unless you like the idea of a whistle in your ears for hours afterwards!
Some towns/cities have a second hand tools shop. Usually you can find the top names in there for very little money. As it's good kit it still represents a good buy.
13mm? Splutter! We're talking about classics here! And 8 quid a socket? If I could afford that much I'd be paying someone else to do the job. Buy secondhand ones at 3 for a quid from autojumbles, and if you're lucky you can find the odd decent make among them.
The grinder's got to be a variable speed one then. I don't think a polishing mop would last long at 10,000rpm. And wire brushes on single speed grinders really should be avoided or you spend forever pulling bits of wire out of your clothes.
And good eye protecrion. Saves a trip to hospital to get a sliver of metal picked out of your eye as I had once. (One of the little ventilation disks was missing and the little sod found its way in via that). And I find the auto darkening welding masks a real boon with my attempts at MIG welding.
What makes you think only recognised manufacturers make decent tools? You can buy cheap tools of equal quality if you stop buying by name, and buy by what they're made from. IME as an engineer, those made from 'Chrome Vanadium' and stamped or marked as such, are a pretty good guarantee that the tools are of good quality, and not likely to fail, even under heavy use. I have a no-name combination spanner set. 10mm-32mm that I paid about £24 for about 2 years ago. Even after heavy use, they still don't show any signs of wear, and I've even had levers on on some of them. Mike.
Take Conor's advice - elsewhere - if you wish. That's fine if you have deep pockets and it does definitely make life easier.
Old British cars were built to be worked on, they broke down a lot! :-) This means you can do pretty much anything without a lot of tools. I stripped a mini to the bare bodyshell and rebuilt it years ago while on the dole with not the greatest tool kit as you may well imagine. A bit of thought and ingenuity can go a long way.
Seconded - I've got a fair bit of Halfords Pro stuff, and have had for several years now. I've not broken a single item yet, and most get regular use on impact wrenches and occasionally my 3' breaker bar when the impact wrench won't cut it!
I'd class myself as a busy home mechanic (always fixing other people's cars also) and would buy more tomorrow if I needed any!
You've got a lot of good answers so far. Make sure you buy a decent MIG, and not a "hobby" size machine from halfords - they are made to a price and IME usually poor. Look for a decent machine with a good quality wire feed mechanism, and a high "duty cycle" - machines which overheat and cut out after a few minutes use are sooooo anoying. If you can afford it, get one with a "EuroTorch" fitting as this allows the welding torch to be unplugged and replaced in seconds, and also gives the option to replace the standard one with a better, longer one - saves dragging the welder right up to the work all the time. A longer earth lead is useful also for the same reason. As another poster said, use Argon/CO2 mix, not plain CO2 - it's easier to weld with and produces a far neater, less splattery weld. I rent cylinders from BOC, rental is about £30 per year, + gas fills at aound £25 each from memory. How long a cylinder lasts depends on usage, but you should easily get an entire car restoration out of one. BOC call the gas "ArgonShield".
Also buy a decent, high lift trolley jack. The cheapo ones only lift to about 18" and arn't much use for getting a car up high to work under. Real garage jacks have long handles which twist to lower - far better than the short handles you have to remove and apply to the valve to lower with. The action tends to be very sudden at lowering also usually!
ROFLMAO. Oh dear. Would that be the 13mm socket that can be anything from 12.5mm to 13.5mm depending on how worn the stamp is at the time it's made?
Bullshit TBH. Chrome Vanadium has been stamped on more white metal spanners than I care to mention. You can bend them by hand and the spanner jaws give up too easily. I think most people who've bought cheap spanners marked as such will agree with me. Once it was so bad with some sockets that I went through 7 sockets trying to undo ONE headbolt on a Rover 2600. Even then, after 7 sockets, it hadn't shifted. Went and got a "proper" one and did the job.
Thanks for all the input, some really useful stuff there.
My socket set is from the Draper Expert range, haven't really used it anger yet but I would guess it is middle of the range quality wise so should suffice for my needs.
The MIG welder I was thinking of is the Clarke 151TE but open to suggestions if there is anything better around the same price.
I've put some of the other suggestions on my list - off to Machinemart tomorrow, hope my credit card will hold up !!
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