need tool advice

Put them up top of the list. They are a BIG time saver.

"Steve W." wrote in news:hgh1gb$6lu$ snipped-for-privacy@aioe.org:

I did get some money for Christmas from the in-laws (early because they're going out west this weekend).

I was planning on the snap-ring pliers mentioned in another post (if I can find them), plus something else that I wasn't sure of yet. Maybe I'll get these too.

I replaced a bunch of regularly-removed bolts this past summer (with new OEM! how stupid am I?), but there are still more that will surely cause grief next time I have to tackle them.

I have a bunch of snap ring pliers. Irwin makes great tools, I reckon I will add some of those Irwin extractors to my tool collection.Recently, at the Lowe's store I bought two Irwin laser light devices which fit on to chop saws.One for a Christmas present for my brother inlaw and one for my chop saw.

I bought a new small electric Hitachi right angle grinder at the Lowe's store today, because my old Makita right angle grinder finally kicked the bucket.Right angle grinders are another handy tool for working on cars and trucks, sometimes anyway. cuhulin

Reminds me I want some kind of right-angle drill or flex attachment. My son and I put a new water pump on the '93 Grand Am a few days ago, and he pulled out a hard-rubber or some synthetic bristled brush for cleaning the gasket surface. Never saw one before. He uses it at work and says it works real good, not scratching the metal. Problem was it's designed so the bristles are in line with the drill shaft, so there wasn't enough room in the engine bay to get them onto the gasket surface well. Put it in my smallest drill, a 3/8" but it was too tight in there. Ended up using a razor blade, like always.

--Vic

Proto makes (or used to make) one.

--scott

Sounds like a 3M bristle disc. Best item for gasket removal and surface cleaning. Easy power source is a right angle die grinder. I have about three of them of various makes.

Couple other "tool notes" on this job. Had to prop the engine and remove a motor mount for this. Lining up the holes up to put it back together took some prying on the engine. Tried a 10' long wrench to grab the bracket and pull the engine. Hurt my hand, so I wrapped a rag around it and tried again. Moved fine but I felt a hernia coming on. Said "Hold it. I go in the house and get my pipe wrench" Then I saw a bunch of 2"x4" pieces I had in a corner. Grabbed a 4 footer and it worked good with the shock tower as fulcrum. No strain at all. Didn't have any pry bars around, and the wood was better in that it grabbed better. Too bad 2'x4"s don't usually fit in the toolbox. My kid pulled on a lower mount bolt with his ratchet with no success. Said he didn't bring a breaker bar, but he had a backup. Screwed a 18" piece of 1/2" steel rod on a different ratchet. I said, "Let me see that." Told me he had welded a nut on an old ratchet to take the threaded rod. Scrap metal from the suspension shop where he works. He quickly had the bolt out. I'd probably just keep a breaker bar around, but an extended ratchet does have advantages. Man, I feel a tool frenzy coming on.

--Vic

Tool frenzy,,, same here.This afternoon, I was at the Sears store, looking at a Craftsman plunge cut 3'' mini circular saw.In the morning, I am going back over to the Sears store and buy one of those saws. cuhulin

I just solved a couple of Christmas problems on the farm-and-ranch side of the family (implication: overtorqued, slightly bent and jammed, rusted, or messed-up-by-the-previous-owner machinery R us) with a "Universal" wrench set that Sears has now. Six pieces for $20 in your choice of metric or king's toes and barleycorns as of a few days ago -- probably still, but you couldn't winch me into the mall right now.

They've got open-end on one end, box-end on another, and the box end is complicated on the inside. They claim to be good for (at least somewhat) rounded hex fasteners, among other things: external Torx, external spline, and square.

They may be a bit thick for some automotive jobs, perhaps to make up for the thinness of the bitey bits inside the box end of each one, but the worst that can happen is they'll fall into the "oddball gadget you only need once, at which time it is priceless" end of the toolbox.

Anyway, getting back to the original poster's question, quality tools are always a good gift in my opinion. However, I suspect that someone entering a formal training program as a mechanic these days is going to be doing a surprising amount of book learnin' and tube lookin' at, especially at first. If personally owned tools are needed at the outset, the course description or a call to the instructor might give some good hints.

--Joe