We recently had someone ask for advice on starting up a collection of tools so they can do some of their own work.
Tools are a personal thing. Not everyone is a tool freak like me. You now have specialist tool shops which, if your budget will stretch that far, will come to your house and set up a tool room.
You have to look at quality tools, but I wouldn’t suggest that you need to go to the extent of Milwaukee or Snap-on which are high end and very good and really aimed at people like me who flog them day-in and day-out. For the home mechanic I’d look at something a little more mid-range like Sidchrome and Kincrome. Even Repco these days make a decent quality tool.
You do need to apply some organisation, so making your own benches and shadow boards is not hard. A decent tool chest can also be invaluable.
You don’t want to spend half your life looking for stray tools. So having a chest and/shadow board makes it easy to spot when something is missing. Plus you need to get into the habit of packing up whenever you stop working on something. The last thing you want is days later to start wondering if you’ve left a spanner somewhere in an engine bay!
Keep in mind that swap meets and garage sales can be a source of tools, particularly older items and brands that no longer exist.
For example we have a big US-made Crescent adjustable spanner – a brand that’s no longer made, but remains a good-quality unit. Another is a Stahlwille Starter 27 which is a double-ended and curved ring spanner that’s great for getting into tight spots.
PROJECT VK UPDATE
This week’s little challenge with Project VK has been trivial in the extreme.
As some of you probably know, getting some parts for a VK has become tricky, particularly when it comes to minor bits of trim, such as the chrome strips under the headlamps.
We somehow lost one over the many times we’ve had to move the car and its assorted bits around the workshop. I was concerned about it and wasn’t looking forward to trying to find another.
We have no idea how this happened, but I recalled at some stage seeing a stray chrome strip on our rubbish bin. At the time I put it aside, thinking someone might eventually want it.
Anyway, when we were finishing of the front of the VK we suddenly realised what it was. Luckily, it was still where I left it, two or three weeks later.