The tools in my garage, what you need to work on your car.

[BOOSTMEISTER]

Heaps of people have commented on the mods and projects I have undertaken on my car saying, how do you do it, how can I do it and I wouldn't have a clue how to do that or where to start. I am by no means the worlds greatest technician, mechanic, electrician or custom fabricator but I give it a go. For years I worked with limited tools of nasty quality and this just made the job harder and the results less professional. Then I saved some cash and spent it on GOOD tools and quality gear to make the job faster, easier and more professional.

[img:013e9ada17]http://www.d-u-e-l.com/Messyshed.JPG[/img:013e9ada17]

Following are the essentials and non-esentials for a good home workshop setup.

[i:013e9ada17][u:013e9ada17][b:013e9ada17]ESSENTIALS[/color:013e9ada17][/b:013e9ada17][/u:013e9ada17][/i:013e9ada17]

[u:013e9ada17]WORK AREA[/u:013e9ada17]

A good big sturdy bench

Shelves

Lighting in work areas

Bin

Lots of small bins and containers

Tool cabinet or case

Vise

[u:013e9ada17]SCREW DRIVERS[/u:013e9ada17]

Sm/Med/Lge Philips head

Short stubby Philips head

Sm/Med/Lge flat tip

Short stubby Flat tip

Sm/Med/Lge right angle Philips head

[u:013e9ada17]SPANNERS[/u:013e9ada17]

Ring spanner with open end

8mm

10mm

12mm

14mm

16mm

18mm

[u:013e9ada17]SHIFTING SPANNER[/u:013e9ada17]

Sm/med/Lge with mm measurements

[u:013e9ada17]SOCKET SET[/u:013e9ada17]

Only buy a good quality set like JBS or Sidchrome, if you can't afford a set just go to the hardware store and buy some individual sockets and a wrench. Main sizes are the same as above spanners, buy 1/2 inch if possible for strength and get a universal joint as well and a extension bar.

[u:013e9ada17]PLIERS ETC[/u:013e9ada17]

Wire cutters

Wide pliers

Needle nose pliers

Multi grips

Sur-clip pliers both in and out type

Nibbler (used to cut narrow strips out of sheet metal/bonnet)

Wire strippers (teeth type)

Oil filter wrench

[u:013e9ada17]ELECTRONICS[/u:013e9ada17]

Multimeter

Solderer

Drill press

Bench grinder with polisher attachment & linisher

Cordless drill (9.6v) & drill bit kit

Hand grinder

[u:013e9ada17]CHEMICALS[/u:013e9ada17]

Autosole

Degreaser

wd-40

Turps

Metho

General purpose cleaner

Oil

Water

Paint, mat black, silver, clear for touching up and making things look good

[u:013e9ada17]MISC BITS AND PIECES[/u:013e9ada17]

Hole punch

Center punch

Scriber

Ruler

Old flat butter knife

Stanley knife

Hydrolic car jack

Car ramps

Pieces of wood in different sizes

Pieces of pipe to fit over socket wrench handles

Hammer

Big hammer

Puller

Small portable fluro

Extension leads

Pens and Nikko

Calculater

Compass

Rags (lots)

Autosole

Oil tray

Electrical tape black red blue and white

Torch

Tooth brush

Broom

Dust pan and small broom

Big roll of vacuum line

Sand paper of different grades

[u:013e9ada17][i:013e9ada17][b:013e9ada17]NON-ESSENTIALS[/b:013e9ada17][/i:013e9ada17][/u:013e9ada17][/color:013e9ada17]

Sterio (actually this is a must have)

Lounge chair ( starts out as a chair ends up as a storage space)

Water cooler (not that expensive to setup and good in summer)

Drift lanterns (Don't ask :roll: )

Drop saw

Mig welder

_____________________________________________________________

There you go, now start saving and buy some gear, try buying a piece every week. You will be amazed how much you will save by doing stuff your self. I have probably forgot stuff but you get the idea.

******IMPORTANT******

DO NOT BUY STUFF OFF THE TV (LATE NIGHT) IT IS CRAP AND WILL BRAKE EASY. THE ONLY GOOD STUFF ON TV IS THE METWRENCH SOCKET SET, IT IS FAIRLY GOOD AND HAS A GOOD WARRENTY.

[PLAYAR]

this is a good topis. i'm in the middle of setting up my work area so this should come in handy.

cheers

[two40]

Cam, how long has it taken you to collect all these tools. Great collection btw. I've got about a 1/4 of them or more. Long way to go.

I want to get the repco socket set. got a lifetime warranty on it and is good quality

[BOOSTMEISTER]

Well I have been driving since 1994 and started off with a few bits and pieces and made do. After a while I decided that if I was in the middle of something and had to spend more than 5 minutes trying to work out how to do something with what I had then I should just go and buy the right tool. That's about it really, I can assure you that this is a good plan as often it is the frustration of only doing something half as good or not being able to do it at all that turns people away from diy mods.

I'd hate to think how much I have spent but I do enjoy thinking that I saved myself nearly $1000 on installing my fmic and so on.

Cam

P.S. Repco tools are very good, I have 3 of their shifters with the mm marks and they are awesome, one rusted so I took it back and without question they changed it. You can even use it for other purposes and not void the warrenty which is good as often I use the big shifter as a hammer

[GraemeWi]

Good list, especially the universal joint for the socket set (I sometimes have used two of them together)

One tool I have is a long magnetic wand (18" long bendable shaft with a strong magnet on the end) It's great for getting those bolts that you drop down the back of the engine that land somewhere j-u-s-t out of reach.

[AndyMac]

Good to have tools.

Better to have a mate with the Large Snap-On Chest of Tools...$23k worth.

With all the special little Knic-Nacks...Testing Lights, extentions etc etc.

You know what be the best tool. A hoist, how mad would it be to have your own hoist.

[two40]

One tool I have is a long magnetic wand (18" long bendable shaft with a strong magnet on the end) It's great for getting those bolts that you drop down the back of the engine that land somewhere j-u-s-t out of reach.[/quote:5460096485]

hey Graeme, i've got a long magnetic wand too but it doesn't pick up bolts. just screws :twisted:

[GraemeWi]

Duh! I forgot about bolts being stainless. I did once save my bacon with it when I dropped a nut from my aircleaner straight through the carb and into the inlet manifold on my old 302 XC. I guess I don't get to play with the Skyline as much and pull it to bits every weekend to keep it running as the XC :?

[two40]

hey Graeme, i've got a long magnetic wand too but it doesn't pick up bolts. just screws :twisted:[/quote:9b8e69172f]

ha ha, nah Graeme i was kidding mate. Long magnetic wand being my dick and it pics up screws not bolts :lol:

ahhh, i kill myself sometimes

over

[Zer0]

Good quality tools are definately a must. I had a cheap socket set and it actually snapped when I was trying to take the standard BOV off to install my new one

Went round to my parents place and used my Dads tools and was all done quick smart as he has everything under the sun as he used to do up cars for a living many years ago.

And in regards to doing things yourself, always keep it in mind. I just blew $250 in labour costs for fitting and setup of coil over shocks. It was so poorly done that I took the car apart, pulled them out reset them and remounted them myself. Took a few hours but at the end I had a perfect result and could have saved $250, or bought a whole lot of beer

I have never been particularly handy with cars but since I have had my skyline I have changed my own brake pads, changed my own shock absorbers (several times, don't ask!), installed an aftermarket BOV, plumbed in, mounted and connected a boost gauge, installed a boost controller and removed the factory boost solenoid and cleaned up a lot of loose and poor quality wiring in the car.

It gets easier the more you fiddle with things and it does save you a lot of money as I was quoted $50 to install the boost gauge, similar for the boost controller and a lot more the shocks which I should have saved too!! It all adds up!

[Boostzor]

Why buy a hoist when u can just dig a big hole in the middle of ure driveway or backyard.

And when ure not using it make a trampoline for the kids ahaha

[two40]

Why buy a hoist when u can just dig a big hole in the middle of ure driveway or backyard.

And when ure not using it make a trampoline for the kids ahaha[/quote:f4df44d944]

*scratches head*

now where did i leave that jack-hammer

[Grim]

Great thread guys. I'm just starting out and am in the middle of stocking my garage. This list and thread will come in handy.

I've got a shitty cheap socket set and I've been playing around under my R33's hood and found the set to be shit. I think a sidchrome set is next on my shopping list.

[JiMb0]

Cool, I'm off to the local hardware house with my list and big $$$ At an estimate, what do you think everthing on this list would total at ?

[BOOSTMEISTER]

About $2920 for everything give or take $50 or so.

I saved $180 on the bench grinder stand as I made one myself

One of the most important things in the shed is the lighting. I have 5 single triphosphorous fluro tubes in the shed and are setup so there are no shadows cast. While this may be extreme and cost me a bit to have wired up by an electrician it was definately worth it. Another tip, if you are doing work on the engine bay area that will take some time remove the bonnet as it amazing how much easier and brighter it is with it off, not to mention that accessibility is heaps easier.

[Blitz]

Cam,

Im liking your garage... its just the sort of unit i want ehhe can i move in :lol:

I am about to have a cleanout, i have workbenches, vice... and some tools but need to arrange some shit properly...

a mans home is in the workshop.

[BOOSTMEISTER]

Sure dude, $50/week....good ay

[NIZ180]

excellent topic as i'm just about to go buy myself a tool kit. So far my options are either kinchrome or Teng both are about $700 for a metric starter kit. I'm also considering sidchrome but am unsure of how much this is gonna cost. I'll keep you guys posted.

[doxximus]

BOOSTMEISTER can i move in?