WORKSHOP SUPPLIES YOU NEED BEFORE YOU TAKE ON A PROJECT CAR
One of life's hard lessons is when you're planning a project car the actual expense of the car and mods is only a fraction of what you'll spend on it. Buying tools to work on your car requires a large chunk of money, but you'll also need plenty of consumables for when you're making your chosen nugget maaaad.
Below is a rundown of what supplies you will most likely need in you garage when undertaking a project car of almost any type:
FLUIDS
- 1L engine oil
- 1L of manual gear oil
- 1L of DexIII auto trans flui for autos or power steering
- 1L of spare coolant
- Spare bottle of brake fluid
It is a good idea to keep some spare fluids your car uses on hand for minor top-ups when your project is driving. Sometimes they'll need a splash more oil or coolant, and these can be handy to chuck into a toolkit if you're going to take your project car on a long roadtrip.
GREASES & SPRAYS
- High-Temp Bearing grease
- Electrical connector cleaner spray
- White lithium lubricating spray
- Rubber grease or petroleum jelly
- Penetrating oil/lubricating spray
- Freeze-spray
- Assembly lube
- Loc-Tite/Thread-locker
- Etch primer
- Matte black aerosol paint
The number of products on that list you will likely need really comes down to the sort of project car you're undertaking. A restoration (or resto-mod) of a classic car will need everything there, plus more, while a later model car that hasn't copped decades of life will likely require a far simpler list.
These are getting into more specialist products but they're also incredibly handy to have when you're in the middle of a job and you're trying to get stuck bolts undone, or you need to quickly lubricate a rubber seal, or stop a set of bonnet springs squeaking. You can lose a day pretty easily fighting bolts which won't come undone, or running to the store to get different products to help undo (or do up) different parts of a car, so cutting those time losses short is a good idea.
SOLVENTS
- Degreaser
- Brake clean
- Wax & Grease remover
- Automotive Sikaflex
- JB Weld metal putty
- Thinners
These products are designed to clean or help fix broken parts. You can use brake clean as a type of degreaser but there are times it is uneconomical to use brake clean as a large-scale cleaning agent. Good quality degreasers are proper caustic chemical solutions so always wear PPE and use them in a well-ventilated area.
JB Weld metal putty is a great way to fix gutter rash in wheels, or to repair cracks in metal parts of a car - just follow the instructions explicitly.
OTHER ACCESSORIES
- Gloves
- Rags
- Microfibres
- Cleaning equipment
- Hand wash
- Funnels
- Caulking gun
It goes without saying you'll need to clean up after using things like bearing grease or if you've been decreasing cruddy old steering racks, so buying a bulk bag of rags and some hand cleaner should be a first port of call for anyone.
Over time you'll build up quite a library of good technical sprays, greases, solvents and solutions that will help you finish a project car, and keep it on the road for years to come. As you go you should consider running a piece of paper on the inside of your cabinet door with a list of supplies that are running low so you know what to order next time you head to the store.
