5 TOOLS YOU NEED FOR ANY PROJECT

Marty and MOOG recently went through the FIVE LEVELS OF TOOLS (CLICK HERE) people need in their life with cars, and it got me thinking about some of the tools I have in my kit which I have absolutely needed to finish a job (or make it ridiculously easier to finish).  Here are 5 of my picks for tools you need if you're going to work on any project car.

STUBBY SPANNERS

Having a good quality set of combination spanners (ring and open) is a must for anyone who wants to do anything handy on a car. Or house. Or anything. Now, for our friends in Freedomland a "spanner" is likely known as a "wrench" for you. Long spanners, racheting spanners, offset spanners... there are plenty of specialty spanners out there that you can collect in time, but the one type that has saved me the most grief when working in super-tight engine bays are stubby spanners. You are unlikely to be using these all the time, so a cheap set just for emergencies is what I'd get.

CROWS FEET

When a part is in a tricky spot AND it's tighter than your mate who reuses head gaskets, get yourself a set of crows feet. I learned to love these things when I was undoing the turbo bolts on my Subaru almost weekly. A cheap set of these (in conjunction with a quality penetrating spray like INOX or PB Blaster) will save bulk grief.

RACHETING BREAKER BAR

Are you regularly changing wheels? Needing to turn your engine over by hand or undo a bulk lot of very old, very rusty bolts that you don't want to snap by using an impact gun? Get thee a racheting breaker bar. I spent a bit on a quality brand because I'm habitually pulling wheels on my cars to check wheel bearings, brakes, and the like. 

THREAD-CHECKERS

If you've got a new project and you aren't sure of all the bolt, nut and fittings sizes used on it, grab a cheap thread-checker set online so you can quickly find out. Otherwise you'll lose hours rummaging through bolts and nuts trying to work out what that thing is that you need to do that thing with.

ALLEN KEYS

This is technically two tools, but they're absolutely mandatory in any kit when you're working on a car and trying to get things done without spending hours faffing around. A high-quality set of T-bar allen keys, and a set of socket/impact bits corresponding to the sizes used on your car, will make any job needing them so much better than relying on cheap hexagonal extrusion masquerading as an Allen key. The socket/impact set is needed when you have to put some torque into the job to undo or do-up the fastener.

BONUS - TAP & DIE SET

While trying to decide on which 5 tools were the most important time-savers, I realised no garage is truly complete without a decent tap & die set. Cleaning threads in cars or components will save bulk time later on when your bolts and nuts don't get cross-threaded, stripped or snap. Spend a decent amount on the biggest kit you can find from a reputable brand - these can save you hours and hours of pain.