Hi guys would very much appreciate your help on this:

I'm after a nice big set of mechanics tools (100 or more) after deciding that my dads ancient set is coming to the end of its lifetime (its 40 years old and mostly imperial great for old British sports cars and bikes but not modern cars)

I don't want to spend silly money so have set an upper limit of £150-£200 for now with the knowledge I can add specialist tools at a later date.

My question is advice on brand and what to go for? Also any to keep away from....(if possible I would like it to come in a chest but not vital)

What tools are vital for my collection?

Having relied on my dad and mates for years and always being able to borrow the bits I need I must say I am well versed in mechanics but not in buying tools haha

Best Regards

Alex

Hello Alex, I always like it when folks like you want to give DIY car tinkering a go.

first and foremost you don't need a massive election of tools especially if you are just starting out, if I had a £150 budget I was spend it on a decent trolley jack like this http://www.machinemart.co.uk/shop/product/details/ctj2qlg-2-t-quick-lift-pro-trolley-jac?da=1&TC=SRC-trolley+jack from machine mart, I've got 4 of these jacks now and I can vouch for them being good, personally I wouldn't bother with the cheaper small footprint stuff, plus also a decent pair of axle stands is about £30.. These 3 items are the most common items you will use when working on your car at home..

with the remaining money I would buy a philips screwdriver, a 19mm spanner, a 1/2 drive breaker bar and a 19mm socket for the wheel bolts

what I would suggest is that the most common jobs you would want to try to take on at home is changing your oil and filter, or replacing your air filter, or maybe changing a blown lamp.. Then when you get a bit more confidence you could go onto brake pads etc, and then you could expand your tool set to a 8mm hex key and a 13mm spanner and possibly a decent ball pein hammer too.

in all honesty you don't need a huge amount of tools, for stuff like spanners and sockets and ratchets i would go to halfords, their pr range stuff is actually quite good and I've got quite a lot of their stuff and they are handy because they are open on Sunday's too.

I have a selection of mostly Kamasa and Elora which have been indestructible so far. If you want to buy a big box set of tools, a few people I know have gone for Snap On BluePoint sets which seem pretty good, as do the Halfords professional range.

Chris

I've just seen agreat set of spanners in lidl their stuff is usually very good

Wait until halfords have 50% off their professional socket sets.

Very good quality and lifetime guarantee too.

Costco do huge kits, a good variety of tools in them for decent money.

One thing I would make sure you get are six sided sockets, they look like the head of a bolt and not lots of little bits to grip the bolt/nut head. They are very good when things are a bit tight.

Personally I would get a half decent spanner set, open end ring end combination, a 1/2" socket set, from 10mm to 28mm (six sided) a good set of screw drivers, Matalan had Kamasa set in for £14 I bought one, then think about jacks and axle stands as you progress.

I also find that buying the basics means you can nip out and spend a couple of quid on special tools as and when you need them. Trust me, there will be something you need that was not thought of when buying your kit.

Wait until halfords have 50% off their professional socket sets.

Very good quality and lifetime guarantee too.

I did this and agree with Josh. Please don't buy a cheap socket set as it will break the minute you have to apply some real pressure, and then it will hurt

Wait until halfords have 50% off their professional socket sets.

Very good quality and lifetime guarantee too.

Agree. My tools are mostly Halfords pro range, lasted well, and a lifetime guarantee.

Regarding special offers - look here:

http://www.halfords....tegoryId_255215

Half price @ £60 and will cover 90% of the jobs you will need, and leave plenty of dosh leftover for trolley jack and axle stands (although for infrequent DIY use, again the Halfords trolley jacks are adequate)

Regarding tool chest - be pepared to be shocked.

Even a basic lid and 3 drawers chest from Halfords is around £45 (they do a Phaze chest plus tools for £80, which gets good reviews and might be OK fo DIY use, but I can't recommend as I don't know of them)

I have a set of axle stands and a good trolly jack been fixing bits as a diy mechanic for years thanks to my dad showing me how....thanks for your comments i will do some research

I have a set of axle stands and a good trolly jack been fixing bits as a diy mechanic for years thanks to my dad showing me how....thanks for your comments i will do some research

Just for the basics, these are worth getting. Then as you go along you'll find that you need other little bits. But as a start kit they're perfect. Had my set 5 years and its paid for itself time and time again.

Day

http://www.halfords.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/product_storeId_10001_catalogId_10151_productId_862463_langId_-1_categoryId_255215

http://www.halfords.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/product_storeId_10001_catalogId_10151_productId_535919_langId_-1_categoryId_165572

My Dad has the Halfords professional socket set and loads of other stuff which I use all the time.

We fancy a set if those Vortex sockets soon though

As mentioned already, costco if your a member or know someone who is.

They do a huge kit, maybe 100 pieces or more for about £75 i think and its good stuff. I bought the smaller kit for about £35 brilliant. That was 4/5years ago apart from losing a few bits along the way its still excellent

Sent from my iPhone 4s

I'm a hgv mechanic, and the halfords pro stuff cuts the mustard, standard chrome ( non-impact sockets) on top of the range snap on impact guns, doing it for years now and still going strong, 1/2" ratchets finally starting to slip, but daily heavy use for over 4 years, can't moan really, so for diy light vehicle work id go for the halfords kit mate

I have a draper 1/4 drive set and a bluepoint 3/8 and 1/2 boxes for home stuff altho i think snap on stuff is abit over rated.

I've not managed to break anything as yet and i do get stuck in at times altho a good 1/2 breaker bar is a must, one that will handle you jumping on it

Halfords stuff is very good I'm an engineer and I use their sockets and spanners they hold up well. Used them for around 5 years now and the ratchets are still working great with everyday use

Good 1/2 and 1/4 inch socket set for a starters

I'd invest a few quid on a spline bit set, the buggers are everywhere on VAG cars. I don't mean the torx 6 point ones, I'm on about the 12 point stuff, used on front suspension, door locks, seat runners etc etc

http://www.halfords.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/product_storeId_10001_catalogId_10151_productId_168943_langId_-1_categoryId_255215

Yep, the big Halfords kits are pretty good for the money. Has a bit of everything to get you going that you can expand on. Most of my kit is Facom or Sykes Pick for the weird kit, and Halfords Pro filling in the gaps and I can't fault it. Their ratchet spanners are pretty nice too.

Im using facom / britool / teng

Old britool as the new stuff's been taken over by stanley (never a good thing)

I do prefer facom spanners to snap-off ones, they have a much nicer profile so they are a bit kinder on your hands..

I must admit I do have a 'scrapyard' toolkit that is made up entirely of halfords stuff, one of the 1/2 ratchets had been used as a step, hammer, pry bar, etc... I mean I have abused it to death but it still works, had that over 7 years now.. I like the fact the it brings reasonable priced tool of high quality to the masses, and they are open Sunday's too if your desperate for something... I think I'd cry if I left a £150 snap-off one up the scrappy.

quite often I will make a bespoke tool for something if it's inaccessible... Like half a spanner welded to half an extension bar or whatever, and the halfords stuff is cheap enough to treat them as disposable items and use them like that

think outside the box, good quality stuff some of that halfords stuff

although I mst say, that the sealey premier range is good too, their ratchets have a much nicer feel to them than the halfords ones and they aren't too much more expensive either.

A good jack as stated above and making sure it is low enough to get underneath and raises the car enough to get axle stands under. I will probably buy the one in the link above as it looks about right for my 4x4 1.8T. Makes life so much simpler and will encourage you to spend more time working on the car and less time faffing with jacks. Ramps are nice.

With the ratchet sets get 72 tooth mechanism as better in tight spaces.

Mark

Markyd touched on it- AXLE STANDS. No sense getting car up and then risk getting under on an iffy jack . Has anyone mentioned decent ,non destructive ball joint breakers ,and pullers. Then there's luxuries like brake bleeders. i found a nice alternative years ago - a bit of tubing to fit to the bleed nipple. Find some way of adding a car valve to the end of the tube. Fit to bleed niple , and you don't need a mate or Gunsen . OPEN BLEED and fluid only flows out under pressure, and NO air returns .

Someone on my FB linked to this. I don't know the quality, but you seem to get good quantity for the money. If I didn't have 95% of this kit already stashed in different kits in my toolshed, I'd probably buy it.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/-/360671050489?roken=zdgOx1

I must admit I do have a 'scrapyard' toolkit that is made up entirely of halfords stuff,

* Off Topic; Are there any half decent scrappers round Pompey way, Tom as Silverlake are proper short on Skodas ATM

question i have a set of axle stands and a tarmac drive....in hot weather any trouble of them sinking? and how do i get round it peice of mdf?

My friends fiesta had a blowing exhaust so i jacked it up and he whacked some axle stands under on his tarmac drive i got under the car and found the problem and told him to start her up to double check....the silly tit got in the car and a axle stand slipped.....heres me holding the car an inch from my face until he jacked it up again