After you get interested in modifying cars there are two decisions that need to be made: what tools to buy and where to do the work. Do you head out with credit card in hand and buy the best quality tools - a chest full of Snap-On for example? Or do you buy the tool sets available from variety stores? And what about the work area - do you need as a minimum a double garage or will your driveway do? And with so much modification these days revolving around electronics, what about a soldering iron - do you need a specialised electronics iron or will any old hardware store multipurpose iron do the job? And what's the right sort of multimeter to buy?
In this two part series we'll take a look at the facilities and tools that an amateur car tweaker should aim to have - it's down-to-earth advice aimed not at someone with megabucks to throw around, but at a much more typical cash-strapped enthusiast! Take note how there's a real absence of gleam and newness in most of the pics taken for these two articles - that's cos this is real-world-amateur-enthusiast-working-at-home stuff.....
Tools
There are two distinct schools of thought - quality, quality, quality (and then keep the tools for the rest of your life) or budget, budget, budget (and expect to replace them every five years or so).
I prefer the latter approach - it requires less of an outlay of cash (oftentimes, much less of an outlay), means that if the tools are misplaced or stolen it's not a disaster, and the tools usually perform fine anyway. The other argument suggests that a good quality tool is less likely to slip or deform what you're working on (eg it won't round a bolt head because the socket fits better), will have a long (perhaps lifetime) warranty, and is nicer to work with.
You need to pick the approach pretty early, because if you decide to buy best quality, it's quite likely that you'll only be able to afford one socket set - and that's spending the same amount of money that might have got you a full complement of budget tools!
For professional level tools, head for the travelling sales vans that do the rounds of the workshops, selling tools straight to mechanics. Ring the local distributor to locate these resellers. For budget tools, look to larger supermarket and variety store chains that sell tools with a warranty. Over the years I have bought plenty of tools from Kmart, for example, and have always found them to be long-lasting and of reasonably good quality - much better than their price would suggest.
The basic tools to have are:
- a socket set
- a screwdriver set
- a set of crescent/ring spanners
- pliers, side cutters, long-nose pliers
- hacksaw
- selection of files - round, flat, triangular
- hammer
Pick the configuration (metric or imperial) that fits most of your car's fasteners, check that the sockets are 12-point not 6-point (the 12-pointers can be put on at many more rotational angles), and select spanners that are reasonably long (especially those above 10mm) as this will allow much better leverage to be applied.
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Making Your Own Hand Tools
If you're doing a specific job - say rebuilding an engine or working on the suspension - you'll sometimes find that a specialist tool is needed. That might be a socket than also allows an Allen key to be simultaneously inserted through it allowing a damper to be removed, a super light duty torque wrench for setting up an auto trans, or a valve spring compressor with a very odd shape to give clearance to the rocker gear in the cylinder head. Buying any of these tools for a one-off job is likely to be prohibitively expensive - and you'll probably be out of luck if you try to borrow them as well.
The answer is to make your own - it'll be bodgy but since it needs to be used only once, you can get away with it. Each of the above tools I have made at one stage or another - the valve spring compressor on a BMW 3-litre six needed to have an adaptor carved out of a chunk of steel (it took a fair while with a hacksaw and file, but it was worth it), while the super light torque wrench I made from the combination of spring balance and a calibrated length socket handle. The Allen key through the centre of the socket? I think I sacrificed a socket by grinding flats on it so that it could be turned by a crescent spanner, leaving the normal driver opening clear for the key.
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Power Tools
The cost of power tools is incredibly low - just check a major discount hardware store chain and be blown away by the prices! Here in Australia the prices have dropped in actual dollars (let alone real terms) for every one of the last 25 years. That means you can buy a host of power tools for not much money at all (again assuming that you take the budget approach - upper brand-name power tools continue to be expensive).
But which tools should you buy?
A power hand-drill is always useful, and if you are setting up a workspace (see below) a drill-press is a good addition. Compared with a hand-drill, the drill-press allows you to be much more accurate in what you are doing - however, it's a bit hard to stick a whole car under the drill-press, so explaining the need for also having the hand-drill. Battery-operated hand-drills are attractive but if you're a typical amateur tweaker, there might be months at a time where you don't use your power-drill. The batteries in rechargeables don't like that sort of treatment, and so the life of these drills is often pretty short (the batteries often cost nearly as much to replace as the whole tool).
A power jig-saw is another very good addition - good for bracket cutting, speaker hole manufacture, and a host of similar tasks. A bench-mounted belt-sander and a grinder will be far more useful that you'd initially think (and often can be combined into one tool). A final 'basics' power tool is a small (eg 4-inch) angle grinder. With each of these tools, check whether there are variable speeds available, the variety of 'bits' that the tool can take (eg the max size of drill-bit, whether a jigsaw will take generic blades or needs its own special blades, etc), and the warranty provisions.
If you're new to working with your hands, start off without relying too much on power tools. For example, a beginner finds it much easier to straighten a metal edge with a hand-file than an angle grinder, or cut a straight line with a hacksaw rather than a power jigsaw. One combination approach is to make the rough cut with the power tool and then do the finishing by hand.
Car Lifting
There are many occasions where you'll need to lift the car off the ground - working on the brakes, exhaust, or even just changing the engine oil. Car ramps are a safe way to do this, and they're also quite cheap. When buying make sure that they conform to your local designs regulations (they should have a sticker to show this), that the angle of the ramps is shallow enough that you car can drive up them without hitting a front spoiler or other body parts (if they're not, you'll have to build extensions as shown in this pic), that they have a positive stop at the end (so it's bloody hard to drive too far!), and that they have a broad base for good stability. Ramps are very useful - except when you want to take a wheel off. In that case you'll need axle stands - with many of the same 'buyer caution' comments applying to them as well.
When lifting the car for the axle stands it's common to use the car's own jack - but a separate hydraulic trolley jack is safer and easier to use. Trolley jacks have also dropped in price over the years, and are well within the reach of the average DIY modifier. When buying a trolley jack, look for the safety credentials and make sure that it lifts high enough for you to be able to slip the jackstands under the car. Sometimes you'll want to be able to move the load (eg when using the jack to transport a gearbox within the workshop) so make sure that the wheels are large enough to ride over small concrete expansion gaps and the like.
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Make sure that the car is lifted only on a flat, hard surface (eg concrete), that the wheels still on the ground are chocked front and back, and that you never get under a car that isn't solidly supported, eg by axle stands. Should the primary safety device fail it's wise to have a fall-back one as well- eg leave the jack in place even though the stands are under there taking the weight. People die every year when cars fall on them - don't be casual about safety in this area.
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Setting up the Work Space
Setting up the area in which you're going to work is vital for a successful outcome. It's possible - but not preferable - to work on your car in the driveway or even the carpark of a bunch of flats, but it's a lot better to be undercover and comfortable.
For major jobs - eg a full restoration or engine rebuild - the rule of thumb is to have a work area twice as large as the car. That means a double garage, for example. If you're in the fortunate position of having one built for your own car modification use, additionally to its size it's wise to specify adequate height clearance (eg one metre higher walls than a conventional garage), skylight panels in the roof (on the south in the southern hemisphere and the north in the northern hemisphere, so as to gain as little heat through them as possible), plenty of power points, a switchboard inside the shed, and lots of lighting (more on lights below). In hot climates a whirly-gig ventilator will keep air circulating while in cold climates some form of heating will make conditions bearable.
However, for my money, even more important than the size of the facility is the fact that you need to have clear access all round the car - and you need a good workbench. For example, if you're re-building a trans or an engine - or even just making seat brackets - you can usually take the item away from the car to another location to work on it. If that location is a well-designed bench, it makes things soooo much easier. The workbench needs to be solid (as in, you can hammer on it without the bench 'giving'), of a convenient height to work on, and equipped with a strong vice.
An anvil is also good - but because genuine anvils are megabucks, a lump of railway line or heavy-duty steel section can perform the same job. Both the vice and the anvil should be bolted down securely - if the bench is large enough, the drill-press and/or grinder can be mounted on it as well. Some people prefer to cover the top of the bench in stainless steel sheet, but I like the approach that puts a replaceable layer of thin masonite on top.
Having good lighting in your work area is vital. Most people will be working on their cars at night (well, you will if you have a day job!) and nothing makes things harder than not being able to see what you're doing. Fluorescent lights should be avoided around power tools - their rate of flicker can make a rotating power tool appear that it's stopped, which is especially dangerous if you're wearing good earmuffs. A cost-effective way of getting bright lighting is to use the floodlights normally sold for outdoor use. These are cheap, powerful, available in a range of wattages and can be aimed very well. One above the workbench looking straight down on it will give good direct lighting, while a few others aimed at the fixed power tools will provide additional lighting when required.
Lots of shelves and a way of storing small components so that they're accessible quickly and easily are two other vitals. Steel shelving can be expensive so look out for it at secondhand stores and household auctions - it can always be painted if it's looking daggy. Small drawers that fit into one assembly are an excellent way of storing nuts, bolts, screws and so on. Don't underestimate the importance of organisation: if all that you need is a single self-tapper - but you have to go out to a hardware store for it - it's a real pain in the butt. Much better to simply flip open a drawer and grab one from a selection. For the same reason, keep all the surplus fasteners than you come across.
Watch out for how you organise your power cords. If you have one dangling from the roof directly above the bench you'll find it a lot harder to get tangled up in it - but it will still be always accessible. Another power-handling hint - make it so it's easy to hit just one or two switches and cut off all power in the shed. That could be as simple as running loads through a multi-socket powerboard or having the actual circuit breaker handy. That way, when you leave the shed last thing you can be certain that everything is off.
Conclusion
Every one would like to have an air-conditioned double garage complete with hoist, lathe and a chest full of gleaming tools. But the reality is that your workspace is likely to be far less impressive than that. How you make the most of what you have will make an enormous difference to how you feel about working on your car and how successful those modifications are.
Next: working with car electronics
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More Tips!
- If you live in a high humidity area - where tools rust easily - wipe them over with a rag moistened in auto trans fluid. The light oil coating will prevent corrosion.
- Place the most used hand tools near to your workbench - often the hacksaw, hammer, steel rule and pencil. It sounds obvious, but if you're always having to take that extra step...
- When selecting spanner and socket sets, make sure that the most-used sizes of fasteners found on your car are included in the set - eg 13mm nuts and bolts are very common on some cars - but equally uncommon in some spanner sets!
- Socket extension bars are available with a special ball-shaped end. These allow the socket to be at a slight angle to the bar, making it much easier to get the socket onto an awkwardly placed nut or bolt - and then turn it. Allen keys are also available with these ball-ends.
- When buying cheap screwdrivers, physically try to bend them in your hands. You'll be amazed at how soft some are - avoid these!
- It's best to make your own workbench - it needs to be both very heavy and strong. In fact, if you construct it on the idea that it needs to be able to support a car's weight you won't go far wrong. It won't ever have to, but it'll give you a very good bench - lightweight benches are a waste of time.
- If you have plenty of wall space, a shadow board is a good way of storing tools - you'll be able to see instantly if a tool is missing and by the same token, when they're all there lay your hands on the right tool quickly and easily.
- Tools that allow you to extricate nuts and bolts that have fallen into awkward places inside the engine bay are worth their weight in McDonalds. There are two basic types - those with magnets on the end of a long flexible wand and those that have an expanding claw. Buy both - they're cheap and you'll be glad you did.
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