grumpyvette Posted October 29, 2007 Share Posted October 29, 2007 its the skill level and experiance of the guy or gal IN that garage that determines the level of expertize,and the resulting finished work, hand tools a decent set of jack stands and knowing what your doing will ALWAYS produce better results than all the lifts, compressors,welders etc. in the world in un-skilled hands. Im a tool junky, but having the correct tools speeds up the work and makes it easier to do, hand tools in skilled hands can do just as much work, and at times get better results, it just takes longer and requires more effort. you DON,T need to be comfortable, or have the best tools, but you do need to understand what your trying to accomplish and how the parts work, what caused them to fail and what youll need to do to correctly repair or modify them having the correct lighting, a lift,air conditioning, cold beers etc, may be nice, but it adds little but added comfort or ease of access to the guy doing the work, its the skills of the guy doing the work and his extensive experiance and understanding of mechanics that gets the job done other than an extensive list of HAND TOOLs like a VOM meter timing light vacuum gauge fuel pressure gauge IR TEMP GUN JACK STANDS and shop manuals/ and a decent set of diagnostic meters sure helps (ILL POST MY TOOL LIST BELOW) Id say a good quality welder, die grinder compressor, DRILL PRESS QUALITY lift, are nice but not MANDATORY, because you can usually borrow or sub out some of the work BTW heres MY TOOL LIST, IVE POSTED BEFORE,.....IF IT FITS IN A COUPLE OF MY PRO SIZED TOOL CHEST ITS A HAND TOOL.....and YEAH IVE GOT 90% or more PLUS of those tools in my tool chest...LIKE I SAID IM A TOOL JUNKY......but the lift, compressor, welders are great but not necessarily mandatory GRUMPYVETTES BASIC TOOL LIST -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- l items that may come in handy -not a comnplete list but it will get you started A set of quick release tools for late model gm fuel lines and a/c line disconnects. ACETYLENE TORCH ADJUSTABLE LENGTH PUSH ROD ADJUSTABLE POINTER , Adjustable stand, for dial indicator Air compressor Air ratchet Allen wrenches Allen wrenches ASK QUESTIONS (its important to get answers BEFORE screwing up) ASSORTED FILES Assorted pliers/vise grips ASSORTED SOCKETS,OPEN AND BOX WRENCHES 1/2",3/8".1/4" DRIVE auto xray software Ball joint press tools Ball joint separator forks Battery charger(full size shop type) Bench grinder w/ wire wheel Bench grinder w/ wire wheel bearing press 12 ton hydrolic Big huge screwdriver which doubles as a pry bar BORE GAUGE Brake spring pliers and retaining spring tool Breaker bar CAM BEARING INSTALLER CAM DEGREE WHEEL CAM HANDLE CARBIDE BURRS Carburetor stand CC Burette Kit/PLUS STAND Checking springs chisels (assorted sizes/types) clamp for compressing calipers CLUTCH PILOT Coil spring compressors COMMON SENSE Compression gauge Compression tester Compressor CRANK SOCKETS Creeper Crows feet Cutting torch CYLINDER HONE Deep sockets DENT PULLER DEPTH GAUGE Dial indicator, Die grinder digital meter Differential Set-up Kit Distributor wrench sae Distributor wrench metric Drain pans all sizes Dremel tool set to cut rivets etc. DRIFT PUNCHES (assorted sizes/types) Drill bits DRILL PRESS Drop light (florescent preferred) Duct tape Dwell meter for the older cars EASY OUTS ELECTRIC SOLDER GUN Electrical connectors assorted Electrical tape Engine hoist ENGINE LEVELER ENGINE STAND Feeler Gages FIRE EXTINGUISHER co2 FIRE EXTINGUISHER powder Flexible dwell key for point distributors FREEZE PLUG INSTALLER FUEL PRESSURE GAUGE Full set of assorted hammers all the way up to 5 lb hand held full set of tap and dies metric and standard Full set of torqze tip screw drivers and sockets male and female all sizes Full size vice Gasket scraper 2" Gasket scraper4" Gear Pullers (assorted) GM disk brake caliper Allen key 3/8 and 5/16 GOOD KNOWLEDGEABLE FRIENDS Grease gun Harmonic balancer puller HARMONIC BALLANCER INSTALLER HONING STONE Impact sockets Jack stands and a 2 1/2 -3 ton full size service floor jack JEWELERS FILES LAPTOP COMPUTER with diagnostic software Leakdown tester LIFTER BORE HONE LIFTER GROOVE TOOL Line wrenches LUIS TOOL Magnet MAGNETIC PICK UP TOOL MAGNIFYING GLASS Mallet MANUAL LUBE PUMP MICROMETERS MIG WELDER Mini Valve Spring Tester MIRROR Multimeter Normal screwdrivers all sizes NUT SPLITTER OIL CAN Oil filter and regular spin on filter wrenches. Oil filter wrench plier type Oil filter wrench expandable type Oil pump primer chevy Oil Pump Primers hydrolic ONE NEW SOLID LIFTER Paint gun PB BLASTER OIL Permanent marker Pipe cutter PISTON RING COMPRESSOR Piston stop, Pitman arm puller Plasma cutter 200amp Plasma cutter 60amp PLASTIC HAMMER Plastic zip-lock bags Pneumatic chisel Pneumatic impact guns 3/8 and 1/2 drive Pressure bleeder for brakes PRY BAR PUSHROD CHECKER Putty knife Ramps Rear caliper piston turning tool REFERENCE MANUALS Retracting extension cord RIFLE CLEANING ROD AND BRUSHES FOR OIL PASSAGES Ring expander pliers RING GAP FILER Rochester idle mixture adjusting tool ROD BOLT GUIDES ROD BOLT STRETCH GAUGE Safety glasses Sandblaster SCAN SOFTWARE Shorty wrenches Sledge or mall hammer SMALL FLASH LIGHT Snap ring pliers internal and external Speed wrench SPRING COMPRESSOR Standard set of drift pin punches, alignment punches, and centering punches. Steering column lock plate compressor Steering wheel puller Stethoscope Stick/arc welder STUD INSTALLER TAPE MEASURE Taps & dies Test light Three or four of every size socket and wrenches plus extensions ETC. Throw-away vinyl gloves Tig welder Timing light Tire iron Tire Pressure Gauges Torque wrench 3/8' TORQUE WRENCH 1/2" Transmission jack Tubing bender Tubing cutter Tubing flare tool Utility knife Utility knife VACUUM GAUGE Valve spring compressor Wheel chocks (keep cars from rolling) Wire crimper surprizingly a good deal of that stuff fits inside three pro-size craftsman tool boxes,that stand 6 feet tall and 40" wide and have 22 drawers each (at $2000 each..ON SALE??) and the stuff like various welders,bearing presses,hoists ETC. don,t take up as much room as you might think Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chaparral2f Posted October 30, 2007 Share Posted October 30, 2007 Great list. I could use a source for "common sense" my wife says I have none because I already have more tools than Harbor Freight, and keep on buying more. I would also add in the "nice to have but not critical" list: Horizontal band saw (power hack saw.) Bridgeport mill. (I'm surprised how often I've used mine) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SHO-Z Posted October 30, 2007 Share Posted October 30, 2007 A good radio for tunes and a TV for sports!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
grumpyvette Posted October 30, 2007 Author Share Posted October 30, 2007 BTW I was asked about my garage ,for those who mised the previous post... my garage is 36 FT deep x 74 feet wide and 16FT tall to the lower edge of the rafters, ITS GREAT!( ITS My dream garage) but you can ALWAYS use a few more feet of area. I can,t seem to get a decent picture to show the true size, Ive added shelving and work benchs ETC, since pictures are a couple years old, taken on the first day we had electric as we were just stuffing things in out of the rain on day one, over 1/2 the tools a couple engines and 4 various welders were not off the truck yet looking east from scafold Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnc Posted October 30, 2007 Share Posted October 30, 2007 The most important tool in the shop: Your brain! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
v8dats Posted October 31, 2007 Share Posted October 31, 2007 credit card Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mikelly Posted October 31, 2007 Share Posted October 31, 2007 Most important tool in my shop is in my skull. 2nd most important tool in my shop resides in my house. It's the DSL connection to the internet. 3rd most important thing in my shop is the mass of books and articles I have that pertain to auto-specific interests! Beyond that, Everything else can be purchased to build what I need. Mike Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tombarace14 Posted October 31, 2007 Share Posted October 31, 2007 And I thought being called a TOOL was a bad thing, haha. I will say my favorite tool is the internet, and I use it often. Also an engine crane is quite handy as ive learned recently. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thehelix112 Posted October 31, 2007 Share Posted October 31, 2007 You say ^^^^. I hear ``I'm a old person with lots of tools and a big shed, and far too much spare time''. Dave Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Evan Purple240zt Posted October 31, 2007 Share Posted October 31, 2007 Grumpy, phenomenal garage!!!!!!!!!!!!!! What a dream shop! Evan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
grumpyvette Posted October 31, 2007 Author Share Posted October 31, 2007 Grumpy, phenomenal garage!!!!!!!!!!!!!! What a dream shop! Evan I worked, planed and saved for 35 years to afford and build that shop,its slowly getting built and outfitted,as my budget allows, so don,t get discouraged if your young and broke, Im STILL broke, but making progess. you WILL eventually achieve your goals if you stick to the course, on reaching your goals long enought Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Administrators SuperDan Posted October 31, 2007 Administrators Share Posted October 31, 2007 The most important tool in the shop: Your brain! Finally, proof that John's tool and brain are one and the same. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnc Posted October 31, 2007 Share Posted October 31, 2007 "Check out at the big brain on John! You one smart muthaf**ka." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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