What tools would you say are essential to working on your civic?

I know I need a torque wrech and I've searched trying to find a site to buy a quality one for a good price. What would you say is the best buy for the buck and were can I find it?

I checked out mac tools and snap on but don't know what torque wreches go for so I can't really say they are pricey or what not so a little help and I should be on my way!

Tyler

 

good everyday tools are Craftsman and theyre decently priced. if you want the bling and dont care what they cost them go snap-on or mac. every tool i own is Craftsman. for handtools, welder, jack, compressor, air tools, cordless drill, and many many more. if you use it a lot then get a good set. if you use it once a year then go to harbor freight and buy what they have

 

Craftsman is actually really good. If you break it, they will replace it. My uncle ran over a Craftsman extension cord with his lawn mower about ten years back, took it in, and they replaced it free of charge

 

my dad has a huge Snap-On tool collection.every tool i've ever bought was Craftsman.for the most part i can't tell any advantage to the Snap-On stuff-especially for the price.i use whichever i happen to grab-no preference.this includes both of use having a torque wrench-i'm equally happy with either,although i'm sure his Snap-On cost much more.
i do have a couple Harbor Freight tools-mostly specialty tools i've bought to use at work.tools there tend to walk off,so you don't want to spend much.even considering that,plus the fact that they're stuff i rarely use,they're still junk ..for my home tool collection,i wouldn't get any cheapo stuff.
chris

 

10-12-14-17-19 mm in 3/8 and 1/2 ratcheting and same with open ended

need a 13 mm if you ever do rod bolts on a bseries....

both 6 and 12 sockets and deepwell too

 

I was looking at craftsman tool sets at sears.com and found a few 270+ piece sets that I was interested in getting and then could buy the other stuff seperate. What torque wrench should I get though, I see all these electronic ones and then the standard one, snap on or craftsman. I don't know which to choose? Just want an all around wrench that'll get the job done. (torque that is)

 

i have a 3/8 and 1/2 inch craftsman and also a 3/8 and 1/2 snap on. i used the craftsman ones all the time before picking up the snap on ones.....and i can honestly say just the feel of the snap on makes me more comfortable. they feel more consistant....however i dont know if thats possible or if its in my head. i have a bunch of snap on specialty tools.....but its mostly stuff that craftsman doesnt make. ive put many of motors together with craftsman torque wrenches and plenty with snap on...never had a problem with either. most snap on stuff is sooo over priced......one of the cool parts about snap on is that you can buy 2 grand worth of tools and pay the snap on guy like 50 bucks a week. i pay cash for everything on the spot just because i hate payments....but one of my employee's buys something new every friday when snap on guy comes around....and i think he pays like 20-30 dollars a week. so even though he is paying 3x as much as he would for craftsman tools.....its just more convenient for him. he buys a lot of dumb **** though...weird guy

craftsman stuff is cool b/c you take it back and they give you a new one on the spot...no questions asked. when you work on crazy turbo cars and stuff you will find yourself heating tools up with torches and bending them.....cutting them in bandsaws......welding them together........so for stuff like that you obviusly want to use cheap tools instead of something expensive.....ive taken back modified tools to craftsman and they will still take it back on the spot. snap on warrenty sucks.

honestly i can say i prefer the craftsman ratchets over the snap on ones.....my employee that buys all snap on stuff...his ratchets are peices of crap. however he has a kickass spark plug socket with locking extension...that thing rules!!

yea for a honda...as mentioned above....10,12,13,14,17,19 sockets and wrenches...differnt varriations.....22 open for fuel line...plyers, channel locks, dykes, 8mm for fusebox wiring to pull the whole harness out, 32mm for axle nut (36 for prelude) flat head and phillips screwdrivers....scribes can come in handy

snap on also makes a valve adjustment tool that i think is worth every penny..not sure if you can get it from craftsman or not.

doesnt take much to work on a honda....i pulled the motor out of a car i bought with a blown motor in front of my house...in the rain...with hand tools....in under 2 hours. and all of the tools i used fit in a shoebox. im too tired to think of anything else..i'll post back if i can think of anything! obviously air compressor and impact if you got that kidna $ and space!

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Turbo-charged &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">snap on also makes a valve adjustment tool that i think is worth every penny..not sure if you can get it from craftsman or not.

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yes!forgot to mention that!i had a hard time findign that made by anybody else,so a couple years ago i got my dad to pick up a Snap-On model for me next time the truck came around.one of the the best tools ever!
Chris

 

i could take apart my civic with a basic set of metric sockets, lol

 

The only advantage to snap-on/mac/matco/cornwell/etc vs. craftsman is they deliver directly to the business. If you work on cars for a living you don't want to drive to sears to replace a tool. You just wait for the tool guy every monday. As far as quality goes craftman makes good stuff.

I use snap on at the shop and craftsman at the house.

 

Actually you'd be surprised at the tools you can get at harbor freight. As long as you dont misuse tools, I haven't had any problems with their tools. Come to think of it, 6 years of working with harbor freight tools and the only thing ive broke was using a regular socked on an impact gun at 180psi. For cheap tools that last, Harbor Freight is my vote.

Yager-

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by ImportHatch &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Actually you'd be surprised at the tools you can get at harbor freight. As long as you dont misuse tools, I haven't had any problems with their tools. Come to think of it, 6 years of working with harbor freight tools and the only thing ive broke was using a regular socked on an impact gun at 180psi. For cheap tools that last, Harbor Freight is my vote.

Yager-</TD></TR></TABLE>
you can get some decent stuff there,but it's kind of hit and miss.i've found that the higher quality versions of most of the tools they sell aren't much cheaper than a Craftsman model,so why not just get something you know is good?
they may have a 3/8" ratchet for $4.99,but it IS a POS.they have a nicer one for $15-but Sears has a Craftsman ratchet for $20,so you might as well go that route.
i've found a handfull of genuine good deals at HF,but for the most part you're either sacrificing quality for a low price,or hardly saving any money to get a decent quality tool that isn't much cheaper than the real deal.

chris

 

craftsman is great for the price. i do personally prefer them in this order Snap-on&gt;Mac&gt;Craftsman. Snap-ons stuff is really really really nice, better finish in all aspects than the others.

I use craftsman most of the time cause it is cheaper, especially for screwdrivers and whatnot, especially at work where people like to borrow my screwdrivers then bring them back stripped and fucked up to no end. Being able to not pay much, and run to sears and get a new one is damn nice.

 

The way I see it is: Craftsman if you work on cars for fun, Snap-On if you work on cars for a living. Even if a hobbyist manages to use their Craftsman stuff enough to wear it out, they will replace it for free.

Almost all of my tools are Snap-On, but I used to work on cars for a living.

 

im a hobbyist so i got a nice craftsman set

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by TeamNextGenChris &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">my dad has a huge Snap-On tool collection.every tool i've ever bought was Craftsman.for the most part i can't tell any advantage to the Snap-On stuff-especially for the price.
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The main difference that I have experienced is with the sockets and wrenches (especially flare nut wrenches). The Snap-On's bite the nuts or bolt heads on the flats as opposed to the corners. When I worked at Sears Autocenter we all pretty much used Snap-on sockets and wrenches as it was less likely to strip out rusty or real tight nuts. Keep in mind the Snap-On was full price and Craftsman was to be had for 50% off if it was bought for work, I thought it was worth the extra money for not having to drill out stripped bolts all the time.

Now that was also back in 92-97 time frame so maybe craftsman has gotten better since then with their new industrial line. The old school craftsman stuff that I grew up with wasn't too good. The new stuff looks nice but I haven't needed to buy tools in years so I can't tell.

 

Just get craftsman if you dont work on cars for a living, i work on cars for a living so most of my tools are snap on although i do have a few craftsman tools. Craftsman wrenches hurt my hands due to the ridges on them, snap on are smooth and longer. Craftsman tools break more then snap on IMO. Although i have broken many snap on tools. Some tools that snap on makes are over priced IMO. Such as there compression testers.

 

I really like craftsman tools for the money, but I do agree snap on/cornwell/mac/etc tend to feel a bit better and sometimes are made a bit better. Although I've found some of craftsman's higher end stuff (like their fully polished wrenches, etc), is pretty close to snap on's (although snap on's long pattern wrenches are a bit longer than craftsmans), and a whole lot cheaper. I personally own mostly craftsman, with only a few snap-on tools for specialty things that I can't get thru sears or other sources (or sometimes I'm unsure of the quality of other sources). If you're just starting to work on your car, you probably can't go wrong with any of craftsman's tool sets, especially when they can often be found on sale.

If you're looking for specialty tools, my favorite place online is http://www.thetoolwarehouse.net, I've ordered quite a few specialty tools from them and they've always had good service and good prices and they have a pretty good selection. Also, keep in mind, snap-on/mac/cornwell/etc don't make most of their specialty tools, they're made by other manufacturers and resold thru the tool truck companies, which add their logo and warranty and typically higher price to the tool. If you really search, you can oftentimes find the same specialty tools sold for a lot less that are actually the same tools sold by the tool truck companies, although there are some times you may just have to bite the bullet to get some tools that only the truck companies have. like here's a link http://www.thetoolwarehouse.net/shop/SP-91400.html to the snap on valve spring compressor people were talking about in the thread, and it's listed as schely, who I'm pretty sure makes it for snap-on (I own the snap-on one, and it looks EXACTLY like that one). Also, for torque wrenches, precision instruments (I'm told, haven't used one to my knowledge) are supposed to be really nice. They are supposedly who used to manufacture all of snap-on's wrenches up until recently. I've used an assortment, and personally own a couple of craftsman ones, and find the craftsman ones to be just fine for everything I've had to do on my car. Just my .02 though.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by chad &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">10-12-14-17-19 mm in 3/8 and 1/2 ratcheting and same with open ended

need a 13 mm if you ever do rod bolts on a bseries....

both 6 and 12 sockets and deepwell too</TD></TR></TABLE>

everything listed above, +:

15mm socket (3/8" drive)
an impact 19mm deepwell socket in 1/2" drive
breaker bar
good torque wrench
nice floor jack (there's a good thread about jacks in the RR/AX forum)
some jack stands
an angled feeler gauge with the correct size for doing a valve job
the cheapo harbor freight valve adjustment tool
some good gloves (preferably not too thick)
creeper (much better for the back & knees)
large C-clamp (front brakes)
3 or 5 pound mini-sledge hammer (very useful)
dremel (never know when you might need one)
and a nice 18v cordless drill.

the first 8 things listed are very useful, depending on how far you want to go. the others come in handy, but can be purchased as needed.

 

get a metric set from craftman and you be good

 

Snap on Valve Adjustment Tool
Snap on valve spring compresser
good set of metric sockets (regular and deepwell)
good set of metric wrenches
1/4 1/2 3/8 drive ratchets
brass hammer and deadblow hammer
32 mm socket
good set of screwdrivers IMO nothing grips a screw head like a snap-on

 

Get a decent pair of snap-ring pliers. You'll need them at some point.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by 1TurboHatch &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">...Craftsman wrenches hurt my hands due to the ridges on them...</TD></TR></TABLE>

That's exactly right, they have sharp edges. A few minutes with a polisher would fix that, but that shouldn't be necessary.


Modified by kb58 at 3:15 AM 12/30/2004