Tools?

[Anonymous]

Hey guys! I am new to the forum, and kind of new to the motoring industry in the UK.

I am a Canadian by birth and had a Honda that I loved and looked after back home, and I was lucky enough to have a pal with tools.

I am getting in a position where I can start doing maintenance work on my girlfriend's MR2, and I am in need of some basic tools.

I am wondering if anyone has any recommendations about where to go for a starter set, something with enough sockets to allow me to do most of the work on the car, things like:

Normal Sockets
Deep Sockets
Spark Plug Socket
Caliper Tool for Rears
Jackstands
Oil Filter Wrench
Oil Drain Pan

I have seen Halfords have them, but I am wondering if anyone else out there is a fan of finding bargains, and knows where I can hunt something down.

So far I have found this:

 m http://www.halfords.com/webapp/wcs/stor ... yId_255215 m

Which looks good, but I am not sure if I am maybe still spending a few too many bucks on a kit.

Also, can someone fill me in on how to properly dispose of fluids here, like spent oil, or coolant?

Thanks in advance for helping with a seemingly silly query!

Evan

[uktotty]

That kit looks good and halfrauds tools are really rather good.

you also need OBDII reader and O2 Socket (22mm)

[Anonymous]

Thanks mate! OBDII Reader is a good shout. A quick Google says about £50, does that sound about right? We had one of the sensors done last year at Kwik Fit which was a bit of a charade, and I know they are prone to go, so I will keep them in mind.

As far as pricing goes though, is Halfrauds' (I like it!) pricing about right? The trouble with living in a foreign land is that I have nothing to compare it to.

Thanks for getting back to me Russ!

[uktotty]

£50 is about £40 too much
 m http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/U480-Car-Auto ... 3a719b1e66 m
Halfrauds is good kit for sensible money, most of use buy tool by tool but as a one stop shop that looks great.

02 socket also under £10
 m http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B000MQ7XRA/? ... B000MQ7XRA m

Russ

[Anonymous]

Cooooool. Thanks Russ!

[AckersMR2]

I've got a similar Halfords set and their professional range is very good  :-) :-) :-)

[onion86]

Another for the Halfords Professional range. I have this set which I got half price of course  s:D s:D  well worth the money @£100. You can't go wrong with the one you've linked, they always have at least 1 set half price all the time.

My bro has a similar set to the one you've linked, been using it for almost 10 years.

[Markb]

The Halford sets are good quality and value....the 6 point Draper Expert sockets are very good as well,i've bought a few sets lately.....the older Halfords sets are the ones to get though,apparently Snap-On made them,the newer ones are Sykes Pickavent....still good quality though.

Some great buys on BAHCO stuff.....top of the range quality sets (6 point sockets) at rrp £450 can be bought for £150 or less.

  m http://www.amazon.co.uk/Bahco-Socket-10 ... 537&sr=1-8 m

 m http://www.buyaparcel.com/pageview.php? ... de=BAHS106 m

[AndyM]

Looking to kit out my garage over the next couple of months too.

Great thread, really useful info.  s:) s:)

[mrzwei]

Just worth mentioning that if you have an Aldi or Lidl store near you they regularly have some really good value and, importantly, quality kit on offer. Trolley jacks, axle stands spanner sets, torque wrenches, battery chargers etc. all TUV stamped. You need to keep an eye on their websites.
Over the years I haven't bought anything from them that has broken, or anythong that has broken a car. I now have far too many tools   s:crazyeyes: :crazyeyes: s:crazyeyes:

[trevsmr2]

That halfords set looks ok ,and they have a lifetime guarantee with them  but
you are better off buying the 6 sided sockets not the 12
get some of their flexible ratchet spanners as well

These are a good buy  

 m http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Bahco-SL25-So ... 589961f539 m

 m http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Bahco-S330-So ... 484afc7c3a m

 m http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Bahco-S240-So ... 53f20b76a3 m

[AckersMR2]

That halfords set looks ok ,and they have a lifetime guarantee with them  but you are better off buying the 6 sided sockets not the 12

Looks like there are a few in the set, four at the back in black, impact sockets aren't they specially for windy guns?

You do definitely want a set of then though for those stubborn rusty nuts, the twelve sided ones will just round the nuts  s;-) ;-) s;-)

[AndyM]

Can I add a little question in about torque wrenches... are they needed? What is a good one?

A lot of the repair guides I've been looking at recently specify the torque for certain bolts so I figured they were pretty important to have but after looking around there seems to be a massive range of prices for them.

[mrzwei]

I bought my first torque wrench when I was rebuilding an old 'A' series engine. If you are doing any major rebuild work (engine, discs, calipers etc then they are 'must have' bits of kit. The most use mine gets these days is for the wheel nuts!
Just buy a basic budget type and that will be fine for diy use. Calibration is not really as important as making sure that all nuts / bolts are tightened equally.

Just noticed that LIDL have got a very useful looking 94 piece socket set (chome vanadium and S2 steel) for £34.99 from 14th March.

[dj2k21]

Got a brochure from aldi through the door today, had a flick through before shotting it in the bin like normal and noticed they are doing an air compressor with loads of attachments for £99  also doing spray guns and a load of other air tools too. Brilliant little starter pack for someone I reckon

[Markb]

You can get sets of Draper Expert 6 point sockets on plastic storage rails/strips......they range from £8 to £20 depending on drive size and if they are deep sockets or not.....shop around between Amazon and Ebay for the best price...theres usually around 8 to 10 sockets per rail,you can even get them colour coded.Very good quality for the price,i've bought a few sets over the past few months....the 6 point was able to remove the heat shield bolts on the 2 as they apply pressure to the flat of the bolt head not the corners that were rusted away.

A set of the hex/torx head sockets is worth having as well...the Draper Expert set is approx 20 quid from Amazon,bought it at christmas....good set,read the reviews.


 m http://www.amazon.co.uk/Draper-Expert-2 ... B0001K9R6W m

[BARNPOT]

Thanks mate! OBDII Reader is a good shout. A quick Google says about £50, does that sound about right? We had one of the sensors done last year at Kwik Fit which was a bit of a charade, and I know they are prone to go, so I will keep them in mind.

As far as pricing goes though, is Halfrauds' (I like it!) pricing about right? The trouble with living in a foreign land is that I have nothing to compare it to.

Thanks for getting back to me Russ!

You could go for the "TORQUE" app. if you have a smart phone. It's an OBII reader free app or about 3 quid for the "pro" version. You just need a Bluetooth plug to put on the car connector for about 10 quid (fleabay)...so probably cheapest option, and has more useful features than a hard wired reader.

[smarty72]

Wished I hadn't read this thread.  I wasn't aware I needed/wanted any tools at the moment. Now I'm hankering after a new socket set!

[smarty72]

This one has extra 30 pieces for the same price, web only offer until Monday though,

 m http://www.halfords.com/webapp/wcs/stor ... yId_255215 m

[Markb]

The worst thing about the Halfords sets is they make up the numbers with alot of screwdriver bits etc.

[onion86]

Wow bargain on my set at the moment, reduced from £200 to £80!
http://www.halfords.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/product_storeId_10001_catalogId_10151_productId_862421_langId_-1_categoryId_255215

[dj2k21]

Wow good find. Cant resist a bargain like that

[Markb]

Wow bargain on my set at the moment, reduced from £200 to £80!
http://www.halfords.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/product_storeId_10001_catalogId_10151_productId_862421_langId_-1_categoryId_255215

Have they ever actually been 200 quid though......they are always reduced    s:lol: :lol: s:lol:  still its a decent set.

[onion86]

They are full price sometimes, people probably don't buy them during that time though  s:D s:D

When this thread was started they were full price and some of the other sets were reduced, cheapest I've seen this set was £100 (same price I got mine 3 or so years ago) so £80 is a bargain, it's a great set.

[AndyM]

Just picked one of the Halfords sets today. I don't know how true it is (they always have offers on) but they claim the £79.99 price is only on till Tuesday.