Tools

[lozstlouis]

Hi. I am returning to car fettling after some years of absence due to beer drinking, 3 daughters & a model railway... Now the girls are older (& more costly), the railway is best for the winter - i still drink beer...

I need to get re-tooled. My 15+ year absence has meant many of my "economy" tools have long since rusted away leaving just a few "decent, solid" things I invested in. So being a weekend fair weather type of operative I was trying to decide the merits of purchasing Teng/Mac/Snap-On or Draper/Halfords/Sealey & if indeed things have moved on much in last 15 or so years? I have a 'works issued' toolkit that is mostly sourced from RS. Its all decent kit but not sutaible for the oily stuff.

Any thoughts?

Cheers

[Luxobarge]

Depends on your budget really....

I'm absolutely NOT a fan of Halfords, but I do hear lots of good things about their "professional" range of tools, probably a very good quality/cost balance. Lifetime guarantee too, and at least you know you're not just paying for the name.

All the best!

[MG Mal]

Halford ??????????? Bah!

Halfords pro tools ?

made by S+ P and so far top notch.

Some good deals going on the larger "Brief-case" sets, and pro drivers down to a tenner a set ( just replaced some of mine so thats how I know)

Also........

Get thee to the Jumbles and seek out Britool King Dick and all those lovely names of th past being sold off for pennys.

mal.

[Grumpy Northener]

Over the years I have gathered and used allsorts - not really sticking to any one brand but out of experiance I would advise aiming for mid range in price - snap on stuff is very over priced and not all that it cracks up to be - the teng stuff looks very good, avoid at all costs the cheap Far East stuff - you can pull better out of a scrap pile - has Luxo states - the Halfords proffesional gear is very good and I have yet to find better ratchet drivers for the money - you can pick up some decent stuff at the larger shows but then again there is also a lot of rubbish - some of my best gear has come from auctions of bankrupt workshops / machine shops etc - and there is a lot of this happening at present - downside is most of the auctions are on weekdays - so if you have a normal day job it's a little hard to attend - E Bay is also worth checking out if you know what you want - I bought a miss listed - little used spot welder in Feb for a fraction of the new price - Good luck none the less.

[Martin Evans]

Britool is good stuff but pricey. Sykes Pickavant is good and not so costly as Britool. Elora is the pro end of Draper and it is better than standard Draper. I'm perhaps not entirely up to date but my Britool spanners are 25 plus years old and I haven't needed to change them. My socket set is German and of the same age. I can't remember the make but it was sold via an old fashioned trade motor factors, who didn't do rubbish. My father's Britool spanners and sockets are 50 years old and still good. We both have Britool torque wrenches but I also have a small Sykes Pickavant, that has been very good.

All tools will rust, even Britool, so before you hang them up (Especially if they are not to be used for a while - like my BSW set), spray them with some GT85/WD40.

Now I think of it, Brown Brothers "Taskmaster" stuff is (Or was at least) good kit.

[stagman]

I usually go for Britool - good mid range stuff. Snap On would be lovely but cannot afford it. Steer clear of the real cheap end of the market there is some real rubbish about. Is it me is Draper Professional not as good as it used to be?

[JPB]

.....Brown Brothers "Taskmaster" stuff is (Or was at least) good kit.

My first ever tool cabinet and its contents came from Brown Bros and are Taskmaster brand. Subaru gave me a tool budget back then and expected me to p*ss it up the wall on Snap-On kit off the van but I ordered from Brown Bros and got more than four times as much equipment for the permitted amount of spondus.

Taskmaster is or was made by SP for Brown Bros and as recently as Autumn, 2008, some 27 years after buying the stuff, my 1/2" drive ratchet suffered from a broken check pawl. I took it into the branch to ask whether they could supply parts for these things and the very kind bloke on the counter took it behind - I assumed - to find the parts. In fact, he reappeared a few seconds later with a new ratchet and didn't even ask to see the original receipt. Just as well since it's long gone I should think. He said that my original ratchet had been superceded some time during the '90s so did I mind that the replacement had a rubber handle and a quick release button. I told him that I was sure I'd get over it.
Best bit was that he gave me the old one back and said I may as well keep it. It now has the required check pawl, sourced from an otherwise scrap Facom ratchet that I'd found on the beach some years ago.

....Is it me is Draper Professional not as good as it used to be?

Well it was sh*te 30 years ago so if it's not that good now I can't see their stuff being up there with the best of the rest.

[stagman]

....Is it me is Draper Professional not as good as it used to be?

Well it was sh*te 30 years ago so if it's not that good now I can't see their stuff being up there with the best of the rest. [/quote]


about sums it up !!

[Grumpy Northener]

Here is a very good tip for all of you (Back me up Danny) get your motor entered into the Classic Car of the Year 2011 - has promoted / sponsored by Practical Classics - hopefully Teng are still sponsoring one of the prizes as they did last year - win and you get £1,000 worth of Teng kit of your choice - and that is just one of the prizes. Amy entered her Jowett Jupiter last year and despite all odds - won - the kit teng has supplied is lovely - so get entering - you do not need a concours winning car or a trailer queen to win it ! The link to the entry form / details etc are posted below

http://www.ccoty.co.uk/classic_car_home.php

[SEE YA]

Depends on your budget really....

I'm absolutely NOT a fan of Halfords, but I do hear lots of good things about their "professional" range of tools, probably a very good quality/cost balance. Lifetime guarantee too, and at least you know you're not just paying for the name.

All the best!

I have the pro range sockets set, never let me down Halfords have a deal on one now .

I think its about £100 ?.