Your best investment kitwise?

[Bren]

Obviously we have trade professionals on here and people who just love old cars and spanner as a hobby (me).

 

I was thinking about the best buys I have made, the one that have returned results many times without complaint.

 

My clarke mig welder, bought for £110 third or fourth hand - did all the welding on my sd1 (and there was A LOT), repaired other people's car and used to extract seized fasteners - weld a nut on a broken stud or a pozi drive bit on a screw and away you go - the heat usually does the business and you can now unscrew said item.

 

I have a small piece of rubber hose, it was originally a breather pipe on a pair of SU carbs, I have used this countless times to screw in spark plugs by hand even on 16 v heads and motorcycles, there is no danger of cross threading.

 

I have many others but these are two that jump out at me. What about yours?

[M'coli]

Brakepipe flaring kit, and a welder.

[Volksy]

Halfrauds 'Professional' Toolkit.

 

Cost about £200, but has paid for itself many times over, Lifetime guarantee too, which has come in handy!

[blackbart]

mines a crappy old cigarette lighter powered tyre inflator. free from the local petrol station after so many fuel fill ups. had it 5 years now, and it gets used most weeks. i never thought it would last long enough to even inflate one tyre, but its never let me down yet. (touches wood lol).

[Spiny Norman]

With my mechanical skillz? A home insurance policy that came with free AA membership.

[brickwall]

Welder.

[Vanny]

Gator Grip

 

Not available in the UK!

[retrogeezer]

^^^^^ Great for alloy wheel thieves! ^^^^^^

[R9UKE]

Halfords battery booster pack / tyre inflator. Best £60 I've ever spent. Gets used every week and has done for the past three years, essential when you have numerous cars sitting sometimes for weeks without moving. Also if you're cursed with slow punctures and the Renault tyre pressure monitor system as I am.

[dollywobbler]

Gator Grip

 

Not available in the UK!

 

My dad's company used to sell those in the UK...

 

Halfords battery booster pack / tyre inflator. Best £60 I've ever spent. Gets used every week and has done for the past three years, essential when you have numerous cars sitting sometimes for weeks without moving. Also if you're cursed with slow punctures and the Renault tyre pressure monitor system as I am.

 

I've got one of those. It has ALWAYS been a pain, needing the cables positioned in exactly the right place on the side of the box. The tyre compressor has now also packed up. The battery is still good on it though, so I won't be replacing it just yet. I've bought a normal foot pump instead.

 

My best tool purchase though was a Halfords non-advanced socket set in 1995 or 1996. Lovely ratchet, with an easy-to-use sliding thumbswitch for direction changes, and a release button to remove the socket. Took a hell of a lot of abuse before exploding in spectacular fashion when I was yet again walloping it with something inappropriate a couple of years ago. I must buy another. Oh and a high-lift, quick-lift trolley jack. Absolutely essential for those who like Citroens.

[crapcarcollector]

Air Compressor

[solid61]

Large snap on water pump pliers,,saved my bacon many times over the last 30 years.

[ruffgeezer]

A big pallet of second hand tools from an auction for £35;

 

I'll also second the Halfords Pro 150 piece kit, although if it is priced at £200, wait a few weeks and it'll come on offer again for £99.99

[AeroNautiCal]

My Wurth Time Sert kit, Snap On concentric roller stud extractor set and Breezer Tyre Tool.

[skattrd]

I'll also second the Halfords Pro 150 piece kit, although if it is priced at £200, wait a few weeks and it'll come on offer again for £99.99

 

Currently on offer at £79.99 .. plus 3% quidco if you do that sort of thing

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

[pshome]

Facom set of small ratcheting wrenches. Expensive (got them for xmas ) but worth every penny, most often used tools i ever had

[messerschmitt owner]

I'll also second the Halfords Pro 150 piece kit, although if it is priced at £200, wait a few weeks and it'll come on offer again for £99.99

 

Currently on offer at £79.99 .. plus 3% quidco if you do that sort of thing

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

I have the 170 piece kit - great value for money at £89 when I bought it. It's nice kit the Halfords stuff.

 

I think I may just buy a 150 piece set for the car!

 

I love ratchet spanners though and from none to three sets took me all of six months. Why did I never buy them before?

[Lord Sterling]

My cheap Halfords toolkit, I think it cost me something like £20 or £30. As small and cheap as it is, its helped do a lot of little jobs on my various pieces of British crap that I seem to keep on buying.

[messerschmitt owner]

oops, I have to go to Halfords tomorrow to collect a tool kit!

[HillmanImp]

I have that toolkit. Slightly peeved to have paid £99 4 months ago but hey ho, tis only £20.

 

The 170 piece is at £124.99 too.

 

http://www.halfords.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/product_storeId_10001_catalogId_10151_productId_862463_langId_-1_categoryId_255215

[stuboy]

I have that toolkit. Slightly peeved to have paid £99 4 months ago but hey ho, tis only £20.

 

The 170 piece is at £124.99 too.

 

http://www.halfords.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/product_storeId_10001_catalogId_10151_productId_862463_langId_-1_categoryId_255215

bought this myself for xmas!! love it

[whitevanman]

Favourite? which ever one I need at the time having said that...the plasma cutter is the daddy of them all

[Craig the Princess]

Oil filter claw, only cost about £6.99 but no more fecking about with chains or screwdrivers. Just on the bar and filter comes off.

[Guest Tony Hayers]

My various pieces of British crap that I seem to keep on buying.

 

Snap!

 

King Dick spanner set. Must be nearing 50 year old, yet as good as day 1

 

Does the old man even know i've had them in my kit for 20 years?

[The Moog]

Electric Impact wrench ..

 

GR9 for undoing suspension bolts on rusty saabs... gets used and abused and still keeps going ..

[Ben_L]

The screwdriver that Vauxhalls come with (one end is Posi, other is Flat) and you simply withdraw the shaft from the handle and reverse it to switch it round. Stole one about 3 years ago as my Cavalier never had one and it was the most used tool I ever had. It seemed to fit every purpose that you'd need a screwdriver for, especially the air-filter boxes, steering cowling etc etc... Will steal another if I see it in the showroom!

[richardthestag]

Air Compressor

 

And air impact wrench

 

Big bucket of imperial king dick 1/2 inch sockets and spanners i got of a neighbour years ago. Very very resilient to abuse

[Rocket88]

Electric Impact wrench ..

 

GR9 for undoing suspension bolts on rusty saabs... gets used and abused and still keeps going ..

 

Second this, if you haven't got air tools, next best thing.

[Joey spud]

Great call on the Vx reversable screwdriver i have been using these for years now,the latest ones now have a torx end instead of the crosshead though.

I was a YTS at a Vx dealer in the 80's and all the lads had a 10 and 13 mm combi spanner and a faithfull vx screwdriver in their top pocket at all times...

 

A good faithful friend for me is a Sealy power probe (£20) which is perfect for adding a live or earth to anything 'dodgey' around a car,(starter motor solenoid,alternator warning light circuit and leccy fuel pumps etc) it really save a lot of time arseing about on a hard shoulder when some sleep deprived eastern european lorry driver is trying to drive up my trouser leg.

[fordperv]

My favourite at the minute is the 24v impact wrench mrs fordperv got me for Christmas, but otherwise damaged bolt removers my bargain £60 Clarke 135te bought from a friend who used it once and couldn't weld