Shredtheibanez

Hey all, first off I'm new to PassionFord so hello all I've been bombing around viewing all the sexy classics out there and just want to say, Loving all the fords, especially the cossies and rs2000s

Ok, so.. Tools.

I'm 17 and looking to get into the trade. I have stacks of tools that i have aquired over the years but want to start a professional set. Although i would love to go out and buy a set of Snap On or Macs, I simply can't afford it at the moment.

I do a lot of work on peoples cars, learning through mistakes primarily but have come to a stage where i want to start doing more work. I have a gearbox replacement coming up and have all the tools bar from a Clutch alignment.

And it got me thinking. What brands are good value? Are Snap ons and Macs really worth there weight in gold? Or is there a name that are real good value for money.

For my more precision tools (like torque wrenchs) i have Drapper Experts, allthough they seem fine to me, do they last a good life time? or eventually die?

Is it worth slowly collecting snap on or macs (which is best?) or just save and buy a set from another cheaper brand? (suggestions please)

Thanks in advance,

Hope everyone is having a good start to 2010, Manic snow huh?!?


Ryan

BigChuck

have a look at halfords professional range

longdog

iTrader: (1)

Halfords pro are shit hot mate.

Toe Knee

iTrader: (2)

Halfords mate cant go wrong with their professional gear and it has a replacement like snap on with sockets etc!! and if u or a mate has a trade card there u get good discounts, plus they have good offers all year round!!

and their tool chests are good too!!

Matt Baxter

iTrader: (37)

I have a lot of snap on + Mac tools but have some halfords for home useand i am very impressed with the quality for the money its fucking awesome

alistairolsen

I wouldnt bother with snap on personally, Ive used other peoples and not been overly impressed compared to others.

For generic tools halfords professional range is good, has a lifetime warranty and can be exchanged on a Sunday.

For Torque wrenches and things the draper expert ones will be fine, the biggest thing is to have them checked regularly for calibration, Id rather a new draper then a ten year old snap on thats not been checked on a regular basis.

Stuff like clutch tools if theyre universal Ill buy good ones like draper expert or other similar, if theyre one car only special tools then I buy laser stuff cos its good enough if youre only using it once or twice tbh.

Whats the gearbox swap on?

Toe Knee

iTrader: (2)

halfords torque wrenches are good too................

PS where do u go to get them calibrated?! Had mine years now so would probably benefit from a check up!

G950KDT

iTrader: (2)

snap on ive found arent as good as they used to be, spanners etc are ok but impact sockets and their wratchets are breaking far too easily these days, sent 4 away for repair and exchange last year.

halfords professional and advanced stuff ive just bought is doing the trick nicely for me, got some mac, some snap on, some teng tools, bergan, blue point and the odd cheap tool... never go wrong with most things apart from screwdrivers until i got the halfords ones, havent broken one yet.

if you want snap on stuff look for blue-point stuff, snap ons cheaper range, still the same quality but half the price a lot of the time!

white2lsr

iTrader: (1)

With snap on you are mainly paying for the convenience of the dealer coming weekly to your door and having a no questions asked warrenty.
For what your after I think Signet or draper expert are decent. Im oot too keen on Halfrauds stuff as ive had bed expierience with them in the past.

Brian

iTrader: (2)

I have Snap On, Halfords and also have some Clarke tools from Maachine Mart which are also very good and some also have life time guarentee


Brian

Shredtheibanez

Thanks people, I've heard a lot about their pro range and never really belived it but hey, I do now. If they have a replacement scheme they must be pretty good

Keep them coming Really helps.

... Am i allowed to say this word? ... Honda... haha

Its on a Honda Civic 1.6, a friend has no money, no clue and me... I just go by logic, never really broken anything that isn't fixable.

Gear 2, 3 grinds so bad, whilst gear 5 whinnes sooooooo bad. Hes got a recon'd replacement for like £95 i think. Whilst i'm there might as well do a clutch change.

turboRS

i agree, Snap On aint wat it used to be!
at the end of the day even cheap tools can get you out the shit!
its down to how you use and maintain them!
Snap On and Mac are just brand names that sound good!
its like owning a Jag thats actually a Mondeo under the skin
personally i dont bother with universal clutch allignment tools, i find it quicker and easier to allign it by eye and or feel!
wats car you gotta do anyway?

Gazzonator

iTrader: (9)

As said above the Halfords Professional range is bloody good for the money! I've got a few bits and bobs from them! Lifetime warranty on a lot of their tools too!

The majority of the tools that I own are either Snap-on or Mac. Mac tend to be a bit cheaper than Snap-on but I have to admit that if I could, I would buy Snap-on everytime, just personal preference I guess!

If you are only starting out, I would be inclined to buy the Halfords gear and find yourself a nice secondhand Snap-on tool box to keep them in, that way you won't spend a fortune and have a nice selection of tools! Buying all the basic stuff in Snap-on or Mac would cost you shitloads!! Trust me, I've been there!!!

Britool, Sealey, Draper etc are all other brands worth looking at. The tools that my company supply me are from Sealey and they're not too bad.

zetec-Sam

iTrader: (2)

Another vote for halfords tools. Bloody awesome, I use them day in-day out, and have never had a problem, except with the torx sockets, they are prone to snapping, but take them into your nearest halfords and they'll swap it over

Shredtheibanez

Yeah i agree, some cheap ones are ok, but for like rachets, i mean i've snapped so many of them (the rachet machanism bit) so at a £10 a go, maybe they aren't worth it.. Will be trying out the Halfords range

When it comes to my car, I own a (please go easy on me):

1991 (mk5) 1.3 HCS Escort Encore. Although its like 18 years old (19 in april) there is like no (yes no.. Unbelievable) rust. Plus its only got 28000 miles on the clock. 2 previous owners (both old) the first owner had a stroke in it (honest to god, probally down to the insaine amount of speed.. All produced from the MASSIVE 70BHP engine ) which meant it was sold to the next old owner (a friend of theres). Its in really good condition and, for my first car, i love it. Will get some picks posted.. .

Youselves?

Shredtheibanez

Thanks everyone this has really helped, Seems what i have left in my wage (after the girlfriends cut ) I will be getting a set of halfords . Been looking around on here for a second hand snap on box seen a nice blue one (just wanted the top box out of the massive set) but i guess they are top dollar aswell...

fiend

iTrader: (1)

Check out the Halfords website, they have alot of tools and tool boxes on sale at the moment.

They always seem to have some kind of deal going on through the year on tools.

Keep your receipts though! Otherwise they don't honour the lifetime guarantee.

zetec-Sam

iTrader: (2)

you can get a pretty good cabinet set thing for £50 at halfords at the mo
http://www.halfords.com/webapp/wcs/s...egoryId_165667
this is the one

Shredtheibanez

Gonna check them out now and will do matey, i can imagine how they could be. Thank

Gazzonator

iTrader: (9)

Nothing wrong with your motor mate!! We all gotta start somewhere!! My first car was a 1400 Orion Equipe! Great car!!

At the mo, Ive got a Sierra 2.0i Ghia (waiting to put back on the road!), Mondeo ST24 (runaround), and the Sapphire Cossie in my sig (in the middle of an engine rebuild and conversion to 2wd).

Shredtheibanez

WHAT?? Thats cheap! Any good you think?

Shredtheibanez

Thanks!

I love Sapphire Cossies!!! I'm looking to get one (maybe like from a breakers or due to, with hope left in it) rebuild it (engine and all of course) later on in life

Lets hope PassionFord is still around in 3/4 years

Mark_

machine mart do some rather nice chests at a fair price

Pudnpepsi

iTrader: (2)

Look on ebay for a halfords top box. good kit. i have 2 ( greedy fucker i know) and i will eventually be selling them to get one like you see on american hotrod.. ( with the wood top!)

zetec-Sam

iTrader: (2)

We got a few in atm, they seem pretty good when I had a look

A mates dad has about 6 different halfords boxes, he swears by the professional range

Shredtheibanez

I'll have to take a trip to halfords, marshmills (plymouth). Hopefully they have some out

Thanks for everything guys

turboRS

my first box as an apprentice was a clarke item from machine mart.
great value and price
when your ready to upgrade, you can always use it at home. like i did.
perfect!
for ratchets and other hard wearing tools, you defo want half decent stuff atleast! draper, halfords etc.
first car was a mk4 escort bonus. funnily still miss it to this day. hope its still alive somewhere!

Shredtheibanez

Yeah, Good point

Now aint that nice

alangti

i wish i knew the halfords pro stuff was good my car came with a tool bag full of the spanners rachet spanners sockets and a few other bits n bobs all halfords pro and i gave the lot to my gf's dad now i know why he snaffled them lol

white2lsr

iTrader: (1)

snaffled?

St3V3_C

halfords pro here too

STAFFY OWNER

I'm a buyer for my companies engineering department so although it's not a garage environment they still require decent tools. Try looking in engineering catalogues (Cromwell Tools, Buck & Hickman type of thing), often they will have their own brand professional range that won't cost the earth but will still give good service. Apparently the Robuck brand that belongs to Buck and Hickman is quite good and you're not just paying for a brand name.
The way i built my tools up was just by buying a basic set (screwdrivers, sockets, spanners etc) and then as a job cropped up where i needed a specific tool i bought it at the time.
Years ago i had a MK3 XR3i, it was the first decent car i had and it was my pride & joy but it did have an annoying habit of eating clutch cable so i used to keep a dedicated tools box in the boot along with a spare clutch cable so that i could change i at the side of the road. Unfortunately when the car got knicked so did the tool box... thieving bastards.

Shredtheibanez

I've heard of Robuck, think i may even have a screwdriver or something of theres. A lot of my tools are hand downs from my granddad and great granddad and all are perfect, aint broke one of them (its the new stuff thats breaking)

The XR3i is a loooooovely car, can't believe some low life stole it.. I'd hunt to murder, honest.

rst in breaking

iTrader: (2)

i believe halfords pro and draper expert are made by same people. i have a load of draper expert stuff but do find my snap on stuff to be alot nicer to use and i generally mainly use my blue point set for starters which has spanners, 1/4 set, 3/8 set, torx etc and is only £150 so dont pop to tool box often

alangti

bit my hand off lol