French Car Forum

tonupteabag · Post by **tonupteabag** » 06 Apr 2010, 23:15

myglaren wrote:My son spends most of his time in his pit.
Shame I can't position a car over him and have him work on it

now that i can relate to! i have two teenage daughters who don't get up until the crack of noon

addo · Post by **addo** » 06 Apr 2010, 23:18

I'm sure he'll come good in the end. Applying heat and pressure just produces forgery.

It's the costs of not DIY-ing that always push me back to it. I allowed someone else to fit the new damper pulley on Paris the 405. Result was a busted accessory belt and destroyed idler pulley; $200-odd at our prices. When I farmed out the Xantia P-bushes it cost me two hours on a four post, restoring the correct ride height.

citronut · Post by **citronut** » 06 Apr 2010, 23:23

Steve wrote
"My son spends most of his time in his pit"

yep and if he's like mine there's plenty of noxsious fumes to boot

regards malcolm

Toby_HDi · Post by **Toby_HDi** » 06 Apr 2010, 23:25

xmexclusive wrote:Looks like Chinese Lexias are dropping in price.
Had an email offer at 130 US$ this morning.

John

Sounds interesting. Same place as you got yours? I really think one would be handy, especially as I believe the Lexia 3 can run both Citroen and Peugeot software.

jgra1 · Post by **jgra1** » 07 Apr 2010, 10:27

I always thought if I ever manage to get a house, with a bit of land and an old shed (unlikely!)
whether I could get a used 2 post ramp .. from a garage business closing down...

HDI · Post by **HDI** » 07 Apr 2010, 11:09

Ah tools , now there's a subject and a half !!

My introduction to tool world was when I bought my first motorcyle. Graduated very quickly from plundering my dad's Britool , Bahco , Gordon , Elora based box when he objected to my casual approach to tool box etiquette !!
Began to buy stuff as I needed it from a engineers merchant in Leeds.
Generally good stuff , mostly British made and I still have a lot of it now.
Then one fateful day , shortly after buying a Ducati 900SS , I was at a mate of a mates garage and saw his Snap-On box !! My life has never been the same

Initially I had Snap-On'itus in it's worst form. I would buy nothing unless it came off the Snap-On van. Over a period of 10 years or so I spent a massive amount o n the stuff. Very proud of my Roll Cab and Top Box and it's contents and try not to think of how much it cost !

Now Snap-On hand tools can't be beaten for quality and durability , even the first stuff I bought still performs like the day I bought it and nothing has ever broken despite serious use. Spanners , ratchets & sockets etc are just unbeatable , and I have compared with plenty.
They are equaled by some brands , Stahlwille , and some other German stuff but they are just as expensive.
MAC are not as good , but are cheaper and not bad.

However , I did discover , much to my disappointment at the time , that Snap-On do buy in and badge up.
So I started to look around at alternatives , especially when the already high price of Snap-On went even higher !
Fortunately my tool collection is now pretty comprehensive and will outlast me so my expenditure these days is quite modest. So I browse ebay to see whats going.
For someone who is starting a tool kit , I would go for Britool as the core , that is Spanners , Ratchets , Sockets etc. British made, good quality.

Tip wise :- get a set of flex-head wrenches , go for 12 point in smaller sockets , say up to 13 mm then 6 point after that , get a couple of pry bars , one say 10-12" and another 20-24" , get at least one dead blow polyurethane hammer , get a telescopic mag pick up to retrieve dropped nuts etc , get a mirror on a flexible handle , get a good LED work light , buy the best pliers you can afford , cheap types are rubbish , get a breaker bar to loosen very tight stuff , do not use a ratchet for this !!
Get a set of TORX keys , the T bar type are good , but the standard short L types will be needed for tight areas , same for allen keys.

This subject is endless , so I'll post other stuff as I think of it.

HDI · Post by **HDI** » 07 Apr 2010, 11:20

jgra1 wrote:I always thought if I ever manage to get a house, with a bit of land and an old shed (unlikely!)
whether I could get a used 2 post ramp .. from a garage business closing down...

A two post lift is the best thing ever !! I took the plunge and have never looked back , however , it spoils you !! I just won't work underneath a car without one now !!

Be careful about buying one from a garage , it will most likely be well worn. The best type to go for are hydraulic and cable , avoid the worm and nut type like the plague.

Toby_HDi · Post by **Toby_HDi** » 08 Apr 2010, 00:04

Well I've finally got round to having a look.

Machine Mart do seem to be the most reasonable for price. I can't afford anything too highly priced but do need to compromise and find decent quality. Most of the stuff is their PRO range with a lifetime guarantee.

The sockets are to replace the missing ones from my current set. The rest is stuff I need. By no means is that all but I think it's probably a good base to start from. It's a big lump but its got to be worth it in the long term as it means I have the tools for future jobs.

If anyone wants to look through and comment on my choices, feel free. If you can see anything I've forgotten or don't really need, let me know:

The only thing thats not there that may be of use sooner rather than later is a cambelt tensioning tool. The Coupe's should be fine as I just line the tensioner up with the mark and its set. The Activa could use a SEEM gauge but I gulped when I saw how expensive they were.

red_dwarfers · Post by **red_dwarfers** » 08 Apr 2010, 09:12

You'll probably want a little bottle jack as if you're jacking the car up for any distance you might find that the arc movement of the trolley jack is too much and things might happen. Past experience that. We learn from our mistakes though

You might find you want an actual T40 bit (or is it T50? for the brake calipers?) that goes into a socket on your socket set as those can be rather tight. Those torx keys at the bottom somehow don't look meaty enough IMO.

Flare nut spanners, make sure you've got particular sizes (I can't quite remember which for the pipe unions) also I presume they will be different again on the 406.

Double up on spanners of every size from 6 to as far as you can go.

Circlip pliers that you can adjust for pulling in and pushing out, also ones on a 90 degree angle.

Sandpaper of varying grades.

Baby files and normal sized files.

Plus gas in a tin.

Little and large hammer

Screwdrivers of all sizes

Rachet spanners

Goggles, disposable gloves, rolls of that thick tissue stuff (blue?), little boxes/plastic bags for putting screws and bits in.

By no means an exhaustive list, but its a start. As said, a toolbox is something that grows over time so you won't necessarily need to buy everything in one go. Even if you have most tools in the world there will still be times when you need to pause a job to go and buy one

Toby_HDi · Post by **Toby_HDi** » 08 Apr 2010, 12:17

Thanks Kev,

I've got flare nut spanners and meaty large size Torx bits. It's just the smaller ones for removing bits of trim etc that I don't have.

Think I might have to buy that little list in stages and put off the work on the Activa til I've got it all.

Deanxm · Post by **Deanxm** » 08 Apr 2010, 18:02

Very cheap this DIY lark isnt it

D

addo · Post by **addo** » 08 Apr 2010, 22:41

It can honestly be. See my comments earlier, about the costs accrued in two misadventures, only months apart. If you're just a tinkerer, it's hard to see a saving.

People chould check their contents policy; a loaded toolbox may need specifically nominating to be fully covered.

Deanxm · Post by **Deanxm** » 08 Apr 2010, 22:50

ive just added the contents of my workshop, this tool talk got me thinking and when you sit down and add up what it would all cost to replace the amount is far greater than you think, its no wonder im poor

.
But yes i understand what your saying about local garages, i do everthing myself now too, its just too much hard work not to, that and i enjoy doing it myself.

D

Toby_HDi · Post by **Toby_HDi** » 08 Apr 2010, 23:01

It is cheap in the long run. It's just the initial hit. I know it's a long term thing buying tools but I need to stock up on the basics as I have nothing excpet my socket set which is missing items.

I no longer trust ANY garage to work on my cars. At the moment though this is a problem as I've not been in the best of moods recently and am having trouble motivating myself once again.

ellevie · Post by **ellevie** » 09 Apr 2010, 16:32

I've used Cromwell Industrial Supplies in Totton (Southampton) in the past.
They have quite a hefty catalogue.
http://cromwell.co.uk

Tools