[Shop-talk] On the road tool kit

[David Scheidt]

On Sat, Jun 28, 2008 at 11:14 PM, Steve Hammatt Mount Vernon WA USA
<gsteve at hammatt.com> wrote:
> We have a couple of old cars that we like to
> tour with (two are pre-1916) and we really need
> to put together some basic tool kits for each car.
> I'm considering the 100 pcs plus, plastic box with
> the snap-in tool holders for each car.  Unfortunately
> most seem to beef up the tool count by including a
> lot of metric sockets, etc. that we don't need.  Was
> wondering what others have found that worked and
> maybe be different than the readily available box store
> stuff.

A car that old came with a tool kit, right?  That's a good place to start.

Here's the kit I work from in my elderly Land-Rover:

Tire changing kit (jack, wheel brace, wheel chock etc)
Set of SAE combination wrenches
two crescent wrenches
two vise-grips (differnt sizes)
pair of dykes
pair of Stork(R) gripping pliers
some screwdrivers
a lump hammer
a 3/8" ratchet handle
a couple extensions
a universal
a selected sizes of 3/8" drive sockets (covers the whole set of sizes
needed for routine work.)
a headlamp (for me, not the car; that's in addition to the other
flashlights that live in the truck)

For spares, I carry a couple fuel filters, a set of points, condenser,
rotor, a roll of duct tape, a roll of Super 33, some fuses.  (It's an
english car, so the supply of oils and other fluids don't count as
spares, exatly...)

For long trips (when I could afford to drive the Land-Rover on
them....) I carried a bigger tool kit, which added another ratchet, a
complete set of 3/8 sockets, electrical tools (DVM, wire, crimpers,
terminal kit, solder, bulbs), some specialized Rover tools (a thing
for the wheel bearing nuts, a transmission socket, couple others) a
set of small files, a couple punches, and a jack stand.

I'd add some spares, depending on what was on hand.  Belts and hoses,
always, but things like brake rebuild kits and wheel seals.  (it's
British!)

That's pretty much what I'd carry for any car, modified based on what
kind of wrenches you need on it.  That sounds like a lot of stuff, but
it fits in a pretty small tool box.

-- 
David Scheidt
dmscheidt at gmail.com