I've Never seen an Episode of Star Wars, or Ever Played a Computer Game but worst of all I've never had a Tool Kit or even had a proper Socket Set.

Nearly all my Spanners have come from the Pound Shop, where depending on the size you can get 4 or 5 for £1 and although I have used and abused then and hit them with FBH's I have never managed to break or bend one yet.

And as for my Sockets such as they are, I've managed to pick these up in various places.

The only real Quality Tool I've got is my Torque Wrench, which I picked up in a closing down Sale, which over the years has come in very useful especially when you're working on an XJS.

And I certainly would not want to be without my Two 3Ton Trolley Jacks, as if you drive an XJS having at least one of these is almost not an option.

All my Spanners are kept in Plastic lunch boxes, which have then been divided into Medium, Large or Small plus a Few odds and ends.

But lately I've been thinking that since I do ALL the work on my Car and would not let a Garage or Shop go anywhere near it, perhaps I'm Short Changing myself, although even with the Tools I've got, I have never yet met a Bolt that I cannot undo.

So should I carry on in ignorance or can you recommend, the kind of Basic Tool kit that might be ideal, for a Wannabe XJS Mechanic such as me.

I'm thinking of a Budget of about £100 is that enough?


My Not so wonderful 'Tool Box' where many of those Spanners came from the Pound Shop £1
I've got a few more Sockets in a Box somewhere.

 

Depends on what the tools are for OB. Anything that is life supporting (like the jack stands) I wouldn't skim on price but other stuff like spanners mate you can get some half decent cheapo's about.

Its also about building up over time.

As I am an Electrician/Electronics Technician by trade most of my tools were geared around that profession so most of the mechanical tools I have only been collecting since the Goose really...so like the last 3 years or so. A slow process.

I still need heaps of other stuff but I find every time I come across a job I haven't done before I buy any necessary tools for the job I don't have. Hopefully it will come around full circle one day and I won't need to buy anything as I will already have the tools.

Oh and by the way.....dude see Star Wars. Forget the prequels. Just watch the original 3 and the new Force Awakens. My fav movies of all time!

Did anybody else here the new movie has been named today?

The Last Jedi

(I am such a Star Wars nerd)

 

It is a question of what they are made of OB, not how much they cost. For some reason second hand tools go for nothing, so the spanners are fine it would seem.
A decent socket set saves you hours of fiddling around looking for the right size, I found. Also sorting out the spanners into sizes saves hours. I recently bought a lovely new set of tool drawers to sort out all the funny tools I have and need (allen keys metric and imp; pliers; sccewdrivers flat, pozi, Philips; torx tools; electrical testing stuff; special tools like stud extrcators, pullers, etc etc) and since doing so I am getting jobs done SO much quicker as I was spending minutes at a time searching for the right thing. I feel sure you will find a bargain chrome vanadium socket set, but every so often Halfords have 50% off sales on their top quality professional range, and these at just superb, with metric and Imp sizes. AND you can buy a nice little smaller mixed set for the boot!
Greg

 

OB, i started out around 13 years ago buying my first set of spanners. Of course metric, as there were no imperial screws, bolts and nuts on a Volvo... Then, about 11 years ago, I got ambig box of tools from my parents. Ratchets, bits, sockets, more spanners et. All metric.

Now, 13 years into working oncars and replacing thin herr there everywhere, requuring special tools etc, my collection is quite large...

Ratchets (all 3 sizes from 1/4" to 3/4" drive)
Sockets in metric and imperial sizes, large 'buggers' or smaller 'fellas'
Screw drivers wirh super fine heads or just some large long'ens
Alan keys in metric and imperial
Spanners in metric and imperial
Open end ring spanners (for brakes) in metric and imperial
Ratchet extensions from 1"-1'
Torque wrech
Pliers in many different sizes
Pipe grips
Adapters
Special tools like the ABS rotor socket for the X308, the same as the camchain service tools and special spring clamp pliers

All this accumulates over the ears. I'd say it is worth somewhere around €1200 alone in tools. I now want to buy a tool chest/box to use in future and be able to roll it around as I want.

£100 might get you some useable basics, but you need to calculate a good chunk more. Don't just buy one socket at a time. Buy a set. That will save problems...

 

Greg

If you put up a Photo of one of those 'Snap on' type Tool Cabinets with all the draws and everything I do hope that you realize that I am going to Cry for a very long time.

And that goes for anyone else that does the same,

 

[QUOTE=orangeblossom;1607830]Greg

If you put up a Photo of one of those 'Snap on' type Tool Cabinets with all the draws and everything I do hope that you realize that I am going to Cry for a very long time.
[QUOTE]
Read, weep! But not Snap-On. That is my lottery win fantasy. Round comes the SOT van, I ask for the catalogue and select the largest cabinet, then say "Fill it up" !
Meanwhile, full nerd layout attached. Spanners, Imperial at the top, metric next row, tractor sizes bottom, Whitworth to the side!
Greg

 

Hi Greg

One of those Cabinets is bad enough but Two is plain unfair! (Lol)

As I could get every tool I have into just one of those drawers, so its looking like I've got a bit of Catching up to do, although bizarrely I've almost never needed any Spanners that I haven't got.

So I'm going to have to play my 'Ace' a Full Size Floor Standing Pillar Drill that I got from B&Q in a Sale that they had a few years ago for only £50!




Making some Shock Absorber Bushes using my Floor Standing Pillar Drill which I bought in a Sale for only £50!

 

Alex,

Let the tool kit grow as you grow.

The more you do, the more you find you need.

Mine is a lot of Whitworth, 1950's Sidchome, Dufor etc from Dad, and then I gathered mine as I went. Imperial, the MK7, MK10, S, Daimlers, etc were mainly Imperial, then Metric took over.

I use Tackle boxes, from the fishing shops, nice little compartments on the top tray for trinkets etc, and one has a torch in the handle, whoopee.

The main stash is hanging in the shed, on wood panelling, in an order that defies all but me, and I luv it that way.

I have a Warren & Brown torque wrench, most money I ever spent on a single tool in 1971.

Now I have Stahlwille, Sidchrome, KinChrome, Minimax, Stanley, Snap On (only ONE), who knows what for the rest.

Like you I hunt the $2 bins at Auto Shops etc.

Also like you, I have never broken a spanner, bent a few, cut a few to fit, and so forth.

Duplictes are MANDATORY, as any V12 worker knows.

1) You drop them, they do NOT fall out the bottom, OK, get that one when the engine comes out.

2) You throw them in all directions, blaming the apprentice on the assembly line for being a dumbass.

3) The kids BORROW them, never to be seen again.

Seeeeeeee, you have sooooooo much to look forward to.

 

Hi Grant

You as always are so right, so I am going to have to get myself one of those sliding draw Cabinets and start to slowly fill it up just like you have said.

But since I have got so few tools, I can usually pick out the one that I need without having to look at it too closely.

I remember when 'el cheapo' Spanners would snap with the lightest tap but just from the experience of using these myself, the Chinese Spanners

you can buy now are almost indestructible!

 

Hi Bro

In a roundabout way, that seems to be just what I'm doing, as if I'm doing a Job on the XJS and I need a piece of kit I haven't got I go and buy it.

But as for stuff like 'Star Wars' that's really not my thing and never will be.

 

Hi Daim

Cheers!

Now I can see why you have got so many tools after building up your collection over so many years and why I have got so very few.

Because until I got my XJS I didn't have any experience of working on Cars, except for changing the Spark Plugs on my MGB which took about 20 minutes instead of 3 days!

I'm not mechanically minded and have always hated getting my hands dirty, except that does come at heavy price because if you drive an XJS you either need to be as rich as Croesus, or else you have to do the work yourself.

Which started off as a Chore for me but over time has turned into a labour of love, as now I find the more I know the more I want to know, so I think that nows the time to add a few more tools to my collection.

 

I was the same. I hated getting my hands dirty. But as I bought my first car, it needed some work done so I had to do so. Nowadays I wear some cheap latex or nitrile gloves to keep my hands clean (working in offices doesn't really allow for dirty finger nails anymore).

As I got my XJ8 I needed to buy tools that were just really needed. But have also come in handy for other people: I rent them out and also work on other peoples cars doing the same. So my tools have basically paid off already...

 

Hi Daim

Cheers!

As I think I may have mentioned to you in another Thread, there must be massive money working on other peoples Jags.

You only have to take a look at the 'Thousands' of questions asked on here, where lots of them are from people 'who do have some sort of clue

what they are doing' but come up against a problem that they haven't encountered before.

Where you can always count on people like Greg and Grant to know the answers, as they have read the book and got the Tee Shirts.

But if I need to take the Engine out, don't worry you'll be the first one I will call.

 

Haha...

Oddly, the questions I ask seem more 'blunt'. In the X308 World I barely ask. It is all so straightforward...

 

Hi Daim

Well you are one of the lucky ones who really know what you're doing, while I sometimes get it wrong before I get it right (make that a lot of times!)

But I have acquired another IRS the only problem being that I don't know how to get it out of the Car because its in a Coupe and I think the 4 Bolts that hold it are under the rear seat.

So question (1) how do I take out the Seat to get to those bolts.

Question (2) how much do you want to rebuild it (Lol!)

 

No need to remove the seats...

Take wheels off, undo the 4 cradle bracket bolts on each side, remove the prop shaft, either remove the Radius arm from the cradle or from the body, undo the brake hose and undo the hand brake cable. If the exhaust is already off, it will roll out (if you put the wheels on and lift the cat high enough).

 

Hi Daim

Wouldn't it be easier to remove the whole thing including the Cage and then pull it to pieces when I've got it out of the Car with more room to work.

 

The way described is to remove it in the cage

The cage is mounted with 4 rubber brackets each with 2 screws. Then the radius arms, hoses, exhaust, propshaft. All out and it will come out in the cage... You can't remove the diff without removing the cage...

 

Ok Daim

But I thought that there were 4 Bolts about six inches apart, that bolted the Cage to the body that had to be accessed from inside the Car somewhere in the middle.

BTW (you would know the answer to this) What are Lebcukchen Biscuits?

I came across a load of these on very Special offer but I can't see in the Packet from outside.
Any good Yes/No?

 

OB
Here is a cage and its contents out of the car. The four cage mounts with the two mounting holes can easily be seen. As Daim said, disconnect the propshaft, the brake flexible, and undo the 8 bolts (two per bracket) holding the cage to the chassis leg running over the axle in the wheelarch.
Remove the exhaust over axle pipes too. Then it drops out.
The four bolts you are thinking of might be the bolts that hold the actual diff unit to the cage, these cannot be accessed cage in the car.
Greg