Projects What tools does it take to build a Hot Rod

Very true. You can use a lot less tools than we typically rely on, but then again who wants to go back to the way I did things as a kid. A pipe over a ratchet rather than an impact gun, a match book to file and set points instead of a file and feeler gauge and so on. Without enough tools, you are going to work.way harder and take a lot longer to do the job.

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I have 40+ years of tools collected, and have built more rods than I can count. This year I have had to buy or am buying, English wheel, larger brake, tubing notcher, 36' x 54' new shop, and it's only April!

 

A friend with a lot of tools.....

 

A running car to fetch what UPS can't bring.......

 

I have more money invested in tools than I do in the cars themselves.

 

Yeah, yeah, yeah. Hard tools are obvious, machines almost a luxury, a truck n trailer, more obvious than anything right? So you're into it. Grease from head to toe and all over mamma's new cream-colored rugs. You got that way taking it all apart but now what? Shelves. Wall to wall might be just enough. Back in the day it was coffee cans, and it can still be, but in the last few decades someone "discovered" the bane of all car guy's shop life, those fuckin ziploc bags! They get old fast, tear easily with metal parts, offer no protection for the delicate shit like gauges but what's a poor rod addict to do? I prefer deli cups. Those plastic cups your potato salad comes in from the grocery store. I get mine 50 at a time from Gordon's Food Service, 25 at a time for the 1 qt versions. Lids too. A sleeve of each will set you back less than $20 and if you act now you'll find that they're also solvent safe. Yeah, you can even mix paint in em. They stack very well in boxes, you can reuse em over and over, they stay pliable for the whole term of a build, that is unless you plan to take 30 years to get it done (!), and at that point you're on your own. A qt version will hold 2 small Packard gauges easily minus the temp gauge with the bulb on the end. These lil bastards are as handy as a shirt pocket. I use qt and pint sizes. You'll love em, trust me...

 

What's the metric wrench for ?

 

Vision, patience, desire, info and creativity. The rest can be disposable tools from Harbor Freight.

 

The most important tool you need is the one inside your skull.

 

Oops. Just grabbed the first pic that came up when I looked up wrench.

 

and the first picture I that came up when you looked up “shitty beer?”

 

Here, fixed it for ya

 

Them metric wrenches double as beer openers… and save that fancy beer for the street rod crowd.

 

Most needed checkbook.

 

All of them.

 

Hammer
Cresent wrench
Pliers
Screwdriver
Credit Card(for emergencies, lol)

 

I thought I had every tool I needed. I don't have that one. That should have been the first one.

 

The tool you don't need is the one that walks into your shop and says "You still working on that piece of shit?".

 

The main thing is to get using whatever tools you have. Just working on a project gets more done than having a huge tool selection but never opening the drawers of the toolbox.

Having that "just right" special tool can make the job easier and faster, but ingenuity and determination can fill in a lot of the blanks.

Lynn

 

A whole lot, or just one

 

thought the same thing LOL. I hear so much about the lost 10 MM. I aint never lost a 10 mm. ok back to post!!!

 

That's a worn out 3/8" ain't it?

 

Don’t you mean “wallered out”?

 

Be surprised how many folks don't know what wallered out is.

 

The tool you need is the one your neighbor barrowed.

 

like throwing a hotdog down a hallway.

 

You need whatever you can get your hands on to get the job done. I’ve got a decent collection of various tools at the shop, and when it came time to drive my 40 to the shop to start wiring and some other work, I couldn’t get it to start and killed the 6v battery. I wasn’t going to waste the money on another 6v battery as I was upgraded to 12v anyways so I made due with an old hand me down tool box from grandpa and a few tools I brought over from the shop. Sometimes less is more when it comes to tools in my opinion.

 

Start with 10-15 tape measures. Throw them randomly around your shop. Maybe you’ll find one when you need it…maybe.