Projects Tools

Doing an article entitled TOOLS YOU GOTTA HAVE FOR HOT RODDERS.

Please send me lists of 10-15 tools you think are most important. And not the stuff we all have like sockets and screwdrivers. The more job specific stuff.

 

Besides common hand tools....

Plasma cutter (Miller)
MIG Welder (Miller)
Auto-Dark welding helmet
Safety goggles
machinst or welding apron
Bead Roller (Beefed up HF)
4.5" Angle grinder (Metabo)
Hydraulic Press
Sandblaster
Chop saw
Measuring - angle finders, contour gauges, calipers, mic's
Body hammer set
Shear
Brake
Vise
Air compressor
Impact guns
Files
Computer w/internet

Those are the most commonly used items in my shop, save for basic hand tools

 

i know this sounds lame... but safety gear... been to a lot of guys houses who had all kinds of tools and no safety gear.

ear protection (have some extra ear plugs for your buddies)
safety glases ( have some extras for you buddies)
face sheild.
proper gloves, Ie welding gloves or just a mechanic or light weight leather glove
PROPER respirator for painting
nitrile rubber gloves
welding helmet

and so on... again i know it is a hassel but it can save you a trip to the hospitol.

 

A lot of mine were on the previous list, but here are a few more:

full face shield for grinding (no fun pulling metal out of your face)

Sawzall (corded and rechargeable type-great for cutting parts off junkyard cars)

Oxy-Acytelene setup

Clecos

4" makita grinder, with both flap grinding wheels and cutoff wheels

Air cutoff wheel, for tighter areas

buffing/polishing wheel

drill press

band saw

belt sander (bench mounted types)

spray guns

 

TIG welder
Bosch 4 1/2 angle grinder with cutoff wheel (suicide wheel)
Grinding wheel for above
Flap wheel for above
Wire cup brush for above
Gauze Pads (for when the suicide wheel explodes)
Duct tape (to hold gauze pads on)
Sharpies
Combination square / protractor
Vacuum / fuel pressure gauge
Multi-meter for electrical problems
2lb cross-peen hammer (for non-electrical problems)

 

x2 on safety gear

Pencils and paper, for figuring stuff out before you get to the metal. Also a comfy chair in which to do it. (Used also for relaxing with a beverage, general break taking and comtemplation, and for swearing in when stuff goes wrong)

 

Shop vac after using all the above mentioned tools

 

Sandblaster to clean up rusted parts

 

Air compressor
Torches
TIG
Bandsaw
Vertical Mill
Lathe
Cold Saw
Assortment of Powered Hand Tools - grinders - drills - both air & electric
Assortment of Hand tool - snips - wrenches etc
Tweezers

 

full face shield is proper face protection, not just glasses, should wear both at least when grinding.

 

If it is for a hot rod, you need to have a hot rodded box. I metal flaked this one and have filled it with vintage Snap-On tools. This will not fit all of the tools needed but it does the job to store the common tools.

The handiest tools that I find are the brake adjusting, alignment and measuring tools. You also need a very good selection of punches and chissles. A good floor jack and safety stands are a requirement too.

 

A nice multi speed drill press, nothing fancy, I use an old Delta with the belt from the 40"s
Any kind of a brake for making metal bends, make your own to suit your fancy, every boy wants a brake for Christmas.
A nice inexpensive band saw, can even be a mini bench type.
A nice set of hole saws, the better the steel or nitrided the better, you just need them.
A real good set of jack stands, these are harder and harder to find, money well spent unless you can bench press 3000 lbs.
A shop light with a tough bulb, the kind you could use to lasso a goat and not wipe out the bulb.
A nice thick mat or a cow pad so you don't get arthritis or lumbago from chilling your old bones on the shop floor.
A nice big smiths anvil for beating junk into unrecognizable shapes and devaluing priceless NOS parts.
I have a Milwaukee close quarters drill that I use the bunk out of, I have had it for twenty years and it's an old friend, it sure comes in handy for drilling holes in tight spots, I couldn't imagine doing a job without it nearby.
A pondering stool, This handy device gives you a comfortable vantage point from which to view your ride. Not comfortable enough to doze in, this stool lets you imagine or say oh shoot that looks crappy or serves as a nice shelf for low projects. Preferably a wooden one.

 

I've got a lot of the items on the above lists but one the things I find I use all the time and almost every time I work on something is one or more of my Black & Decker Workmates or one of the knockoffs of the same I have accumulated.

One is holding the front axle for my roadster at the moment and two more are holding up my bicycle that I am putting a gas engine on. They get used to hold stuff I am cutting, grinding or welding, hold up a couple of planks or partial sheet of plywood to make a portable work table plus being drug around to hold what ever needs holding at a comfortable work level.
I agree that a full face shield is a must have if you are going to be doing any cutting or grinding. Good ones cost a few bucks and may be a tad heavy to some guys but your eyes and face will appreciate it to no end.

I prefer to have bench mounted style equipment mounted on stands as I don't like what work bench I have cluttered up nor do I like the residue off a bench grinder all over my work bench. Plus you can move them around or shove them out of the way when the case needs be.

And buy tools and equipment as you see the need

 

shotgun.

 

Zip-lock bags and a sharpie.

 

I know a few "Tools" But not the kind you want around your car or shop


Cut off saw
ginders
welder
torches, or plasma or both
engine hoist
comealong
florecent trouble lights

 

IF your in the market for a Drill press, don't buy a cheap Harbor Freight ,tool-shop or cal-hawk, I have one and the arbor is not straight, you dont notice it on small stuff like up to 3/8 but when you get up 5/8 and bigger the bit is much longer and you can se the dang thing wobble, may be the chuck itself, But Id Buy amercan

 

I like my Dremel tool a lot, it comes in handy for a lot of little jobs from cutting off screw heads to sanding, grinding in tight places, small detail work of all kinds

 

10 to 15? comeon, thats just to small of a list. It really never ends, it should be the 10 to 15 to start.

 

angle finder
plumb bob
caliper
tape measure
large, medium and small steel ruler
soap stone
welding blaket
every shape and size C and furniture clamps
large and small hydraulic jack
large and small jack stands
engine hoist (a frame chain hoist if possible)/gentry crane
large pegboard
rolling tool cart
coil spring compressor
ball joint separator
hydraulic press
valve spring compressor
compression tester
transmission tail shaft plug
drip pans and trays
slide hammer with all the goodies
multi purpose puller
seal installer kit
5lb dead blow hammer

GIBBS BRAND!!!!!

 

Add to that safety gear:
Particle Masks-multi-layer kind, not the home store crap.
A good quality hydraulic floor jack & REAL JACK-STANDS! The 2 ton cast kind, not the split thin walled tube kind with the little pin, they tend to fall over...
Air sanders, long board, 6" DA, 8" Killer DA, Jitterbug
Sanding blocks, lots of them, 5" and 9" hard blocks, Soft blocks and hand sanding boards.

That and a good first aid kit with BANDAIDS...Lots and Lots of Bandaids...

 

BEER
WHISKEY
Ice (for the whiskey)
Hammer
Duct Tape

Can fix or fabricate anything with the above items

 

With a cutting torch and a sledge hammer everything fits.
here's my list of stuff i like to use it might seem like an odd ball conglomeration.

Oxy Acetylene torch set
sledge hammer
string (yup regular old string)
micrometer
square of some sort
chalk
scribe
level
plumb bob
giant pile of assorted steel (plate, box and round tube)
flat slab of concrete at least 9' x 18'
4 1/2" electric grinder
welder (either assorted welding heads for the torch, or mig, or tig)
Lots of clamps - all kinds
sawz-all

That should be enough to chop a top, build a frame from scratch, make motor mounts, recess a firewall, fabricate suspension parts.
Sounds like a good hot rod tool kit to me.

 

A bouquet of flowers to calm the wife
A broom to sweep up the mess
A towel to soak up the blood
Band-aids to seal up the gashes
Lidocaine to soothe the burns
A phone to call your friends to beg for help
A trash can to kick when they don't want to show
Earplugs for your neighbors so they can't hear you scream and curse
Extra wrenches to replace the wrenches you threw in frustration
A chair to sit and sulk while staring at your rusted mess
A computer to check how much a project like yours is selling for

 

Two fire extinguishers;
...One in the car, easily accessable.
...One in the garage, mounted on the wall next to the door where you usually enter.

 

Damn you mean I don't need a pullmax, power hammer, 6 planishing hammers, shrinkers, stretchers, brakes, bead rollers, sm rollers, english wheels, bridgeport, lathes, welders of all types, a couple a hundred hammers,slappers and dollies........

 

lol... awesome!

 

Jigsaw for when your compressor breaks on you or if you dont have a good enough compressor to use a cut off tool.

safety equipment for sure. I have taken a dremel grinding disk in the eye that shattered. not fun.

canned air or a blow gun on the compressor.

DROP LIGHTS- more light is always useful. I use the fluorescent bulbs, they dont break nearly as easy.

assorted hammers/prybars
screwdrivers to sub as prybars
fridge of beer.
dual bench grinder (wire wheel and grinding wheel)
Welder.
full set of metal shears.

 

Mig welder
Tig welder
Plasma cutter
Good set of sheetmetal shears(KETT)
Bead roller(mittler bros)
finger break
slip roller
Good work bench(sturdy)
Tube Bender (jd2)
4 1/2" grinder
Cold saw (Dorringer) Must for doing chassis
safty items......Gloves,ear and eye protection
Jacks/jack stands
2 post lift
Lots of superglue (to close up your cuts)

 

Beautiful