What's in YOUR TOOLBOX? Essentials for LGT maintinence

Well, I'm curious, what populates your toolbox?

 

I came form the world of 3000gt's and have also done work on many other cars including F-body's and mustangs. I found that for the 3000gt if you didn't own a set of high quality ratcheting wrenches (in my case craftsman pro reversible's) you shouldn't bother popping the hood. The exhaust manifold bolts were especially bad and without those wrenches, they were not coming off, period.

 

For F bodies I always found a 3 foot extension and an impact gun were essential (removing the trans without them was nearly impossible).

 

Mustangs were mostly a prybar and a mallet.

 

Essential tools for me in general, a mirror and a magnet, both on a stick. I can't tell you how nice it is to be able to see that @#$%^! bolt that you can just barely get one finger on. It's also very rewarding to curse directly at it through the mirror. As for the magnet...self explanetory, who hasn't dropped a socket into the netherregions of the engine bay, or behind the dash?

 

So anyway how about you guys?

what's essential for the LGT?

What do you find a necessity to have in the ol' toolbox in general?

What kind of tools are you hung up on?

 

Hmmm I should add some pics to this thread...perhaps later...

the subaru factory service manual set.

You only need a 1.5 foot power bar for subies, except for suspension bolts. The rest are done on nice and easy. If you find bolts that a power bar can't get undone, it's usually cause some hamfisted muppet in a workshop got lazy with his rattle gun!

 

i do ALL my own work. the few exceptions are pretty much gearbox and bottom end rebuilds.

 

For the toolbox, simple.

a GOOD 1/2" socket set, I have a stanley set, and i love it. It MUST be metric. I recommend hex 10mm's and 12mm's. And Impact 14 and 17mm sockets, a one foot extension.

A massive stanley flat head scredriver. I have maybe a 10" stanley, and it's the most useful tool in my arsenal.

^lol, that's too easy to take out of context

A Hard drive magnet to attach to said stanly for fishing out bolts.

10 12 and 14mm ratcheting ring spanners!! These things are F'n useful, especially the 12mm.

 

I can't think of anything else vital to the tool box other than a good screwdriver, ring spanner set, etc.

26 gallon air compressor

Air ratchet

Impact wrench

Metric/Standard impact sockets

Extensive socket set

Jackstands

1/4", 3/8", 1/2" breaker bars

32mm socket

Spark plug socket

Piston ring expander

Piston ring compressor

Crow bar

Rubber mallot

Ball peen hammer

Screwdrivers

2 ton pulley puller

Rusted old floor jack

Several bottle jacks

Wire brush

Sears Craftsmen wire feed welder

Multimeter

Circuit tester

X-wrench

Flex head ratcheting wrenches

Wire crimps

Side cutters

Blunt tip cutters

 

And a bunch of other stuff.

 

The following items I keep in my car at all times...

 

Circuit tester

Ratchet/sockets of every possible size

Crowbar

Ball peen hammer

Wire brush

Impact Wrench (For use with the air compressor at work if I need to)

Air ratchet (For use at work also)

Screwdrivers

Bottle jack

X-wrench

Breaker bars

Flex head ratcheting wrenches

Spark plug socket

Spare spark plug wires

Spare 10 gauge wire (If I need to replace larger gauge I'll double or triple up on the 10 gauge to get me home)

Wire crimps

1 quart tranny fluid (Dexron V)

2 quarts 10W40 oil

90 Weight GL-5 gear oil

1X Tube Seal-All

Brake Fluid

My trusty Cummins metric toolkit with 3/8" flex head ratchet

WD40

PB Blaster

Hose clamps

Wire nuts

Butt splices

Pack of Camel Filters

 

And some other handy items... They've saved me from calling a tow truck with other cars, luckily I haven't needed to do any major roadside repairs on the Leggy yet, but they have come in handy in the winter time when my battery terminals were corroded.

 

Pretty much all those tools are required if you're going to work on any car.

The crow bar, hammer, sockets, wrenches, and air tools are a necessity.

I'm totally hung up on having the air compressor with the air tools. A quality impact wrench is the mechanics best friend.

Beer and porn to keep me busy while the Subaru tech works on my car, bill paid for with Subaru bucks.

i keep a couple of joints in my vehicle.

 

helps put a new perspective when you break down.

If you had to pick one, would you keep the beer or the porn?

Beer. Lubes up the mind.

A breaker bar and a T70 torx bit.

Hammer.

Cellphone.

The very basics will take you a long way with this car. As mentioned earlier, a T70 Torx bit for the trans drain plug and some big pry bars for a clutch swap are extremely useful. The Legacy is one of the easiest cars I have ever worked on. It's almost as easy as my old '84 RWD Maxima.

 

What do you know about 3000GTs? 10 or 12mm sockets will get most everything in the engine bay, you've just got to have a huge collection of extensions and elbow joints to get to them. A 3rd or 4th joint in your arm would be helpful sometimes too. I have seriously considered getting one surgically installed since I have two VR-4s

The very basics will take you a long way with this car. As mentioned earlier, a T70 Torx bit for the trans drain plug and some big pry bars for a clutch swap are extremely useful. The Legacy is one of the easiest cars I have ever worked on. It's almost as easy as my old '84 RWD Maxima.

 

What do you know about 3000GTs? 10 or 12mm sockets will get most everything in the engine bay, you've just got to have a huge collection of extensions and elbow joints to get to them. A 3rd or 4th joint in your arm would be helpful sometimes too. I have seriously considered getting one surgically installed since I have two VR-4s

 

http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y129/GTsHawaii/partout001.jpg

 

http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y129/GTsHawaii/4318ee82.jpg

 

I have owned 6 of them, numerous years. I have built several from a bare frame. I have also built 1 638 AWHP (my driver) and a friends with "considerably more" using twin dr1000 turbos. You are correct, with an 8mm a 10mm and a 12mm you can dismantle the ENTIRE car in a few hours. At 27psi the heads start to lift even with ARP head studs and during high rpm runs the coolant will spray all over the damn place. I have broken more 3kgt parts than I care to remember. Transfer cases cracking, stripped output shafts, warping the heads, the oil pump drive rings shatter right around 600hp like clockwork. The oil pickup tube sits to close to the pan making speed bumps hazardous to the health of your bearings. The 6g72 is possibly the worst engine on the planet for oiling. They spin bearing left and right. I positively hated having the transverse mounted engine, removing the GD intake to replace the NGK coppers just boiled my blood. Beyond that I really love the horrid timing belt tensioner hardware that was reliably unreliable. I have seen so many busted tensioners and even encountered several broken tensioner bolts. That coupled with the zero tolerance engine made for many a late night bottom end rebuild. I can't say I was a big fan of 15 yr old rottign aluminum either. So in short, I know a thing or two about 3000gts if you have any questions regarding those I can more than likely be of some use.

 

http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y129/GTsHawaii/06-02-06_1635.jpg

 

All of these problems for the last 6 years prompted me and most of my friends to dump the platform. I went back to sportbikes and bought a Suby because it's just an expensive pain in the ass to make cars fast. Sportbikes are just plain fast out of the box, for cheap, and they are reasonanbly reliable. AS an example, I absolutely obliterated my friend’s supercharged, nitrous pumped viper with my stock R1.

 

Currently we are putting twin turbos on that viper (I hurt his feelings I think), as my friends budget seems unlimited. He's shooting for 1,400hp. Maybe then my bike won't look so fast but hey, he spent more on just the turbos than I spent on the damn bike.

 

http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y129/GTsHawaii/R1Alone.jpg

 

A for my toolbox...

Ratchets, I find Snap On's over rated. I don't really like the feel of them. I Love the matco ratchets! Fantastic to use right combo of engagement angle thin head and comfort grip. I always find myself reaching for the Matco.

http://www.matcotools.com/ProductImages/cfr10t.jpg

Sockets. Hold up a Snap On to a craftsman and look closely...the snap on has a thinner wall, a much cleaner cut with a bit more curve to the walls which helps with pre-rounded fasteners as well as the ones would rather not strip.

 

Extensions. Snap on. They have a nice knurled spot on them which comes in handy when your good and greasy. Also they are thinner and get in the way less than some other I have used.

http://buy1.snapon.com/catalog/OBJECTS/18300/18296.JPG

Screw drivers. Matco. The new drivers with no slip grip are FANTASTIC they also have the hole in the top to slide another driver through for that added torque when you NEED it.

http://matcotools.com/ProductImages/SSPCO5C.jpg

Everything else... Craftsman it's cheap and easy to replace without a lot of hassle. This stuff just works for most everything. I have a hand ful of husky tools that I havent managed to break yet either. Those were OK but home depots total lack of support for the brand sent me right back to craftsman for the "everything else category"

 

I also just picked up a gearwrench ratchet and spark plug socket set, so I'll have a review for those sooner or later I guess.

 

These are just my Opinions BTW. They are all debateable, but thats what I find for myself personally.

ViscousSquirrel- im sure u have a pop up hula girl int ur tool box to dance while u work on ur car... lol i love the weather there

Curious as to who viscous squirrel is??

We don't see many new members up in the 808 here.

Curious as to who viscous squirrel is??

We don't see many new members up in the 808 here.

 

I'm LGT enthusiast #4 on Oahu LOL

26 gallon air compressor

Air ratchet - I can never fit these things where I want to use them....

Impact wrench

Metric/Standard impact sockets- huh...I use my regular sockets for impact sockets

 

Piston ring expander I forever steal err...borrow these from friends

Piston ring compressor

 

Crow bar

Rubber mallot

Ball peen hammer --->for when the square peg, absolutely, positively, must go in the round hole!

 

Screwdrivers/pry bar/chisel

 

2 ton pulley puller

 

Rusted old floor jack -because they don't make them like they used 2

Several bottle jacks

Wire brush

Sears Craftsmen wire feed welder

Multimeter

Circuit tester

X-wrench

Flex head ratcheting wrenches -because engineers are clearly not mechanics

 

Wire crimps

Side cutters

Blunt tip cutters

 

And a bunch of other stuff.

 

The following items I keep in my car at all times...

 

Circuit tester

Ratchet/sockets of every possible size

Crowbar

Ball peen hammer

Wire brush

Impact Wrench (For use with the air compressor at work if I need to)

Air ratchet (For use at work also)

Screwdrivers

Bottle jack

X-wrench

Breaker bars

Flex head ratcheting wrenches

Spark plug socket

Spare spark plug wires

Spare 10 gauge wire (If I need to replace larger gauge I'll double or triple up on the 10 gauge to get me home)

Wire crimps

1 quart tranny fluid (Dexron V)

2 quarts 10W40 oil

90 Weight GL-5 gear oil

1X Tube Seal-All

Brake Fluid

My trusty Cummins metric toolkit with 3/8" flex head ratchet

WD40

PB Blaster

Hose clamps

Wire nuts

Butt splices

Pack of Camel Filters

 

And some other handy items... They've saved me from calling a tow truck with other cars, luckily I haven't needed to do any major roadside repairs on the Leggy yet, but they have come in handy in the winter time when my battery terminals were corroded.

 

Pretty much all those tools are required if you're going to work on any car.

The crow bar, hammer, sockets, wrenches, and air tools are a necessity.

I'm totally hung up on having the air compressor with the air tools. A quality impact wrench is the mechanics best friend.

 

And holy hell...you keep all that in the car? Where do you sit?

In the trunk I have a a plastic flip top toolbox, a slightly larger steel flip top toolbox, a Cummins Performance Socket set in it's own plastic case, and an old steel lockbox I lost the key to with the fluids and spray lubricants. The extra oil and tranny fluid that are too big to fit anywhere else are nestled between the metal toolbox and the back of the trunk, where the rear seat would be if they folded down...

 

Even though the car has a blue book value of $350, I still have a tarp in the trunk to keep the carpet clean. Sadly, the carpets in the trunk are probably the cleanest thing in the car. I could probably get a pic of the trunk with all my goodies if anyone is interested...

platinum racing- ur a mechanic shop on wheels! or a prepared service truck! lol

I think I should start a mobile service center. Call me instead of a tow truck if you get stuck or break down! All I need now is a generator, flood lights, and my air compressor mounted to a trailer and I'll be all set!

Hell, I'd call you. You have a better selection of tools in your trunk than most people have in their garage!

my favorite tool is my extended.. warranty..

Psh. Swiss army knife, roll of paper towels, razor blade, PB blaster, random assortment of sockets, one ratchet, a hammer, a second hammer, a BFH, two pipes of differing length for extra leverage, and a lighter. Of course, it's what I keep outside the toolbox, on the shelves, in the garage that really make the job fun.

Are you formally GTSHawaii on 3si or something like that? If so, that's all you had to say to me

Well, I'm curious, what populates your toolbox?

 

What do you find a necessity to have in the ol' toolbox in general?

 

http://graphics.condom.com/Images/400JPG/CWT-MAGL-12R_400.jpg