While Clint Eastwood’s character, Walt Kowalski in Gran Torino was a wise man, your going to need a bit more than Duct Tape, WD-40 and a vice-grips if you want to start working on your car. You also don’t need to hand over the deeds of your home to the Snap-Off truck. Just start with the basics and with the more jobs you do, the more you will get to know where you need to expand your on your toolbox or which specialist tools you need. Here are the basics:

Jack and Axle Stands

Most jobs when working on your car will require you to get your car up in the air and for that you’ll need a jack. That little scissor jack you’ll find in the boot is not going to sufficient as it was only designed to be compact and for use in emergencies so our going to need a trolley jack. A 2 ton trolley should do the job unless you plan on doing work on bigger machinery. And for when you have the vehicle in the air, you’ll need axle stands to stop it from falling back down on you. For these items, we suggest you buy the best quality your budget allows. No point skimping money on one of the most important parts of your safety when working on your car.

Spanners

You won’t get very far if you don’t have a few spanners. This is one area where buying cheap can be helpful. Cheaper spanner sets have a tendency of having thinner walls which can help when getting into tight spaces but thin walls can also make them weak and cause them to break when under pressure. So when your budget allows, it might be advisable to buy a good quality set as well. You can never have enough spanners, especially 10mm spanners. Start with a set of combination spanners and the more work you do, you’ll start to see where you can expand. Stick with metric measurement items unless your working on much earlier or american vehicles.

Ratchet and Socket Sets

There is three main sizes of ratchets, ¼” (small), ⅜” (medium), and ½” (large) and your going to need all of them. The ¼” allows you get into tighter spaces, ½” allows you to apply more force and the ⅜” is just a nice balance in between. For each ratchet then you’ll need a good selection of sockets. Once again, you can never have too many but try make as much of them as you can 6-point sockets. These are designed to make contact on the flat faces of nuts and bolts and not the corners when reduces the risk of rounding. There is plenty companies out there giving lifetime warranty on these items so it pays to shop around.

Hammers

With the conditions cars put up with everyday such as wind, rain, the high temperatures that build up in certain areas, cold weather and just general everyday abuse, it’s not surprising some parts develop a particular bond. The easiest way to end this relationship is with brute force. A nice ball pein hammer usually does the trick. For other areas where a bit more of a delicate approach is needed, a rubber mallet  is perfect.

Screwdrivers

Jubilee clips, plastic covers, interior panels, lights and basically everything that isn’t held in with a nut or bolt will inevitably be fastened with a screw of some sort. A good assortment of screwdrivers will go a long way. From short ,stubby drivers for the tight spaces to long, skinny drivers to get into them harder to reach screws of both flat head and Phillips head variations. It will also help to have a set of Torx head screwdrivers as they are very popular with some car manufactures.

Breaker Bar

Sometimes a bit of leverage goes a long way. Essential for cracking and tightening wheel nuts but does also come in handy for loosing other stubborn bolts.

Pliers

Undoing hose clips, trying to grip small objects and for reaching items in small places your going to need a few different types pliers. Regular, needle nose and vice-grips pliers are all essentials.

Work Light

This one is fairly self explanatory. If you’re prone to breaking things, that cheap torch on the counter in the auto factors will do you fine. If you’re the type who names his tools, get yourself a rechargeable LED torch.