OUTFITTING YOUR AUTOMOTIVE WORKSHOP

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Pliers

Stanley also makes top-quality pliers that you can find at reasonable prices at the mall. Get a set of regular rivet-joint adjustables, a set of mechanic's pliers with needle nose, side-cutting, and slip-joint designs in regular and small sizes. Lock-grips in three sizes are essential, but name brands are expensive and el cheapos work fine for the brute holding jobs they are designed for. Snap-ring pliers have little pins that poke into holes at the ends of spring-steel rings you'll find hidden away holding small parts in place, and that can't be removed with any other tool. Get a cheap four-piece set-and get an assortment of snap-rings with it. The rings are springy and tend to snap off the pliers and fly away, never to be seen again.

Ramps

Probably the best solution to simple under-chassis work like changing oil is to drive only four-wheel-drive or high-wheel trucks with little ground clearance. Lower vehicles must be jacked up.

But, never get under a vehicle that is supported only by a jack-mechanical car hydraulic. All jacks eventually let go.

To raise low autos off the ground for oil changes and front-end tube, buy or build a set of drive-on ramps. Steel ramps work fine if appropriately sized to the vehicle and anchored securely to the floor. One-piece, $20-economy models from the mall are okay for small economy cars. For full-size vehicles, spend $50 for heavy-drm two-piece ramps. If you have a concrete floor, clean it of oil and be sure the ramp, grip the surface well. If working on bar c ground, remove spongy sod under ramp.,, tamp underlying soil firm, and level and anchor ramps with blocks or rocks. Shin them level and lag-bolt them securely ii you have a wood floor. I place concrete car wooden blocks under the front axle beside the ramps to catch the car in case the ramps tip or slide.

To support a vehicle by its axles, you need sturdy, adjustable jack stands. 'these are even tippier than ramps, and must he set on a firm, level surface. I place concrete blocks beside them as a safety measure. For advanced work, you will want wheeled engine and transmission jacks or a block-and-tackle suspended from the roof on chains or a trolley, but that's a ways down the road for me, and I presume for you as well.

Miscellaneous

You will need a hacksaw with a supply of metal-cutting blades, hammers in several sizes, a set of metal-cutting chisels, and a set of aligning punches (to poke through bolt holes so you can insert bolts through adjoining parts). Also, bolt cutters, a putty knife, and metal files in flat and round shapes and several diameters. From the local auto supply outlet get an inexpensive spark plug gap tool, and if you think you'll be going onto engines, get a set of flat-steel feeler gauges and a torque wrench.

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