I am tired of being a lurker, reading stories of car builds and not being able to do it myself. Soo I’ve decided I want to be like you guys, so I’m asking for some help;
Was wondering what good tools I would need to start taking cars apart and putting them back together? I’m very new to handy work so I have no idea what this ‘3/4 1/8 nails’ or anything means…
Specifically, I have a '96 saab 900s (n/a) that I want to take apart and prepare myself for the handy-work of a drift/daily driven 240sx 
There are two systems of measurement, Imperial (Stupid) and Metric (Smart). Most imports are metric (mm) but I’ve been surprised before.
Go to Canadian Tire and buy one of the big socket sets, it’ll come with everything you need to cover the basics, it’s cheap and lifetime warranty.
There is no one magic list for tools, just start working and figure it out.
Funny thing about that… All through public and high school we are mainly taught the metric system. 8 years in the welding industry and I can count on one hand how many times I encountered metric stuff… EVERYTHING is imperial. The only metric shit I’ve worked on is my 240 and my Ford.
thanks for the quick replies, even at 2am heh. I’ve bought a random canadian tire socket set recently, actually… just not sure what to do with them or anything :\
Hmmmm you mentioned wanting to take apart the saab, get started!
Lol
Next step would be reading through the various DIY and FSM threads and trying them out just to get some experience built up
also get a set of pliers and screwdrivers, and some combination wrenches (if the socket set didnt come with any). thats pretty much the minimum you can get away with. if you need any specialty tools i believe parts source rents them out
yeah a good set of sockets and screwdrivers and that’s a solid start.
find your nearest Canadian tire retailer and best friend the shit out of them because that store will be your GO-TO store whenever you need cheap tools that are lifetime warranty.
In my personal opinion. Canadian tire is the perfect store for us weekend mechanics.
cheap
readily available
lifetime warranty (…so free replacement when you smash your tools to bits.)
and CHEAP loll
can’t beat that combo
I’ve gotten over 200$ worth of replacement tools with the lifetime warranty. thank god for crappy tire lol
I know, as my university courses make me solve problems in imperial, still doesn’t make it any smarter of a system though.
Also get a good hammer and prybars, sometimes there’s no replacement for brute force and ignorance.
^ all depends on the industry. I worked in automation and everything was impearal, now in the auto industry and everything is metric. Doesn’t matter if its an american car company everything is metric.
on thread topic, no one said jack or jack stands those are pretty important imo
Go buy are clintons or haynes
alright. I’m actually going to start tearing things apart after may 11 (shannonville track day!)… What about jacks and jackstands? would I need those at this stage? I’d be scared to try though…
yes those are handy as afuckk. get a decent pair of jack stands and get a good jack. kijiji will have them.
My best friend is princess auto, not canadian tire.
Get a jack and jackstands, i don’t see why you wouldn’t want those anyway. I have 3 different jacks. A heavyduty one, my low profile one for track and my drift car, and a shitty one i got way back in day. ahah
Get a full metric/imperial socket set, lifetime warranty one at canadiantire/lowes is best bang for buck.
Pliers, impact gun/driver, and some nice magnetic screwdrivers. After that, everything you need you will have to buy according to each specific project. Thats how most of us built our tool chest.
Princess auto is only good for the tools you only use a few times. Sometimes it is better to buy the quality shit, you just have to know when.
Pliers and shit like that you can get away with. Their new “pro tools” or what ever they call them are actaully pretty decent. They use good quality tool steels for them…Their pneumatic shit is some what crappy, but for the price it’s worth it for how much you will use it.
My suggestion is to get a tool box first. Something that has ball bearing rails to the drawers don’t get fucked. Next Canadian Tire sales. i bought a full 160 sum set with the different ratchets (1/4 , 3/8 and 1/2) on boxing day sale for 80 bucks. Orginally 300. The sale comes on and off so keep an eye out. (The Stanley tool ones with the nice “special addition” finishes is the one i have)
Another suggestion, DO NOT buy a set with wrenches. Why? It is a waste to only have 5. Just get a full set once, any anything larger you buy individually.
-floor jack
-jack stands 3ton (a set of 4 is ideal but for most things two 2tons will do)
-breaker bar 1/2!!!
-torque wrench (you can manage with “its tight” but not recommended, you will need this one day if you start doing everything)
-Ratchet sets 1/4, 3/8 and 1/2 (to this day I have not bought a 1/2 set and I’ve managed only cause a have a 1/2 => 3/8 adapter)
-Screw driver set, 20+ piece is ideal
-Box wrenches!
-Side cutters
-Pliers
-Oil pan/bucket
Over time you will pick up things as you go
like drills, grinder, vice, vice grips, die & tap set, etc.
As a tip, when I first moved out on my own and had no tools since I used my dad’s for my whole life, so I started checking the Canadian Tire flyer every week to see what was on sale.
Everything goes on sale at least once a year.
SAAB = INVERTED TORX BITS (female)
^ thats when he went broke loll. unless you got a full time job…if you are student like me, i stay away from the weekly canadian tire flyer.
^these are handy for reusing interior trim plugs… also avoid interior plasitc removal in subzero temps…