Every Mustanger
should have a good set of tools. How else can you work on your stang if you don't?
Obviously everyone can't have a top of the line Snap-On tool set that costs $40,000, but
you should at least have a decent set of ordinary hand tools, and a few other things such
as a timing light. |
We've put
together a little guide to help you decide which tools you need, or want. |
The first and
most important thing to get is a quality set of hand tools. Many companies make good
hand tools. Some of the better ones are Snap-on (one word: expensive), Matco, MAC,
and
Craftsman. Personally I (the webmaster) like the Craftsman brand tools. In my
opinion they are the best quality you can get for their price, and price is one of the
most important things you may be considering if you are only buying the tools for working
on your 'Stang on the weekends. |
A starter set of
hand tools usually includes wrenches, socket and ratchet sets, screw drivers, and pliers.
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One of the first
things you should consider getting is a good set of wrenches. The most common type
of wrench is a combination wrench like the ones shown. They are called combination
wrenches because they have a "combination" of a box and combination wrench in
one. |
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Next on the list
of "must haves" is a good set of sockets and ratchets. Socket and Ratchet
sets come in three common sizes... 1/4", 3/8", and 1/2" drives.
You'll want different sizes of extensions and universal joints to make jobs like changing
spark plugs easier. Speaking of spark plugs you'll want to get the common sizes of
spark plug sockets too.
1/4" sockets are usually used for light duty work, 3/8" is the most commonly
used and 1/2 inch is for heavy duty work. |
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| Almost everyone has the regular stuff like
screw drivers and pliers, but something many people totally over look, and never even
think about is screw drivers with torx tips, or a set of torx sockets. Eventually
you'll need them for something, so you might want to get a small set of them, "just
in case". The image on the right is of a torx screw driver tip. |
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Most tool companies make small sets of tools
which come with most of the regular hand tools. Sets like the one pictured to the
left can be bought for under $200, which isn't bad considering the number of tools you get
and the fact that they all come with a life-time warranty. One thing to remember is that
many hand tools like wrenches and sockets come in two different sizes, Standard
(aka...SAE) and Metric. Many of these tool sets come with both standard and metric.
The tool box on the left has both standard and metric sizes of 1/4", 3/8", and
1/2" drive sockets. It also came with wrenches in both standard and metric
sizes. |
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| Other stuff... |
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| Now that we've gone over hand tools, we're
going to go over some other stuff you may need when working on your Mustang. (or other
Fast Ford) |
| From just bumping up the timing for more
power, to lowering it for your brand new Nitrous kit, there's nothing you will need more
than a good timing light. Although they may all seem the same you get what you pay
for in most cases. There have been tests done by one of the major Mustang magazines
in which they found that the cheap timing lights can be off by as much as 5 degrees.
Alot! What's the sense of setting the timing if its going to be way off? Many
companies such as craftsman, matco, and snap on make quality timing lights. |
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Wanna make life easier? Do you want to
be able to loosen your lug nuts without popping a blood vessel in your forehead?
Well the best way of doing that is to buy a compressor and air tools to go with it.
Although they aren't alway cheap, a good set of air tools can make many jobs go way
easier. The air compressor on the right is a 4.5hp 20 gallon unit, which is probably
the smallest compressor you can get that will let you run an impact gun off of it. |
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| Air tools like the ratchet and impact gun
shown above are made to work at certain psi, (pounds per square inch) and a certain CFM.
(cubic feet per minute) So your biggest concern when buying a compressor is to make
sure you get one big enough to run whatever tools you want off of it. Many people
make the mistake of buying a compressor that is too small for the job. When buying a
compressor you are better off getting one bigger than you need right now, so you can buy
different air tools for it later. Remember one thing, just because a compressor can
produce 120 psi (more than enough for an impact gun) doesn't mean it can pump out enough
CFM to run the tools you want, so make sure you get one that can. |
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