Re: [tools]Changed man and questions

["Jeff Wheeler" <j_dubbya@mindspring.com>]

>Well I came to the decision tonight that I will no longer take my car to a
>mechanic, unless its ABSOLUTELY needed.  I'm tired of paying hundreds of
>dollars in labor costs, only to second guess what was done to my car.

Amen to that, brother.

>So my first question is, I have your basic set of tools now, but
>what other tools should I look in to getting soon?  Should i get a
>test-light, volt meter,etc....what?

I've acumulated tools project-by-project.  I review in the Bentley and in my
head what I'm likely to need for whatever task I'm about to tackle, and then
go get the tools.  That would be the first trip; the second (and perhaps
third) one is taken in my wife's car with a towel over the seat to protect
it from the grease I've accumulated by getting halfway through my project
only to discover that I need yet another tool.  This is sometimes one I
should've known to get, but is more likely one I didn't realize would be
useful until I got in there.  The more projects you tackle, the smaller this
list will become.

I've also become an advocate of buying a specific tool instead of trying to
cobble together a substitute.  Case in point: I got a lot of creative and
useful advice from this group about ways to reach those two or three bolts
on the oilpan of my '82 8v that are squirreled away up that crevice between
pan and tranny, but the advice that I followed was to go get the 10mm socket
with a swivel head mounted to an integrated extension.  It may be the next
pan gasket before I need that thing again, but pan gaskets are now zero
intimidation because of it.

I've blathered enough; best of luck in your quest.
Jeff



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