Classic cars forum & vehicle restoration.

[Ellis]

The socket set I have used since 1986 is a Draper Green Line has been very good considering it is/was not top line quality. The ratchet has now worn and the most used sockets are in a similar condition.

I will definitely buy another Draper set soon.

My spanners are again Draper which I bought as a dual Imperial/Metric twin set through a friend as the result of a "trade" offer and these have given excellent service as well.

In fact many of my tools are Draper - d/a sander etc.

I would like Teng, Brittool or Snap On but cannot really justify the cost for the limited use that I put my tools to.. I do have one Snap On stubby 3/8" ratchet and long 10mil socket which I found under the battery tray of a Mitsubishi Pajero I owned 9 years ago. Something was rattling at certain revs and on investigation what did I find?

What do you gentlemen use?
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Starting Handle Expert

1964 Jaguar Mark 2 3.4 litre
1962 Land Rover Series 2a 88"
2002 BMW M3 E46 Cabriolet

[IanAl]

I am increasingly using silver line products. They are very affordable but perfectly acceptable quality. I used to use snap on but with money getting ever tighter I have sold them, the only thing I miss is my 3/8 ratchet, it was very comfortable and never slipped

[ChrisD]

I have a Teng socket set I bought 20 years ago. Boy, has it seen some action.
I even managed to break one socket a while back (undoing a wheel nut with a long extension). I sent it back to them with no receipt (long since lost) and they were true to their word - free lifetime replacement.

[47p2]

I have a right mixture, some which belonged to my father and will outlast me, Gedore, Gordons, Williams, King Dick, Snap On, Mac Tools, Britool, Elora to name a few


This 1/2W x 7/16W ring spanner I bought last week, brand new for the princely sum of £2.40




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ROVER
One of Britain's Fine Cars

[Inglewood]

Britool, Snap on, Facom & Stahlwille

[welshrover]

i use= bedford , britool , king dick, gedore ,us pro .facom .
ive got a lot of the old brit stuff from my late grandfather .and father in law

[gillberry]

All my older tools are mostly draper but last year I treated myself to a Halfords set as they regularly get good write ups and have a lifetime guarantee plus good discounts .
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1968 Volvo Amazon estate (Gracie)
1967 Cheltenham Nyala caravan

[clan chieftain]

I have much the same as 47p2 and welshrover. Bits of everything. The last spanners I bought were metric ratchet spanners.
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The Clan Chieftain

[47p2]

The last set of spanners I bought were for working on modern cars where the space is tight and conventional spanners useless.


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ROVER
One of Britain's Fine Cars

[ukdave2002]

You name the brand I probably have something!!!

I have never stuck to a brand, just picked stuff up on the way!

When I was a field engineer the firm I worked for had an account at RS Components, that we could get stuff from, so I picked up some nice Britool stuff (very useful for servicing IT equipment in the 90's )

The first set of spanners and socket set I bought were both Kamasa in the 80's and both are still going strong.

If someone could recommend a brand of Pozi screwdriver that lasts, I find they either tend to loose their edge or snap I currently have a Wera set, quite good, but beginning to loose their edge, or should we treat Pozi drivers as a consumable tool?

Dave

[Riley Blue]

Many of mine are inherited from my Dad. I can tell which ones they are, they all have a government arrow mark and a year, mostly 1956 when he was an engineer on a RAF base

[baconsdozen]

A lot of my stuff is Britool,a lot bought many years ago when Britool actually made their stuff in this country.Then I have some Elora and Draper a few King Dick and a handfull of koken socket sets.
I sell Imperial tools for a living and have done for over twenty years so get to chose from all sorts of brands and makers.
In the main you get what you pay for with tools.

[victor 101]

Snap-on, Draper, Bedford, Gordon, Britool + other odd bits.
When I started in the motor trade you could fit your spanners in a cantilever tool box and be able to work on just about anything, now you need to buy new tools everytime they bring out a new car and tool boxes are enormous and expensive. How things have changed.

[RUSTON]

[ukdave2002]

I think, if you exclude the very cheap and very expensive, on the whole cheap tools have got better and expensive tools are not as good as they used to be...