DIY

craig04, Jun 3, 11:23pm
I've always been someone who loves cars (going as far back as I can remember) but I have almost no practical experience. I want to set myself up and start with doing the basics at home myself (and hopefully progressing from there).
My question is, what tools/equipment should a beginner invest in! Any advice and recommendations would be greatly appreciated.
llortmt, Jun 3, 11:44pm
A good manual for your car.
skittles93, Jun 3, 11:49pm
Off the top of my head I would invest in: good socket sets, screwdrivers, funnels. A good hydraulic trolley jack and some axle stands too! The list can be endless depending on what you want to do. If you lean more towards restoring kind of way then you would look at some compressors, stripping tools,discs etc
ontwowheels, Jun 3, 11:59pm
for basic home maintanance, get
a socket set, 3/8 and 1/4" drives, with deep reach.
A set of ring/ open ended spanners (a second set can be usefull, but for that just go with double open enders)
A good selection of scredrivers, including stubbies. A ratcheting one is nice.
A hammer (engineers)
Funnels, and oil catcher.
Axle stands
At some stage you will need a decent jack

Start with little jobs, and work your way up, as above get a decent manual for your car. Once set up with the above you can add tools as you find you need them.

Most of my home tools are powerbuilt from repco, and I have had no issues, not quite as nice as some of the snapon/ sidchrome gear i use at work, but a good trade off pricewise
craig04, Jun 4, 12:02am
Thanks guys! Much appreciated. We all have to start somewhere eh!
ontwowheels, Jun 4, 12:05am
yip, just dont tackle anything to major, plenty of guys in here with good advise and lots of knowledge, you will figure out who those ones are. Utilise any mates, work colleagues etc for knowledge, research any job you are doing, and make sure you understand the whole job before tackling it!
nzfatie, Jun 4, 12:53am
Really.unless your car is over 15 years old.there's not much you can do.can't even change the oil on many modern cars without special tools.
If you like DIY get a classic car. much easier to work on than modern stuff.
gammelvind, Jun 4, 1:08am
If you want to learn about how engines work etc and want to get a feel about understanding them, get a lawn mower and dismantle that, put it back together again and get it going, you will learn a lot and you will still have a car that goes.