HDC Staff Favorites: 6 Tools We Love
This story first appeared in the July/August 2024 issue of Hagerty Drivers Club magazine. Join the club to receive our award-winning magazine and enjoy insider access to automotive events, discounts, roadside assistance, and more.
We’re here to celebrate the simple, defiant act of working on your own car. The opportunities to wield a socket wrench or an angle grinder are endless, and the reward is the same: the satisfaction that comes from being able to do something yourself. For some, it’s a way of earning a living. To you, we bow. For the rest of us keyboard clackers, a spell of physical work and concrete problem-solving replenishes the soul.
Recently, some of our most talented writers have shared stories from their garages. You’ll find how-to advice—who knew that you shouldn’t apply more force to loosen a bolt than to tighten it?—and tales of how we often learned the hard way how to get the job done.
All those accomplishments and misadventures wouldn’t happen without the right tools. Old standbys, handy toolbox additions, or one-offs specially-modified for the job at hand—whatever the case—certain tools manage to garner our affection by getting us out of a jam or for their relentless capability. Here are just a few of our staff’s favorites.
Knipex Cutters
Watching a salesman snip a metal file with these cutters persuaded me to suspend my cheapskate ways and splurge for this tool. That was years ago, yet they haven’t dulled and remain the most effective snips in my toolbox. Today’s price hardly seems expensive —around $35—but it proves that sometimes buying the good stuff pays off. —Larry Webster
LED Headlamp
No matter how well-lit your garage is, it’s always a struggle to see into the recesses of a car. This $20 headlamp shines light right where my eyes need it and weighs almost nothing on my forehead. The wide LED strip illuminates my peripheral vision. It even has a hand-activated motion sensor, so I don’t have to put down my tools to turn it on. —Sajeev Mehta
Scraper
When I was restoring my Chevelle with my girlfriend (now wife of 27 years), we needed to get off all the undercoating. Every scraper/putty knife was too long or flexed too much. I trimmed this one to about an inch and a half, and it worked fabulously. It’s still my go-to for scraping gaskets off oil pans and whatnot. —Davin Reckow
LED Flashlight
I found this extruded aluminum flashlight lying in front of the pits while I was drag racing in St. Thomas, Ontario. It’s probably 10–15 years old, and it’s the most well-built light I’ve ever seen. I’ve tried to buy more, but they’re available only in Canada. I might have to cross the border to get another one. —Davin Reckow
Socket Ratchet
I love this tool simply because it was a gift from my teenage son. He informed me that it was promoted by a popular car-repair YouTuber named ChrisFix (page 79), and that name was on the handle. A YouTuber making tools? Good grief. I use this ratchet so often, however, that I’ve worn Fix’s name off. Sometimes we learn from our kids. —Larry Webster
Colortune 500
This British-made glass spark plug gives you a window into your combustion chambers at work. As the tool’s name implies, color is everything; richer mixtures burn red to orange, a leaner mix burns blue to white. A plugged idle circuit means darkness. This tool is indispensable for diagnosing and tuning carbureted engines, especially those with multiple carburetors. —Aaron Robinson
I have a long handle swivel head ratchet with a slight bend in the handle. This is my go to ratchet. It came in my tool kit in high school and it still serves me today.,
In fact I used it to install my Borla Exhaust this week.
It is indispensable for things like plug changes on the back side of my Fiero engine. Other remove the deck lid and other tricks and all I need is this ratchet. It is from SK and still works like new. I did add a Craftsman like it so I can use two at once.
Those plugs on a Fiero V-6 are a bear but the exhaust manifold is even worse!
The truth is the plugs are not bad if you use the ratchet I use and if you change them every 2 years. water leaks down on them and they can rust in.
As for the manifold yes they can be a problem no matter what you do.
Just install a 3800SC from a Pontiac Grand Prix/Bonneville SSEi or Buick Regal GS/Park Avenue like I did for my Fiero GT. The spark plugs are way easier to access and so is the front exhaust manifold.
Most of these are standard “already-got-one” items, but the Colortune? Now that’s unique!
No kidding. I hadn’t heard anything about those for ages.
I love any tool that I inherited from my father. Before he became paralyzed, he had been a carpenter. I’ve got gobs of things he never even dreamed of having. Nothing I ever bought brings me such comfort as holding one of his old tools in my hands.
I have one for my 122S and its twin SUs, it’s a must.
When I were a lad, I’d haunt the annual motor show at the big city showground in Sydney Australia. This is a1965 or so. And every year one of my go-to’s was this old fellow with a 50′ Dodge or Chrysler, a straight six, I’m sure it was a flat-head. He’d have the bonnet (hood) up and have a beach umbrella over the engine bay. He was hawking these magic glass spark-plugs. Being so wise at the time, me and me mates assumed it was some kind of crazing gimmick thing, along with water fed carburettors, and heartily lampooned the man and his gadgets. And now you’re telling me that they were a real thing! My dad never bought one, so they can’t have been the real deal!
I love my Snap On tools and I Paid dearly for them my go to ratchet wrench is my bent handel works a treat as to remove stubbern boltd it is my 1/2 inch drive rachet lots of omph.
When I was high-school age I was working part time in a fabrication shop and all I could afford was Craftsman. My father was an Engineer / A&P / IA aircraft guy and had Snap-On. When I was driving to college and needed a solid commuter car, I bought a brand-new Nissan truck. At that point Dad insisted that I get a “proper” set of metric tools, and they should be Snap-Ons. Been buying them ever since, and all my primary core tools (Inch and Metric, including socket sets in 1/4 thru 3/4 drive, ratchets, wrenches, screwdrivers, etc.) plus several of my roll-around boxes are Snap-On. They used to have a slogan, “Snap-On – There IS a Difference”, and my experiences (aircraft, automotive, industrial) have shown that to be true.
I still have my original Craftsman stuff that I started with, and I now have Dad’s Snap-On tools (including his vintage roll-front Rolla-Bench – best box ever made, and I bought one of my own, too. KRA-59s on top of both).
I was so impressed with Snap-On I bought stock in the company – a lot, in fact. It has done well in the last two and a half decades. And they’ve never missed a dividend payout since 1930 or so.
My favorite “go-to” tool? Probably my Snap-On Ratcheting Screwdriver (1990s hard-handle style) with the case full of bits that also holds a rail of 1/4″ sockets and one of those neat 1/4″ female hex magnetic ratchets. I usually grab that kit at the start of every job, and it’s often the last thing I put away. Often, it’s the ONLY thing I need to grab.
My experience with Snap On is limited to sockets that Snapped. Warranty coverage was “you used them wrong!” Strangely enough the Craftsman at a quarter the price are still in service. The Snap On man and his truck were banished long ago, which solved all our broken tool issues.
My Snap-On rep these days is an Industrial guy. He’s never failed to warranty anything – including screwdrivers. Last thing I broke was a 3/8″ wobble extension. No problem…..
I’ll agree that the truck guys can be a bit iffy – I’ve had some good ones, and some not so good. Never broke a Snap-On socket, though. Wore a few out, both hand and impact. Seen some other brands split, wrenches spread, etc.
On the subject of other brands, I typically go Snap-On, but there are exceptions. For example, the old-school Cornwell Angle Wrench pattern is awesome (not available anymore – thank The Lord for eBay), plus there’s Channellock for pliers, Vise Grip for, well, Vise Grips (the Snap-On / Blue Point ones are terrible), Milbar for safety wire tools and lock ring pliers, Chapman for their excellent limited-access sets (better than the Snap-On O-ring design), etc. For adjustable wrenches, the best I ever found were Proto / Clik-Stop – wide openings, narrow jaws and adjusters that stay where you put ’em. Milwaukee M18 and M12 is my go-to for cordless, but I have some Craftsman 19.2 and (gasp!) Horrible Freight in my arsenal as well……..
On sockets, though, I tend to stick with Snap-On. The stuff I have gotten from them has always been great.
As a Snap-On stockholder, I’m sorry to hear you had a bad experience, with the tools or the service. For what Snap-On costs both should be excellent.
As an aside, one of my brothers is a professional photographer. He used to tell people, “Show me your PICTURES, not your CAMERA”. Tools are a lot like that, too. It’s what we can do with ’em that matters.
I put a lot of abuse on my Snap-ons in my past life and they stood up. They are still my current everyday tools. I would occasionally strip out a ratchet head, and ol-Snappy would rebuild it or at least give me the rebuild kit without questioning the pipe marks on the handle (which leave a pretty distinct ring near the ratchet head if done frequently.
My neighbor has Craftsman with stubby little 6-inch handles on them (so you can’t apply too much torque) and those things strip out if you look at them funny
Catherine, I agree.
The Snap-On ratchets, sockets, and screwdrivers I bought in High School are still in use today. They are my favorites among an agglomeration of Herbrand, Williams, Proto, Craftsman…
These tools put me through College and Law School without incurring debt.
Agglomeration is my new favorite word!
My 110v bottle MIG
Torque wrench…And I have a Metwrench set I bought decades ago that I drag with me everywhere. It’s not one tool, as the article dictates, but the little carrying case makes it kind of like one.
Cell phone with video chat….the more unique your car is, the more you rely on the experience of friends!
I bought a couple 1/4″ drive ratchets with 3″ long handles. Those are the most used tools for me these days.
I rarely use a 1/2″ drive tool anymore. It seems most cars these days use 10, 13 and 15mm to do more than half
of all fasteners.
What about the B.F.H. and the hot wrench? Anything rusty, you need them.
Yup – BFH is always at the top of my ‘reach for’ list, and ‘truth be known’, everyone else’s list too!
I call it my “gig bag” a Craftsman tool bag I got as a gift years ago while working as a mechanic at an Amusement park and loaded with basics for most jobs. Things have rotated in and out of that bag and depending on the job I will toss extras in and remove staples I know that I won’t use to make room for tools I will need. All that said, that bag is the one tool that is with me on just about every job that I do on just about everything mechanical around the house.
Sentimentally: the 1/4 inch drive Craftsman ratchet set my girlfriend (now wife) gave me for Christmas 1963, after I had bought my first car. Still have and use it. And… her Dad’s tools given to me after he passed. All SAE and most dating to before WW II. He taught how to work on cars, and I still use them too.
Practical: reversible snap ring pliers. Don’t need em often but when I do, there is no substitute!
Oh, I have lots of tools that are a joy to use but there are two that make life a lot easier if you work on cars a lot in rusty areas. The Mueller-Kueps brake file, to get brake brackets cleaned up just right. And the 0.500 air hammer, to blast stuck rotors or wheel bearings.
I agree with hyperv6 on the long flex-head ratchet. Add to that the stubby version and they are used for 90% of the work I do. The stubby flex fits in tight areas if you can break it loos first. The standard 3/8 ratchet seems way too short now compared to the leverage that I get from the long flex head.
Yes the short one is good too. Also the round ratchet is good for running bolts in with limited space. Then snug them with the longer handle.
Would like to learn more about the “Glass Spark Plug” and how it operates. Can’t tell too much looking at the photo of the kit. Is there contact information for Aaron Robinson…?
The colors noted are somewhat correct for non-ethanol fuel.
Rough tune maybe, fine tune never
Such basic tools & then , BAM…ColorTune! Been driving British cars since the 60’s & using one as well as Uni-Sync to tune dual SU & Stromberg carbs. Have shown them to several younger mechanics and they have been amazed by these “old school” tools. Surprised to see it mentioned here. Good job!
David Vizard one wrote a whole article on their use, and recommended a Color Tune.
Don’t forget about an impact wrench & DEEP CREEP and PB BLASTER will make your life a lot easier when working on older cars and trucks