(Words and photos by Scott Liggett) – Do your tools have stories that go with them?
We all have had tools that we have used, abused, and abused us over the years. I once had a buddy hand me an old screwdriver and apologize for the blood on it. He then proceeds that it caused him three visits to the ER and a grand total 27 stitches. The dried blood was a badge of honor for him. The glory days of trying to screw something together only to have his tool attack him… three times.
For me, the swivel socket in the pictures is the very first tool I ever bought. Yes, I bought this before I owned a single screwdriver, wrench, or a even a ratchet to operate this socket. I was 17 and had owned my first car for a few months, a 1971 Impala sedan with a 400. I had also purchased my first speed part. I shiny new Edelbrock Performer intake and a used Holley 3310 750 vacuum secondary. They sat in my bedroom closet until I could get them on the car.
That opportunity came when my parents left town for the weekend leaving me at home; and leaving me their nice warm garage. I pulled my car into the garage not ten minutes after they had left and got busy wrenching using Dad’s tools. I ran into my first snag when I got to the intake bolt that is down between the EGR valve and the choke stove. Those of you who worked on these engines know what I am talking about now. Nothing in Dad’s tool collection would reach it or get it loose. So, I borrowed Mom’s car, ran down to the local Big A auto parts store for help. The guy behind the counter knew exactly what I needed. This socket. I barely got the car finished, running, and the garage cleaned of my car and mess before the parents got home. I somehow managed to keep this socket all these years.
Do any of your tools have stories that go with them? Let’s hear them?
All the tools in my tool box are sentimental now, as most came from my father who passed away November 29th. He retired from Snap-On tools in the mid 80’s, and had acquired quite a collection of tools. Although I now have them housed in a Craftsman Tool Box, he did approve of their new home last summer though. My Dad was a WWII veteran, but never had any Hot Rods or fast cars, only basic transportation, he really loved the old cars and could tell the difference between the years like I could on the muscle-cars. RIP pops!
I know what you mean. My father passed along time ago but his favorite pair of channel locks stays in my tool box. They never get used, just there as a very fond memory.
I see tools in my box that remind me of many different stories. I really started wrenching when I was 19 and purchased a pretty nice box and tool set from S-K. It has expanded by quite a bit now (Im 51). I have been in the car business mostly all my adult life but not as a tech. My mechanical skills are all self taught. My tools have paid for themselves at least a hundred times over and I have made some good money with them and my mechanical skill/knowledge. I thank God for having that ability.
3/8 drive Craftsman pivot head long handle ratchet,yes they still sell one “like” it but the new ones are not the same. I think it could have been the first time I went to Sears by myself too. I was working on my uncles F250 Camper Special FE 390,that ratchet is the magic tool to remove FE spark plugs. Still have it after nearly 35 years,damn I’m old……….
I have a valve spring tool that I bought 32 years ago in north Florida. I was coming back from Miami in my year old 79 L-82 Vette. I had been complaining of a light miss at the dealership they could not find. At around 4am on the Turnpike it developed a rough miss I could hear in the motor so I pulled in to a rest area. The folks there told me the nearest town was 8 miles away. I drove slowly to the mom and pop parts store and catnapped in the car until they opened. They loaned me the tools to get the valve cover off and plug out. I had two broken springs on the same cylinder. One had one coil broken the other had two broken places. I was lucky it didn’t drop one. They sold me two new valve springs and a spring tool. they also furnished the rope to fill the cylinder to hold the valves up. I was back on the road in a couple of hours and it ran better than it ever had. I never told the dealership about it. I keep those springs and that simple break over tool as a reminder of that experience.
I love my 46 year old Crafstman 1/2″ Drive ratchet that was included in my first tool set back in ’66.
I wanted a car and the local Chevy dealer had a ’57 two door 150 sedan on their “As Is” lot. Well, my dear old dad (who died back in 1990) thought maybe I should look elsewhere. Elsewhere turned out to be at a little six cylinder Falcon two door hardtop that was a factory 4-speed! Unfortunately, I didn’t get that one, either, settling on a Ford Anglia. (Not the erarly ’50s style favoured as Gassers, either.) I made great use of the newly purchased Craftsman tool kit wrenching on that limey buggy and it has sold me well on everything from a new ’69 Camaro to my super nice ’40 Ford Tudor hot rod.
For me, it’s the tools I had to make. One time I needed a flat screw driver and didn’t have one, so I made one with my 4″ grinder and a piece of 1/4″ keystock. I keep it in one of the “little drawers” in my toolbox.
Another one is the allen wrench I made. I needed a 5/8″ allen wrench like now. I found a 7/16 x 9″ bolt and heated it with a torch to make a 90 and voila! a 5/8″ allen wrench.
Yet another is a wrench I made to take the reverse-thread fan on the OEM serpentine setup that went on the Monte. I needed a wrench with something like an 1.25″ open end, straight, and thin to fit down down around the fan shroud. I took a piece of 1/4″ x 3″ plate, cut a half-hex with a plasma cutter, then dressed it with the grinder until it was a perfect fit.
A set of flare wrenches my father bought me. When I was 16 I decided Dad’s 1973 307 Nova was slow because it needed a fuel filter. I didn’t have a flare wrench to hold the nut, I just assumed it would spin on the fuel line when I turned the fitting in the carb, which I turned with Vise Grips. I twisted the fuel line off, and decided I could fix it by cutting a piece of windshield washer tubing and splicing it in. Somehow it didn’t catch fire, but Dad smelled the gas leak. Instead of getting angry he bought me flare wrenches so I could do it correctly next time. Some years ago some douchebag broke into the shop and stole all my tools, including the flare wrenches.
I don’t have one particular tool that has a great story… just a bunch.
My late grandfather was an engineer (MIT-trained) with a bunch of patents, and a tinkerer to the extreme. But he was a child of the Depression, and a military man (WWII) to boot.
He had amassed an incredible array of tools by the time he passed, which my Dad & I inherited…. and EVERY single one of them had his name or initials scratched into it.
So every time I open a drawer in the toolbox, I am randomly reminded of my grandfather, depending on which tool I grab.
Cool.
Back in the 60s working in a Ford dealwership we at that time had to intall all items which did not come installed on new cars! Mirrors,radios,A/C/ antennas and some chrome items! I was given a new 1965 LTD that was slated to be the dealerships owners demo! The factory gave you a paper template to drill or punch the 4 holes for the square antenna base! I taped that on and proceeded to use my sharpest punch to make the 4 holes for the mounting screws! Took my large Craftsman ball pean and struck the first blow! Head came off the hammer and not very gently proceeded through the windshield! It was not a pretty sight! I still have that hammer 50 some years later! Each time I use it I am reminded of that fiasco! Of course I fixed the handle as I wouldnt want to dent my hot rod! At 73 yrs old I still do my own work! “Hoot” “Geezer”