BenCasey

To make this easier for the next person who searches.

Background; while waiting for my car, i need some stuff to do, one good idea I had was to "rebuild" my garage. Organize stuff, treat the floors, upgrade shelving, etc. I wondered what would be the ultimate DIY, minimal tool set for prepping my car for the track (link to prep sheet is in a below post). I asked here. Here's the summary of tips:

Overall needs:

- Good lighting
- A way to lift the car
- Beer

Specific Suggestions:

- For lighting, the esteemed 'Glen e' suggested a head light, like you use for camping. That, and this nifty light from Target seem to be a good start

- For jacking the car up, the esteemed meyersweb (who doesn't know meyer and glen!?) suggested a QuickJack BL-5000. This looks awesome and it's on my dream list.

- Otherwise, a low-profile jack is mandatory, so are jack stands and wheel chocks. Wheel ramps perhaps.

- Torque wrenches, and supposedly the Harbor Freight ones are tested to be accurate. You should have 2, 1 for that goes up to 150 lbs for wheels and another one for below 100lbs for lighter duties

- Wheeled tool box

- Best quality socket/ratchet set you can afford

- Orbital, MF towels, and other detailing stuff you need per Glen e's sig.

To quote another helpful guy:Really Nice to Have:

- interior trim removal kit

- leaf blower for drying brakes, car, etc

- compressor

- Some really nice guy who will work with you, hopefully knows more than you, that can't afford his own beer (you supply it)


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Got my z51 m7 on order. Per tradition, it's stuck in Toledo indefinitely to taunt me, like how my wife removes her makeup before bed (you know getting all worked up and then, sigh, nothing happens).

I live in cali, with a $700,000 townhome that, lucky as I am, has an entire single car garage attached to it. I know my bay area bros are jealous to hear that. I'm not bragging, just sayin.. I have an entire single car attached garage. With a car parked inside it, I have more than enough room to roll a tennis ball on either side of it, but I admit, I have to remove the car to take out the trash.

But I digress.

I'm going to do my own damn car work, as much as I can. What do I need to prepare my car for the track?

Here's what I will buy:

- a low profile PORTABLE jack (none of this 100 pound crap and I would love a suggestion here.)

- jackstands

- jack pucks

- basic ratchet/socket set for removing the drain plugs

- drain pan (any suggestions? the cheap plastic ones suck and leak)

- air compressor (I use a bike pump actually because I love fainting), and a tire gauge

- nice big *** breaker bar for the rear diff seals

What else? I have no idea how to bleed brakes, and i like good tools that make things easier and more effective. Do I need a sucky thing?

I saw the videos about, I think it's the ranger method for replacing clutch fluid? I need some sort of suck thing for that too, and it looks like a turkey baster would do that OK?

I attached the race prep thing for reference.

As for aligning my own wheels.. that seems like black magic to me. Anyone here do that?

nevermind on the attachement, I can't figure out how to attach a pdf..

Thanks!

BenCasey

Found it!

http://www.corvetteblogger.com/docs/...ationGuide.pdf

tunaman

Harbor Freight low profile jack... Works great.

Glen e

Yup, but i chose two 1.5 pittsburgh jacks from them and jackstands, 3 years and 3 cars later, all still going strong.

Don't skimp on a good socket set.....these are core tools.

$15 LED "head" lamp is invaluable

Nitrile gloves - so your hands look decent after 60 if you wrench/detail for 30 years...LOL

BenCasey

Ah yes, the esteemed Glen e.

Seeing your name made me pencil in a "rotary buffer" as well. Oh, and detailing brushes, two buckets, and I already have a ton of MF towels.

Glen e

No , not a rotary buffer, an ORBITAL......way different......

Keep reading......and gathering data......

DickieDoo

Torque wrench
ramps
loctite
liquid wrench
compressor

BenCasey

is there a specific torque wrench that is the end-all-be-all of torque wrenches? Or will any do?

DickieDoo

Good question, i would select a mid range product... something guaranteed for life... Sears mastercraft used to be good... Snapon is good but pricey. Be sure it's made in the USA product...

other items
( used to say, grease gun but that is getting obsolete these days, then again some suspension replacement parts that have grease fittings are preferable to non-greasible parts, lasts forever versus lasts for life )
- caliper slider grease ( high temperature ) if you heat your brakes, you should re-lube the slider pins.
- turkey baster ( for reservior flushing )
- magnets ( for lost nuts )
- stock up on some plastic "push" body clips as you will invariable wreck a few.
- clip puller for above ( best $10 you might spend )
- blow torch
- big *** rubber mallet to bash / persuade sutbourn parts.
- crowe bar
- big ball pin hammer for more fine tuning
- lots of type of needle nose pliers
- jack stands ( never go under a car without 2 additional jack stands
- wheel blocks

meyerweb

If you can justify the cost, a QuickJack BL-5000 beats the heck out of a jack and jackstands. And the 12 volt version is even portable enough to take to the track.

https://www.google.com/search?q=quic...ckjack+bl-5000

Torque wrench, as Dickie suggests, is critical. You'll probably need two. One that goes to 125-150 ft-lbs for the wheels, and another one for lighter ranges. Harbor Freight's 0 -150 fl-lb one is cheap and surprisingly accurate. If you're willing to spend more, get a split-beam type.

Forget about do-it-yourself alignment. You'll never get it precise enough.

BenCasey

Holy crap meyerweb, THAT QUICKJACK IS AWESOME.

1300 dollars.

That's just 100 a month for 13 months... my kids eat too much damn stuff anyway. 2016 will be year of the potato I think, gotta get this past the wife (a tyrant to say the least, but pretty cute with a little makeup).

And it's portable? I bet I could rent it out.

Thanks! Great tip!

DickieDoo

yes, you absolutely right about two torque wrenches for different torquing ranges... i usually have the one for the wheels, but if your doing other parts, the other one is a great idea.

AWOL

If you do not know what you need, you should not be working on your own car!!!

DickieDoo

there once was a time when that statement was correct, but now days, if you have youtube or Corvette Forum, you can see for yourself how difficult or easy a job is going to be... so if you watch how it's done and feel you can do it, then go for it... Don't be surprised it you break a few thinks, that's part of the learning process, that's why i say to keep some of the plastic connectors on hand. You'll learn a bit about your car and may find some unexpected items that actually need servicing.
As long as you feel comfortable doing so... or have a friend to work with, you'd be surprised that an extra pair of eyes observing things can really help... a good way to pass a Sunday afternoon ( as long as the parts stores are open on Sunday incase you break something )

Motohead279

If you are going to be possibly doing any interior mods and popping off panels you want to pick up an interior trim removal tool kit. $15 - $20

rkhegler

Two post car lift. No need for jack stands.

Steve_R

A good set of wrenches is a must-have. The ones with ratchet on the boxed end are great.

I have enough tools to literally build a car, which I've done with a couple of frame-up restorations. I've always lived by the philosophy that if I need a tool for something I buy it instead of borrowing it. I also, with rare exceptions, buy high quality tools although a few things from Harbor Freight are okay, like a digital multimeter, which is another very handy tool to have.

pickleseimer

IIRC, C7 brakes are fixed calipers.

Floridasky

Costco seems to always carry a very nice low profile Jack at a decent price. They also carried a portable Snap On halogen work light that is great for lighting up an area.

BenCasey

gotta learn somehow dude.