{"id":1978,"date":"2018-07-01T21:04:55","date_gmt":"2018-07-01T20:04:55","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.purplemeanie.co.uk\/?p=1978"},"modified":"2025-01-31T13:09:59","modified_gmt":"2025-01-31T13:09:59","slug":"caterham-420r-build-tools-and-trinkets","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/purplemeanie.co.uk\/index.php\/2018\/07\/01\/caterham-420r-build-tools-and-trinkets\/","title":{"rendered":"Caterham 420R Build Tools and Trinkets"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Note from Future John (Sept 2020): It seems Amazon has changed a lot of the links in the section below and the links don’t take you to where they should. At some point I’ll try and relink them all.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I thought I owned them all until I built a Caterham.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sorry to all you non-builders, another technical post I’m afraid.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I’d been planning to do this post since finishing the build but I only finally got it over the line after being contacted by a number of prospective builders all asking me about tools. There’ll also, hopefully, be another one soon about “consumables”.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How Many Tools are Enough<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Clearly any discussion about the number of tools needed is going to end up showing the total to be N+1, where N is the current number of tools you own. The same rule applies to all sorts of things… bikes (both kinds), t-shirts, books, car magazine subscriptions… and oddly enough – unicycles!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Having said that, I did have almost all of the essential tools, and probably could have got by without buying many at all. But I did end up buying a number of additional tools, of course! Some were just to help make things easier, some were to speed up the process. And some were because the one’s I had were a bit tired and I liked the idea of an upgrade. In some cases, like a socket set, I was missing a few sockets and decided now was the time to buy afresh. One or two tools I bought and didn’t turn out to be useful at all – but surprisingly few actually!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Is This List Definitive?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The discussion below is not meant to be definitive, exhaustive or for that matter definitively instructive. It’s what I used and may give you food for thought if you’re thinking about building a Caterham.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The tools listed are just for the build. As time goes on you (I) will need other tools like an oil-filter wrench and feeler gauges etc etc. But here goes for the build tools…<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To the Tools<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

I come from the school of thought that says that:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At a wedding, there should be just one photo taken that includes everyone attending<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

It seems I think the same way about tools (I hope nobody was at the bar when it was taken)…<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/a>
Almost all the tools I used to build our Caterham 420R<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The image above contains all the main tools (I think). Of course I also have others that got used that are not shown but hopefully there’s nothing major missing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For instance I have a lot more screwdrivers, pliers, cutters, hammers, many spanners, etc etc, that are not shown. The ones that are shown are, I think, indicative of what’s needed. I also tended to use socket sets instead of dedicated tools… I’d often grab the 1\/4″ socket set for: allen-head bits, posi-head bits, small sockets. I always seemed to be pulling that set out and diving into it. The 1\/4″ socket set (blue lidded socket set in the middle of the picture) was ideal because it had just about everything in it I needed and it was small enough to fit in, and around, all the tight spaces of the car. Having said that, if I had to have only one socket set then it would be a 1\/2″ set in both metric and imperial.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The only major things missing from that picture above are the axel stands I used (highly recommended for small garages or where you want to get the car outside to work on)…<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/a>
Front ans rear CJ Autos Axel Stands – I trimmed the excess of the cross bars after taking the picture<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

… and of course there was the engine hoist (borrowed)…<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/a>
Engine hoist and leveler in use<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

You may disagree with how I classify the following categories, it is just my opinion in the end.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I’ll give a quick list and then discuss them in more detail below.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Essentials<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Here’s a list of the really useful stuff. If something isn’t critical then it’s listed elsewhere:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n
    \n
  • Allenkey sets<\/li>\n
  • Axle Stands<\/li>\n
  • Brake bleeding kit<\/li>\n
  • Cordless Drill<\/li>\n
  • Dolly<\/li>\n
  • Dremel<\/li>\n
  • Drill bits<\/li>\n
  • Dust mask<\/li>\n
  • Ear defenders<\/li>\n
  • Engine hoist and leveller<\/li>\n
  • Eye protection<\/li>\n
  • Funnels<\/li>\n
  • Files<\/li>\n
  • G-clamps<\/li>\n
  • Grease gun<\/li>\n
  • Grips<\/li>\n
  • Hacksaw<\/li>\n
  • Hammers<\/li>\n
  • Hole punches<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/td>
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