I got all the common stuff... but I've also made some large and stupid
purchases and some I"ll never regret at twice the price:
Never Regret at twice the price:
THE AIR COMPRESSOR! It is a godsend. I cut and pasted these comments I
made earlier about them off my web site:
Progress in restoring my 1959 MG Farina Magnette was getting a little slow.
Like many of the British cars we own, all of the nuts and bolts are rusted
solid. I would go out and get one nut off the Armstrong lever shocks and I’d
be tired. One nut a day, after a few calculations, equaled that the car was
never going be finished! I really needed something to speed this process up,
and Liquid Wrench wasn’t gonna cut it this time.
What I needed was air-power. Once the exclusive domain of professional
mechanics and hard-core restorers, air power has become surprisingly
affordable lately. You can have a nice compressor and a collection of tools
for just about any job for under $500. A short while back you would be
looking at a $2000 investment to get anything worth your while.
If you decide that air tools are for you, first thing you need is a
compressor. Deciding what kind of compressor to buy is a compromise between
what you are willing to spend, your intentions in use, and what is the
largest piece of equipment the spouse will let in the house. What basically
was the deciding factor for me was that I wanted the largest compressor I
could get for under three hundred dollars that had wheels. That turned out to
be a Craftsman 5.5hp 30 gallon model built by DeVilbiss. There were 25, 20
and 15 gallon versions but they were only about $20 less for each step down.
Next step up was a stand-up compressor and I did not want a compressor I
could not roll for job to job. For me, it was the perfect compromise. You are
going to have to decide what you are planning on spending, and what your
needs are (most air tools can be powered by 15 gallon models but you can’t
paint with less than 30 gallons).
Once I had the air compressor in the house I needed tools. Most air tools are
now made in Asia. The devaluation of most Asian currency means that air tools
have gotten very inexpensive. Even quality brands such as Campbell Housefield
have dropped. At our local Home Quarters Warehouse (similar to Home Depot,
Hechingers or Builder’s Square) I was able to get HC tools for about $20-$30
a tool. An electric grinder would $80, but an air grinder (with more power)
is about $25. Most drills sell for $75, but air drills are closer to $35.
Here’s a short list of some very useful tools:
-Sandblaster- You can get siphon sandblast nozzles for as little as $10. You
basically get a trigger nozzle and hose that goes in a bucket of sand. Set
the air compressor for 110 psi and you are sandblasting! Versions with
attached sand hopper are still over $60. Professional sandblasting equipment,
that uses pressure blasting instead of siphon blasting, is a more serious
investment costing $250 and up. You can also get blasting cabinets and vacumm
systems but they aren’t cheap yet.
-Air Grinder- Remember those rusty bolts? Well I have found it much easier
just to cut them off. A nut I once struggled with for three hours to budge,
with heat, Liquid Wrench, and breaker bars, was cut off in under a thirty
seconds. This is best reserved for nuts and bolts you were planning on
replacing! The same air grinder can be used to remove rusty body panels and
rough cut all sorts of metals. You are looking at between $30-$50.
-Air Drill- why pay $85 for an underpowered electric drill when an air drill
is $35? Also, these air drills are much more compact. It is very hard to find
handy features like speed-chock on air drills but the time and money saved
are worth the loss. Most models however are not reversible!
-Air Ratchet- These ratchets actually cost about the same as some
hand-ratchets. $25 gets you something usable, with higher torque models
costing more. You can use this in places you’d never dream of using a real
ratchet because you don’t move the ratchet, it moves itself!
-Impact Wrench- This is like an overgrown air ratchet, except a banging air
pulse just rips apart rusted nuts and bolts. These are as cheap as $35, and
never endingly useful.
The list of available air tools is almost never ending. There are air
flangers for flanging sheet steel, air punches for punching holes, even an
air-power grease gun! You can also go wild with accessories. While you will
need a fifty foot air hose, you can also get quick-connect sockets, special
short hoses for odd jobs. When it comes to accessories, realize that the
compressor is often almost a loss-leader. It looks affordable to start with
but once you start permanently plumbing in air lines or buying little fiddly
do-dads you can really burst the bank. If you can restrain yourself, air
power tools might just make your life a little easier, and not cost you a
fortune.
Back to the present. The second greatest purchase was a "Shop Crane" or
"Giant Hydraulic Engine Hoist that Lives in the Yard" It is called a Shop
Crane because it is more than just an engine hoister. I lifted my Magnette
off its axle, off its engine, in the air, around... it is really cool.
Rentals suck because you have to take them back and forth and the rental
center is never open when you need it. $200 gets a nice one... mine was $159
on sale at VIP discount Auto.
Third best purchase was my Devilbiss HVLP paint gun. Got the super
professional model with the disposable liners. Paint comes out like glass.
I had never painted before. The gun and a book made a show winner.
Tied for third was the shot blast cabinet. I made mine myself out of
plywood. I sewed towels on to gloves and its nearly sand-tight. Makes such
less of a mess than shotblasting on the driveway and the gloves keep you
warmer if you are shotblasting in an unheated garage. Had to replace the
glass once I'm sure I will have to again, it gets foggy.
STUPIDEST PURCHASE was a Lincoln Mig Flux-Core Welder. I actually thought I
would learn how to weld. SECOND STUPIDEST was buying the converstion kit to
use regular wire and Argon gas... only compounded the stupidity. I did use
the welder to fix some wrought iron porch furniture once.
Ofcourse there were other stupid purchases like the cheap creeper that was
soon replaced with an expensive one when the wheels fell off. And the
cheap-er jack at Sears was soon replaced by a more expensive heavy duty sears
one when it would no longer hold up my XJ-S.
AND ABOUT EXPENSE... If this is your hobby, you can afford this because you
don't take vacations or have a wife or anything. I'm 22 years old and have
paid for everything working at the grocery store and going to college at the
same time. Admittedly I go without lunch sometimes but if cars are your
hobby then this is where your money will go.
When my Magnette is done and restored some time next year I'll make the most
expensive purchase of my life... I'll get a wife. Oh my. I hope she
doesn't end up on the regrets list!
-John
www.mgmagnette.com
|