+1 PB Blaster is terrific. Also, Dave- Noticed you're a model A man. Been around them too and have some old Ford wrenches from back then. Vanadium steel was revolutionary as commonly used in wrench's but Henry also recognized the advantage of the steel properties and first used it in the model T frames. Not sure exactly if in fact Ford plants made the wrench's but for some years the chassis frames were made by A.O. Smith for Ford.

Please excuse my trivia chat, don't mean to hijack but wish you fun tool shopping. Cheers

Take the long view
 

I have been wrenching for 55 years, never professionaly, worked on 356's, 911's, really worked over my 72- 914 and even a ferrari; been a service manager and watched the guys buy Snap-on.

If you are going pro, or when $$$ is not a limitation buy professional quality.

Below this point, tool quality/cost is always a trade off.

It is often hard to make the call.

When dealing with bottom of the line stuff like harbor fright, you really need to buy bigger,(more capacity), than youthink you might ever need, eg, 1000 lb engine stand, ok for 300 lb toyota engine---

Sometimes even OVER CAPACITY 2 HP drill press or 12 inch metal cut off saw turns out to not be up to the relatively minor task.

For sure, HIGH STRESS stuff like pilot bearing pullers need to be sourced elsewhere, (I broke every piece of this POS kit and still didn't get the pilot bearing out). I suspected as much but no one else was open but the fright.

For week end warriors, Napa stuff gets it done.

As always, the high dollar stuff is a joy to own, hold in your hand and use.

The older the car is, the better quality tools you need.

The newer the car, the more specialized tools you will need to buy.

Cheap *****, breaks, doesn't get the job done, gets you pissed off, screws up your parts and gets you hurt.

keep it clean,
chris

Try kroil sometime. It's even better than PB Blaster.

Craftsman tools should be good enough for the shade tree type ..
although I do have a few snap on pieces and a Mac ratchet or two ..

It does get slippery when you go down this road ... I now have a 41' wide top and bottom chest along with 2 five drawer project chests and two 4 drawer intermediate 24' wide chests and still seems i need more storage ...
I would suggest a decent (budget) roll around or two piece set to start and check sears they usually have a 150+ piece set that runs about a hundred bucks but you can find them on sale and save even more ... then add on as you go ... but don't buy cheap screwdrivers ... also craftsman has two level of wrenches .. standard and pro .. the pro are polished and feel better in your hand ..

Just my opinion but you asked ...

Steve

If you're an ocasional fiddler like me, here's my pragmatic advice:
Buy cheap but not too cheap. To be specific, buy forged chromium-vanadium tools. Doesn't matter what make/brand as long as they're *real* forged chromium-vanadium tools. Careful with some of the cheap chinese brands, they lie about the composition of their tools.

Really cheap stuff is soft will usually bend and twist out of shape, frequently on you very first bolt.
Hardened stuff will frequently break before it bends, but it will usually take a lot of effort to get there.

Back when I had my 924, I went through 2 sets of tools in six months, before striking on this compromise ...

I agree with using Kroil (if only to avoid the horrid stench of pb Blaster) - Wurth makes one too as do many others. WD-40 is not a penetrant, BTW.

Do avoid the really cheap crap tools out there - I was once waiting at a parts counter and picked up an 8" long screwdriver to look at, bent it in a "U" shape while the guy was goofing off in the back, then bent it back...

Yes, "Craftsman tools should be good enough for the shade tree type" in most cases. Buy them used to save $$. Every once in a while you will find a spot with limited access that requires a high quality (and thinner) tool - I had this happen on the R brakes once.

Hazet, Stahlwhile (sp?), Facom and Snap-On are all quality brands. Hazet make real nice flat-blade screwdrivers.

Someone should link to the many many other threads on this topic when they do their searches BEFORE buying anything. One thread discusses who really makes what brand tools.

AND, the real startup tool kit is included with the car. Add a torque wrench or two, some sockets, some right angle mirrors on a stick, and maybe a couple of closed end wrenches...

Here's another thread you may want to look at for tool decisions:

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/porsche-911-technical-forum/601828-q-snap-other-high-quality-hand-tools.html