Hammers - A range of bodywork hammers, a heavy mallet and a rubber mallet

can be invaluable when restoring cars. Metal beating is an artform no one will pick up in a day, I myself am still learning from my mistakes. But to gently tap out a 'door ding' is relatively simple even for an amateur, more on that later. Hammers can be used to tap a chisel or screwdriver through rust or corroded rubber seals. While a rubber mallet can help to 'shock' a stubborn bolt.


Sockets, small medium and large are absolutely essential. Quality really counts here. Cheap sockets like you generally get in 'emergency tool kit' packs break and round out surprisingly easy, not to say they are worthless, but if you are working on an older car with rusted and seized bolts some high quality sockets in the more common sizes make life much easier.


Screwdrivers, Philips head and straight edge screwdrivers are essential, but torx head are also very, very useful too. Sort of a no-brainer but a wide variety of screwdrivers make any project easier. The better screwdrivers have hardened metal tips which are more resistant to warping and bending under extreme use.


Breaker bars and adapters, links, extensions for socket set. When working on cars you will find many of the bolts are squirreled away beyond the reach of any straight bar. To combat this, universal links, adapters and extensions bars can be used in a variety of configurations to reach most bolts. Breaker bars make removing rusted or seized bolts a breeze, usually.

Sanding boards and backing pads essential if you want any filler work to be straight. Sanding boards come in many different shapes and sizes. The two most useful types are the long two-handed boards and the smaller rectangular foam or rubber sanding pads.

Stanley knife, scalpel and hacksaw, great for cutting away rusted metal and rotted/worn material.


Good quality scissors and metal snips, cutting metal and material


Files can be handy, especially for removing dangerous metal burrs and removing rust.


Surform graters. Surform rasps and graters are great for rough shaping fiberglass and bodyfiller prior to sanding. They don't provide a smooth finnish at all, however they do cut down on work time significantly.


Sand paper - various grades (more on this later in the series)

Masking tape - all different widths if possible (but not essential). Used for masking areas you want to protect temporarily, whether it be from paint overspray, sand scratches or chipping


Rags - And more rags, use old clothes as a substitute. When I am working I have 3 steps of rag: Clean - All these rags are new or washed, mostly used for dust and light cleaning (but not polishing paintwork etc.), or cleaning fragile parts.
Medium - These rags were once in the clean box. These rags are used for dirtier jobs, grease, mud and engine bays etc.
Filth - These rags have gone through all the steps and will soon be thrown away. Filth rags are used for oil spills and other messy 'jobs'. Thrown away after using.
This is just my way of doing things, but it does seem to work reasonably well.


Digital camera - Very handy for taking snaps before (and during) tearing into something. They can be extremely useful in reminding you how it went back together. The pictures also provide great before and after documentation of your project.