After my recent experience with a professional mechanic I'm looking at doing some of my own repairs/servicing on the magna. What I'd like to know is what tools those that fix their own cars have found the most useful? What are the must-have tools as well as those that make life easier when you work on your cars?

Most valuable "tool" is the Manual, and time devoted to reading and comprehending it.

Hydraulic jack(s).
Socket set, 1/2" drive. 10 mm to 32 mm.
Breaker bar, extension bars, ratchet handles.
Torque wrench, 1/2" and 1/4" drive. 10, 12 mm 1/4" drive sockets.
1/2" drive spark plug spanner, length of fuel line to fish plugs out of tubes and to start them off again.

. . . and lots of other stuff . . .

And don't forget consumables:
Oil, oil filters, air, fuel filters, coolant, power steering fluid, transmission fluid, a couple of spare sump plugs.

And if you are feeling affluent and have the storage space:
Spare alternator, starter motor, battery, battery charger.
Spare ignition coil or complete distributor, ignition leads.
Set of rocker cover gaskets, tube seals.
Spare cam belt kit. Spare ancillary belts.
Any wheels, tyres, body panels etc you feel may come in use one day.

Impact driver with matching set of impact sockets

Hammer, duct tape and a blow torch. Should fix most issues....or at least any frustrations.

Nah, in all seriousness, the magna's are fairly simple and easy to work on.

The basics would be:
- A good socket set with a 3/8" & 1/2" ratchet with sockets from 10-32mm.
- Breaker bar
- Hydraulic jack and jack stands
- Selection of screw drivers and pliars
- Service manual
- and some common sense and patience.

Have fun!

As above as well as a decent set of metric ring open end spanners, as well as Ring spanners, if you have plenty of readies a ratcheting set of ring open enders, would also be good

and note always try to use the ring of the spanner before the open end!

Oh and make sure it is a 5/8th or 16mm Spark plug socket!

Thanks guys actually have most of these tools. Don't have torque wrenches or geared spanners though. What size geared spanners would I need for the magna?

Largest size for general use is 19 I'm pretty sure.

Largest size for general use is 19 I'm pretty sure.

I'm not keen on the ratcheting ring spanners. I've got some, but rarely use them. Going to loose skin off your knuckles if one lets go. OK if you back a bolt or nut off first with a socket or ordinary ring spanner.

19 mm big enough? Couple of places where you need bigger sockets, the crank pulley, and the axle shaft nuts. And the standard sump plug.

Different size extension bars, in particular swivel and wobble bars for all the nook and crannies you need to get to.

Like I said, for general maintenance. I don't count bits like crank shafts and hub nuckles as general ;-) Plus I think he meant for the ratchet spanners which you wouldn't use on those anyway

True.

If you want quality tools, look for ones made of Chrome Vanadium.
Totally unbreakable and unbendable. Nothing worse than an open ended 12 mm spanner that could pass for a 14 mm one. lol Or a breaker bar that ends up shaped like a horse shoe. (You know the trick of flicking the starter with a socket and breaker bar on the crank pulley nut? lol)

Bunnings sell Kincrome 1/2 inch torque wrench for around $80, it seems reasonable quality so I'm going to purchase that. Madmax, notice you mentioned a smaller torque wrench, what do you use it on (besides rocker covers)?

Bunnings sell Kincrome 1/2 inch torque wrench for around $80, it seems reasonable quality so I'm going to purchase that. Madmax, notice you mentioned a smaller torque wrench, what do you use it on (besides rocker covers)?

lol I use it on any nut or bolt that has a torque wrench setting below the minimum scale of 20 Nm of my bigger 1/2 inch torque wrench. (Obvious answer really).
Even if I only use it on the rocker cover once in 5 years, I think it is money well spent. A lot of people use their wrist torque wrench and stuff it up. $40 for the wrench, $40 for the gasket/seal set, still cheaper than paying a mechanic to do it and botch it up.

Skip the Bunnings one, check eBay, about half the price. Get both for the price of one. lol

lol I use it on any nut or bolt that has a torque wrench setting below the minimum scale of 20 Nm of my bigger 1/2 inch torque wrench. (Obvious answer really).
I figured that! Just had my rocker covers done professionally and I think finally they don't leak so probably can wait on this wrench unless there's other things I can use it on.

Skip the Bunnings one, check eBay, about half the price. Get both for the price of one. lol
Checked eBay, there are cheaper ones there but not familiar with some of the brands, but I'll keep looking.

Bunnings sell Kincrome 1/2 inch torque wrench for around $80, it seems reasonable quality so I'm going to purchase that. Madmax, notice you mentioned a smaller torque wrench, what do you use it on (besides rocker covers)?

Repco has a special on at the moment, $39 for their own brand 1/2" torque wrench which from what I read is pretty good and also comes with lifetime warranty

Repco has a special on at the moment, $39 for their own brand 1/2" torque wrench which from what I read is pretty good and also comes with lifetime warranty

Thanks Spetz, that sounds like good value and I'd imagine it stands up pretty well against Kincrome.

Repco has a special on at the moment, $39 for their own brand 1/2" torque wrench which from what I read is pretty good and also comes with lifetime warranty

Rang Repco, it's actually MechPro brand not Repco and comes with a limited warranty, the Repco brand is about 5 times more expensive.

MechPro brand for the torque wrench should be OK if you look after it. I bought the Kinchrome one from Bunnings...it works fine. Its not like we are tightening bolts for the space shuttle or nuclear war heads. They are accurate with a small degree of error.

MechPro brand for the torque wrench should be OK if you look after it. I bought the Kinchrome one from Bunnings...it works fine. Its not like we are tightening bolts for the space shuttle or nuclear war heads. They are accurate with a small degree of error.
Okay thanks.

I got two;
Both are Warren and Brown.
One is calibrated 1 to 15 ft.lb. and useful up to about 16 or 17 ft. lb. This is VERY useful for doing up bolts which are threaded in to Aluminium castings; generally up to 10 to 15 ft. lb for this sort of job. The carby bolts on the TP Magna are done up to 22 Nm( about 17 ft. lb.)
The other is 50 to 200 ft. lb. A big fella that doesnt get much use, but when it does it is invaluable. Wheel hub bolts etc (3/4 inch UNF) often are up to this value. The small baby I got from dad, who got it when in the RAAF during the war, when he was part of the team that developed the first radial aircraft engines to be made in OZ. Its probably 70 years old. The other came from a relly; its probably 50 to 60 years old. The point is that quality tools last a lifetime and their value increases with age. Buy a decent tool and it will outlast your lifetime.
rumpfy

My preferred Torque wrench is the Warren and Brown dual signal of which I have two, unfortunately I need another two because the two I do have are to large for most magna uses I have a 200 ft lb half inch drive and a 1200 ft Lb one in drive that doesn't see much use anymore (I am an automotive diesel mechanic and used to do a lot of Marine work 800 ft lb head bolts was not unusual) However spending the money on good quality tools in the first instance means that they don't fail you when you most need them! Always buy the best you can afford. with some tools however it is best to spend and buy the BEST.