Long term readers of the blog will know that I like to do a spot of DIY and tinker with my car. My toolbox is slowly growing with a nice choice of tools that help me along the way, but I’ve got a favourite thing. I’d go so far as to say it’s the BEST thing in my toolbox and probably something that every budding mechanic should have.
The problem with a lot of bolts, especially when they’ve been exposed to the elements for a several years is that they are normally rusted in place. You can try penetrating oil, heat, or just hitting it, but some bolts are just too tough to get off – if you’re armed with the Irwin Bolt Grip Remover Set, it makes getting a rusty bolt off a breeze!
Just get the remover that’s nearest the size of the bolt, tap it on and then with either a 3/8″ ratchet, or a large enough spanner / wrench / mole grip, twist it and the bolt will make a ‘crack’ sound and start to give. That’s it! They worked wonderfully on the clamp on my exhaust today, it made what could have been a very tricky job (especially under a car) take a matter of seconds. Also, it’s doesn’t completely destroy the bolt, so if you really wanted to, you could use it again.
I would wholeheartedly recommend these to anyone to just have in their Toolbox, they are fairly cheap, and could save a lot of trouble one day! You can get them in two sets, one which has the sizes – 3/8″, 7/16″ (11mm), 1/2″, 9/16″(14mm), 5/8″ (16mm) and another that has the sizes 5/16″ (8mm), 10mm, 13mm, 11/16″, 3/4″ (19mm). They work on metric and imperial bolts and will work a mm either side of the stated sizes (so long as the nut isn’t too rounded).
What’s your toolbox favourite?