RJC Fury R1 Design Build Drive Gallery Video Contact Me Misc
Last page update was 13 Jan 2011

Tools Required

I've tried to keep a list of tools required to do the various jobs as reference for anyone else attempting such a build and also to remind me what tools to take with me to trackdays, etc.

You could buy all these tools but quite a few are used once in building the car. You can save a fortune by borrowing a lot of them or failing that hiring them.

Allen Keys

4mm
Jubilee clips on airbox trumpets.
5mm
Most of the R1 engine fixings
8mm
To remove splash guards on Escort struts.
10mm
For differential filler bolt.

Angle Grinder

Used to cut the tops off the donor Ford Escort MkII front struts and to remove odd bits from donor steering column. Also minor adjustments to other donor parts to get them to fit.

Axle Stands

I used these latter on to support the car whilst fixing bits.

Ball Joint Splitter

Don't know why it is called this because it does not split ball joints. It pushes them out. Needed to remove ball joints from donor Escort struts.

Brake Pipe Bending Tool

To get nice curves on the pipe. I can borrow one my my work motor club.

Brake Pipe Flaring Tool

To get nice snug fitting at the joints. I can borrow one my my work motor club.

Electric Drill

Obvious really, cordless version also helps for certain jobs.

Crimp Tool

For making sound electrical connections. Worth buying a decent rachet one that does the job properly first time, every time. It will cost you more in the long run if you buy a cheap one. Make sure you also get the right one as crimp terminals come in insulated and non-insulated form. I paid £40 for a decent non-insulated crimp tool.

Digital Vernier

An essential tool for making accurate measurements. I bought this one from Screwfix  for about £19.

Drill Bits

Need lots of quality drill bits to fit the chassis panels. Need 3.3mm for 3.2mm pop rivets and 5mm drill bits for 4.8mm pop rivets. I bought mine from Chronos Limited .

Drill Brush

Wire brush attachment for an electric drill used to clean up donor parts.

Drip Tray

Bought a cheap gardening tray from B&Q. Used for cleaning stuff on and for catching fluids leaking from dodgy joints (until you locate and fix them). Brake fluid is nasty stuff and dissolves garage floor paint.

Duck Tape

For sealing things from dust and dirt, holding things in place temporarily and for sometimes simply holding the car together in places.

Extension Lead

Obvious really.

Gas Torch

For soldering battery terminals.

Hammer

For making minor adjustments to implemented designs.

Haynes Manual

It really is a good idea to but the Haynes manual for your donor car if, like me, you don't know how car things work. Fortunately, I could borrow these or get required pages scanned and e-mailed to me.

Heat Gun

For shrinking heat-shrink tubing. Fortunately, my wife is in to card folding and embossing and has a thing that looks like a little travel hair dryer (but gets a lot hotter) and is also designed for this job. Cost her about £11 from a craft shop.

Latex Gloves

Buy a box of 100. Essential for any fibreglass work and generally useful for doing odd jobs without getting covered in oil and grime.

Lighting

600W of lighting in my garage and I still needed a portable lamp on occasions.

Multi-tool

I've got a cordless Dremel but mains power is required for a fair few odd jobs. Fortunately I got a powerful one for Christmas.

Oil Filter Remover

There are loads of different types from hex socket style, to fingered tools, to chain and belt tools. They seem to range from £3 to £65. Make sure you buy one that can still fit onto the filter after the engine is installed. The chassis rail gets in the way of most tools.

Overalls

Especially handy if you are stripping old Escort struts but sealant, grease, oil, etc. all goes where you don't want it to go.

Punch Set

Need various punches to open up locking tabs and push out disk brake calliper pins.

Rivet Gun

Christmas present. It pays to get a decent tool as it gets a lot of use putting the chassis panels on.

Rivnut Tool

Used for the top tunnel panel, dash and odd fittings.

Safety Mask

You can use safety goggles but I would recommend a brow guard from somewhere like Screwfix  (Part no. 16142).

Scales

Not essential, but if you are obsessive about weight like me, then you NEED to know what everything weighs.

Screwdrivers

Usual section required for miscellaneous tasks.

Scribe

For marking out things on metal work.

Socket Set

Imperial:

Soldering Iron

For electrics work. You need something very serious if you are soldering battery cables though.

Spanners

Spark Plug Wrench

The R1 needs a '10mm' wrench which fits a 16mm hex plug. £4.99 from Halfords.

Steel Rule

For measuring sizes of things from bolts to oil filters. You'd be amazed how many times you have to do this. It's a lot quicker measuring a nut than trying half your sockets on it!

Note: 1st law of DIY = measure twice, cut once.

Spring Compressors

Used to compress the spings on the Ford Escort struts so that they can be safety dismantled.

Trestles

Need something to rest the chassis on while you work on it. Ideally something that can take a lot of weight as you may need to sit in the car to work on it and adjust certain things. This means two with some protective foam to stop them scratching the chassis. I bought a pair of Black and Decker plastic ones from Argos for £20 each. They can take 200kg each, which is plenty to get to the point of having a rolling chassis.

Trolley Jack

Once the wheels are on and the engine in, you are going to need this to raise the car. I bought a 'low entry' version as my chassis is very close to the ground.

Torque Wrench

Sometimes you simply need more leverage but wheel hub nuts, etc. need to be torqued correctly. The wheel nut hubs need to be torqued to a very high-level.

Wire Brush

Used to clean up donor parts.

RJC Fury R1 Design Build Drive Gallery Video Contact Me Misc
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