There's real satisfaction in doing your own spanner work, and the money you save on labour soon pays for a decent set of tools. The trick is spending where it matters — on the things that keep you safe and get used every month — and resisting the specialist kit that sits in the corner gathering dust. Here's how to build a home setup that covers routine servicing and track-day preparation without a second mortgage.

Lifting Gear Comes First

Everything hinges on getting the car safely in the air, and this is the one area where buying cheap is genuinely false economy. A 2-tonne low-profile trolley jack handles most hatchbacks and sports cars, and the low-profile design matters if your car is lowered — a standard jack simply won't slide under the sill. If you're lifting a heavier saloon or an SUV, step up to 3 tonnes.

• A pair of 3-tonne ratchet axle stands, with a locking pin rather than a friction catch
• Two solid rubber or polyurethane wheel chocks for the wheel staying on the ground
• A length of hardwood or a slotted rubber pad to protect seams and underseal

Use the manufacturer's jacking points, then lower the car onto stands placed under subframe or chassis rails, never under a sill seam that will fold. Leave the jack raised as a backup and never put any part of yourself under a car supported only by hydraulics.

Torque Wrenches and the Fasteners That Matter

A 1/2-inch drive torque wrench covering roughly 30–210 Nm will handle wheel nuts, suspension arms and most engine ancillaries, while a smaller 3/8-inch wrench in the 5–25 Nm range is invaluable for cam covers, sump bolts and intake pipework. For torque-to-yield fasteners — head bolts on many modern engines, and some suspension and hub bolts — you will also need an angle gauge, because the spec reads "torque plus 90 degrees". Those bolts are single-use; fit new ones and follow the sequence exactly.

• Always wind a click-type wrench back to its lowest setting before storing it
• Never use it to undo a stubborn nut — that's a breaker bar's job
• Have it checked every year or two, especially if it's been dropped

Wheel nuts on a typical UK hatchback land around 110–140 Nm. Guessing with a wheel brace is how you end up with warped discs or a stud sheared in a layby.

Diagnostic Readers: Useful, With Limits

Since EOBD became mandatory, every petrol car from roughly 2001 and diesel from 2004 has a standard 16-pin port under the dash. A basic handheld reader or a Bluetooth dongle paired with a phone app costs very little and will pull fault codes, show freeze-frame data and read live values such as coolant temperature, intake air temperature, fuel trims and misfire counts. Before an MOT, it's worth checking that the emissions readiness monitors have completed after a battery change or code clear.

What a cheap reader won't do is talk to ABS, airbag or body modules — those need manufacturer-level software or a specialist. Treat generic codes as a starting point, not a diagnosis, and clear them only after a proper repair.

Hand Tools Worth Buying Once

A six-point socket set in 1/2-inch and 3/8-inch drive, a set of combination spanners from 8mm to 19mm, and a good 1/2-inch breaker bar form the backbone. Add ratchet spanners for awkward access, hex and Torx bit sockets for modern engine bays, long-reach pliers, a pry bar, a magnetic parts tray and a bright LED inspection lamp. A trolley jack, drain pan, funnel, filter wrench and a box of nitrile gloves finish the job. Buy middle-tier tools from a reputable brand and you'll rarely regret it; buy the bargain-bin socket set and you'll round a bolt head on the first stubborn fastener.

Track-Day Preparation Kit

Circuit sessions expose weaknesses that road driving never does, so the pre-event checks matter more than the gadgets. Bleed the brakes with fresh DOT 4 or a higher-temp fluid, check pad thickness (replace anything under half worn), and inspect discs for cracks radiating from the drilled holes. Tyres need at least 3mm of tread, no sidewall damage and a cold pressure set to the manufacturer's figure — re-check them cold after the first session, since heat raises pressures significantly.

• An accurate digital tyre pressure gauge and an infrared thermometer for checking tyre and brake temperatures
• A brake bleed kit, spare fluid, a spare set of pads and brake cleaner
• Cable ties, gaffer tape, jubilee clips, a tow eye and a fire extinguisher
• Top-up oil and coolant, plus a helmet if your circuit requires one

Check noise limits before booking — most UK circuits enforce a static limit between 95 and 105 dB. Torque your wheel nuts to spec cold before you leave and again before your first session, and re-check them cold at the end of the day.

What to Leave on the Shelf

An engine crane, a hydraulic press and a welder are brilliant if you're restoring a shell, but they take up a garage's worth of space for a job you'll do twice a decade — borrow or hire instead. Skip the cheap resistor "chips" that plug into the intake air temperature sensor; they fool the ECU into adding fuel and can leave you running lean. A proper remap on a rolling road costs more but is safer and more effective. And remember to declare any performance modifications to your insurer, since undeclared changes can void a policy and affect MOT emissions compliance.