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Racing Tools - Toys In The ShopWith The Holidays Around The Corner, We Take A Look At Some Must-Have Tools And Toys For Your Race Shop From the February, 2011 issue of Circle Track By Bobby Clark Photography by Bobby Clark
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With some good planning and... With some good planning and attention to the layout you can fit a lot of race shop into a small space. It's almost that time of year again. The racing season is over, kids are making Christmas lists, and Moms and Dads around the country are wondering what to get each other for the holidays. Well, we decided to give all of you a little help in deciding what to spend your hard earned money on this holiday season to make next year's racing season that much more enjoyable. Ignoring the obvious items that would make your car go faster, we decided to focus on some tools that would make your life a little easier. Here's the idea. If you can save time and hassles in the shop then your work on the car will go smoother and faster. That in turn will make everybody happier. Readers of this magazine will recall that Project DLM was housed in a good sized race shop. That shop, while spacious, wasn't convenient for the team or the CT staff. So we downsized our shop, although that '90s buzz word "right-sized" might be more appropriate. As you'll see in the following pictures, the new shop is smaller and divided into two separate rooms. One houses the car and all of the components for it while the other is a tool room specifically for keeping all of our tools under lock and key. In the unlikely event of a break-in we should be able to minimize our losses by having the tools and car in two separate rooms. In addition to the layout of the shop we also found an unlikely place to find some really cool tools and storage options-Lowe's Home Improvement Warehouse. That's right the big blue sponsor of NASCAR's Jimme Johnson actually turned out to be a great place to find some exceptional deals on high-quality tools. Check out the sidebar for a cost breakdown and more details on racer-specific tools from Lowes.  A variety of AFCO, Longacre,...  A variety of AFCO, Longacre, and AllStar Performance products hang on simple pegboard. Everything on this wall is directly related to suspension and by keeping it organized, needed chassis components are always right at our fingertips.  This wall is specifically...  This wall is specifically for engine and driveline components. Our Rockwell Jawhorse, one of the most useful tools in our shop, sits right in front of a new race seat. Available from Rockwell for $179, this tool is worth its weight in gold for fabricating, welding, and other projects where you need an extra set of hands.  If you refer back to the lead...  If you refer back to the lead image in this story, you can see a door directly over the rear of the race car. Through that door is our tool room. All of the hand, impact, and cordless tools are kept in this room, which is in the center of the shop. The door can be locked by a keyed deadbolt. By separating the tools from the race car's components we enhance security.  The drawers on our new rolling...  The drawers on our new rolling Kobalt Tool Chest are wide and deep allowing us to neatly store a full set of 1/2-inch drive metric and SAE impact sockets, a full set of 3/8-inch drive metric and SAE impacts, along with 10 different pliers and wrenches. Check out the sidebar for some more information on the toys in our toolbox.  The workbench to the right...  The workbench to the right of the toolbox was specially built to be high enough to allow us to work on a variety of parts while standing up. It also doubles as a charging stand area for our set of Ingersoll Rand, IQ Series cordless tools, which include the cutting wheel, flashlight, and impact wrench. At the same time, it has plenty of storage underneath for items such as a pressure washer, which you can see in the photo on this page.  The wheels on the right side...  The wheels on the right side of the toolbox are both swivel and locking. We chose this toolbox because it is the perfect size for the shop or at the track. The heavy-duty construction of the wheels allows us to roll it on and off the trailer with ease. The locking wheels along with one ratchet strap keep it put while under way.  This quite possibly could...  This quite possibly could be the coolest thing about this toolbox, a combination AM/FM radio/CD/MP3 player. It even has a remote control which you can see next to the work gloves. Two speakers will keep the tunes cranking while you pull those all-nighters before that big race.  The 154-piece Kobalt Mechanics...  The 154-piece Kobalt Mechanics Tool Set from Lowe's has just about everything any racer-from four-cylinder to Sprint Cup-would need to get the car prepped for the race. It has 1/4-, 3/8-, and 1/2-inch drive sockets, three quick-change ratchets, 22 deep sockets, 23 Torx and hex bit sockets, and more for only $149.  Ingersoll Rand makes the Garage...  Ingersoll Rand makes the Garage Mate portable air compressor and we think it's perfectly suited for the racer's shop. Granted, air can be a luxury for some racers, particularly those on a budget. However at less than $500, the Garage Mate puts air in reach. It features a cast-iron, oil-lubricated pump and is belt-driven for quiet operation (75-80dBA). With pneumatic tires, it can easily be wheeled around the shop and onto the race trailer to take to the track. It's equipped with a pressure switch, pressure gauge, regulator, safety valve, manual drain and six-foot power cord.  Our Hammerhead Impactool from...  Our Hammerhead Impactool from IR gets some good use removing a rusted nut from the upper control arm on this future Street Stock. Check out page 92 of the Nov. '10 issue for a closer look at the Hammerhead.  Our Garage Mate runs our air...  Our Garage Mate runs our air rivet gun without a hiccup. If you race any car that uses sheetmetal panels held on by rivets, you owe it to yourself to have an air-powered rivet gun in your shop.  Ingersoll Rand also manufactures...  Ingersoll Rand also manufactures an air die grinder that makes super fast work of any prep work you might need to tackle in the shop. You may not think that this is a necessary tool for a racer but we're going to put it to the acid test on that Street Stock we're currently disassembling with the Hammerhead.  Portable air tank. Need we...  Portable air tank. Need we say more? If you don't have one, invest in one. You'll be glad you did. Ours is from Longacre.  We ran across Race Ramps some...  We ran across Race Ramps some time ago, but this is one of its newer products. The all-composite, ultra-light weight scale ramps are specifically designed to work with race car scales such as these from Longacre. Heavy-duty construction along with a super grippy surface make it a piece of cake to load a car onto the scales. Best of all, their lack of weight means even the kids can help position them when scaling your car. What better way to get the youth involved in racing?  Cordless impact wrenches are...  Cordless impact wrenches are invaluable in the shop and at the track, whether you choose the one from Longacre (shown here), Ingersoll Rand, or another brand, they truly make changing tires, shocks, and other components a snap.  This is still one of our favorite...  This is still one of our favorite pieces of race shop equipment, the AllStar Performance Tire Prep Stand is shear design genius. When it's time to groove and sipe those tires, you simply mount the wheel onto the stand horizontally, securing it with lugnuts. Then rotate it to the vertical position, using just one hand.  Within a minute, the tire...  Within a minute, the tire is ready for siping, grooving and grinding.  Depending upon what you run,...  Depending upon what you run, you may need a set of these babies as well. Our AN wrenches from Earls rest comfortably in the padded non-skid drawer of the Kobalt Tool Chest.  No self-respecting racer would...  No self-respecting racer would be caught dead without one of these oil filter cutters from Longacre. You can tell a lot about how your engine is performing by cutting open your oil filter and investigating its contents. This specially designed tool virtually eliminates metal shavings resulting from cutting the casing from contaminating the contents of the filter.  The air-powered Ingersoll-Rand...  The air-powered Ingersoll-Rand Model 4429 Heavy Duty Reciprocating Saw can handle all sorts of demanding cutting jobs around the shop.  Ingersoll-Rand's IQ Series...  Ingersoll-Rand's IQ Series of cordless tools offers the convenience of interchangable batteries. Pictured here are the Cordless Cut-Off Tool, which is part of a kit, and the Cordless Task Light which is the brightest cordless we've seen and the Cordless Impact Wrench.  The 1/2-inch Drive, 19.2 Volt...  The 1/2-inch Drive, 19.2 Volt Cordless Impact Wrench comes complete with a spare battery and a charging stand. This is how the Kobalt six... This is how the Kobalt six drawer tool chest comes packaged. The bottom six-drawer cabinet comes packaged the same way. All told, it took about 15 minutes to set the combination up.
Lowe's Home Improvement Warehouse might not be the first place you'd think of to buy tools for your race car but when given the chance to scour its Tool World for tools for the racer, we jumped at the opportunity. The very first item that caught our eye was the new blue powdercoated 12-drawer toolchest. The chest is actually two six-drawer chests, sold separately and stacked one on top of the other. For $1,000, this chest looks, feels, and performs like one of those professional sets from a mobile tool company. We thought long and hard about using that headline, Poor Man's War Wagon, because we didn't want to give the impression that this box was anything other than totally awesome. However, when Sprint Cup teams are spending upwards of the cost of a top-of-the-line Cadillac for a war wagon tool chest, $1,000 is a bargain. The top and bottom are sold separately at $499 each, so you can buy the bottom and add the top later if your budget doesn't permit doing both at once. Plus, Lowe's also offers no payment/no interest purchase options for people who hold a Lowe's Credit Card. We also found a host of tools in the Tool World that would fit perfectly inside the chest. These are basic tools that every racer should have. In some cases we chose tools that perform multiple functions or tool sets in order to show that you can buy tools on a budget: The racer's ultimate present... The racer's ultimate present for his or her shop. • 12-piece screwdriver set (6 slotted, 6 phillips): $29.98
• 9-piece 3/8-inch impact sockets SAE: $34.96
• 9-piece 3/8-inch impact sockets metric: $34.96
• 8-piece 1/2-inch impact sockets SAE: $39.96
• 10-piece 1/2-inch impact sockets metric: $47.96
• 7-piece locking flex heavy-duty ratcheting wrenches metric and SAE: $69.97
• 154-piece mechanics tool set including 1/4-, 3/8-, and 1/2-inch drives with three quick-change ratchets, 22 deep sockets, and 23 Torx and hex bit sockets: $149
• 10 pliers and wrench set, chrome nickel steel pliers, plus chrome vanadium steel locking pliers and adjustable wrench: $39.98 Totaling the individual costs of the items above we come to a total retail price for everything you see (including the Tool Chest) of $1,444.77.
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