Laidback, dont buy one. I have one and you can have first refusal on it.

I use various makes from top notch to cheapo throw away...(5 quid JCB screwdriver set from Makro had a flexi screwdriver in it which allowwed me to do a dis pck change in 30 mins!).

The Halfords stuff is good but, I find the spanners pretty crap...the shafts are very narrow adn realy dig into your hand hard when you apply some force.

Snap on is very over rated, I have some but find the Stathwille stuff much better, Mac tools stuff is pretty average.

I have quite a bit of the machine mart clarke pro range (draper professional) which has been good so far (there ratchetless spanners are very good!).

Machine mart stuff is OK for somethings, but I spent thousands in there last year on my Engineering workshops. They do a metalworker bansaw, which is frankly awful. Their mini lathe tollerances are dire, and as for their ratchet spanners, utter crap. That said, some things are really good. Their trolley jack range is superb, 6 tonne axle stands give enough height to change a gearbox and various other things like their mig welders are good quality, especially the 135TE.

I bought Draper ratchets spanners, Laser crows feet, and the good old JCB 6 miilion peice screwdriver set Mark refers to (£4.99).

And, he is lying when he said 30 minutes to change the dis pack. He did this in about 15 minutes. Laidback and I watched in amazement. The best bit was how he got the dis pack out without even removing the plenum, never mind the inlet manifold I usually end up shifting forward for space.

I agree with Mark about Snap-on. They are are super quality, but they are very over rated IMO. If you would the ultimate in quality, and at a reasonable price, buy from RS Components.

The Halfords £150 set is a good 'all round' kit and will enebale you to do just about any job on the Omega.

i think we would all like Snapon - its just a money thing. if you want to give any of it away!!!

I have the halfords set and I totally agree, top value for the money, even at £150, although I paid £99 like most others.

Invest in a good leather belt - they do work on oil filter removal and you can use this 'tool' for the other 364 days of the year!

difference size moley's are handy to have in stock, and lots of 13 spanners

what I tend to do is every time in halfords or clarkes, just buy another spanner or something on offer - you dont feel it as much on the pocket and you soon build up a collection

bernie400

Marks DTM Calib wrote on 17. Jul 2006 at 17:06:

ah yes, good point .... got my 30mm offset spanner (for setting up the timing belt) from there ... I seem to remember you pointing me in that direction when I asked!

halford professional 150 piece socket set with ratchet spanners

possible stock code (under address on back of sleeve) is 370635 ... failing that, bar code is 5 015025 370637

You will also need various tw*tometers (hamers) to bruise your hands and fingers with .