Nayab

Let me start off by saying anything homemade is sweet!

I cam across HMT a while I was searching on Google on how to make a "homemade cold air intake" this was before Fast and the Furious 2 , ever since i found HMT i got hooked on Turbos. I only had one freind at school who knew what a turbo was, and in our senior years me and him decided on boosting our rides. I had a 98 Vtec JDM civic and he had a 2000 corolla diesel( he then got a 95 JDM civic). As i was about to to start making my kit my father passed away and that changed alot of things. My freind boosted and is currently running 10 psi with a fully built engine ( b16b i think) and running 100 shots of n2o...he puts down about 345 whp with nos and 245 ish without. whats wierd is that with each shot of nos he gains 1 WHP...

Anyways ive decided to go for engineering, most probally Mechanical. Ill probally be transferring to GA tech in 2 semesters. All because of HMT.

That is just a brief description of my life and goals and had a small favour to ask from you HMTers.

Ive decided that i need some actual work time or "wrench time" as you may put it to help me in my field. Ive always been keen on working on cars but never really got the chance to do so. So what ive decided to do is start by tuning up my cars at home myself, by that i mean changing spark plugs, changing oil and all the filters, just you know the basic stuff to give me some hands on exp. I have read MAximum boost by corky bell and one of those Dummy books, but thats all Hypothetical until i actually get my hands dirty.

So i want to know is that what should i buy from Autozone to get me started? This is what i think i should get:

1) that belt type wrench for wrapping around the oil filter (anyone know the name?)
2) a portable 10 L oil drain pan (so when i drain the car i can go take the oil to my nearest oil change shop so they can dispose of it)
3) those rolling carts so i can slide under the car :P
4) maybe a basic wrench combo kit or something they sell at auto zone
5) WD-40
6) Grease, but whaat type?

ANy input would be nice. I gues smy budget would be around 150 bucks (and i probally could do without the cart)

90dx

You need a strap wrench or a oil filter wrench and get a basic $99 tool set and you should be good to go.Download the manual for whatever model of Civic you have from the Hybird tech section on here.Buy a good jack and some jack stands too.

Nayab

I forgot to mention i had that Car when i was back in Pakistan.

im currently living in Atlanta and own a 2003 civic lx and a 4runner 98.

what should i be looking for in the basic toolset? wrench, sockets, screwdrivers? that sort of stuff?

salesmonkey

omfg, you have a turbo jdm mad vtec civic but you no nothing about cars? so that means you didnt put the turbo on your car or help your friend out. i guess it would be your friend with the turbo and nos sence you said nothing about yours besides it being jdm (lol). but ya kinda hard if you dont have much money because changing parts will get expensive. but start off with a basic tool set, jack, jack stands. and read threw the faq/sticky threads on h-t and here. make sure you have a extension and your mm go to at least 21. that will help you get started. have a couple deep sockets and screwdrivers

Tough-guy

That's called a creeper.

igotnothin

but the 100 or the 150 pice set, and you will be good. you will have to buy a few indaviual sockets depending on how far you go on working on your own car, you dont need the rolly cart thing and a 2.5 or 3 ton jack with stands is all you need to get started.

Nayab

Oh believe me ive read through almost every topic on HMT since 2005ish , i just dont post much. I had the jdm civic in another country and WAS about to turbo it. I moved back to the US when my freind went turbo, therefore i couldnt help him with it. But i did help him pick out his parts and figure what was best for his civic (he also got some professional advice which led him to get ripped off).

I wont go turbo with my current civic (its an auto) . Its a family car and only me and my bro can drive stick shifts. I know the basics, i know the basics of engines (internal parts).

How many stands should i get? 4 or 2? I do have a toyota 4 runner so would a 2.5 ton jack support that?

Also should a beginner like me practice on changing disc brake pads? or should i leave that to a pro?

GenLx

you only need 2 stands. and as to the jack, your 4runner weighs 2tons, so a 2.5 should be fine.

practice on anything you can but, have the cash backup anyways cuz you're likely to dick it up.

its always better to buy a cheap *** car, old crx or something of the like, and screw around with that to figure out what works what doesnt and why you're dumb and how to not be dumb the next time

Nayab

i have cash as a back up, but if i make a small mistake on anything i wont hear the end of it for a while cuz everyone likes to bitch around in my house if i make a screw up. But i can always counter balaknce the bitching with "at leasts its free"

i was thinking about buying a 2nd hand diesel and using that as a vegatable oil run car. sinc ei live near a checkers and burger king i could make a deal with them them and stop by every week for oil and filter it out at home.

i have a 2 car grage with alot of space and could probally setup 2 45L barrels for siphoning and filtering, but thats a whole other story.

90dx

Buy a electric impact gun [1/2"] and some impact sockets for suspension work as well as a good size ball pein hammer.