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Originally Posted by R'elise Me
Can anyone advise or point me to a link with a list of must have tools for working on the Elise.
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Craftsman tools will be good enough for 99% of what you may need.
To work on the Elise, you need metric tools. Allen head (hex) tools are necessary for various fittings. A 1/4 inch socket set is handy as well as a 3/8 socket set. You probably won't need 1/2 inch drive tools for most things (maybe for suspension bolts, etc.).
A set of GearWrenches are worth their weight in gold. Highly recommended.
A set of screw drivers and a replaceable bit screw driver tool - some of the "Phillips head" screws on the Elise are actually Posidrive screws (the look like Phillips, but the angle of the tips is different).
A nice set of pliers (including needle nose) come in handy.
A floor jack and jack stands for lifting the car for "wheels off" work. RhinoRamps (around $30) to back the car up on for oil changes work just fine.
An oil filter wrench - either the proper cap style for the specific filter, or an adjustable filter wrench - are pretty much necessary for oil changes.
A nice "click type" torque wrench is handy for tightening various bolts (like the toe-link bolt in the rear). A 3/8 inch drive 10-80 foot pound version of so would be a good one to start with.
All of the above tools can be bought in various sets at your local Sears store when there is a sale going on. They typically have a 1/4 inch set on sale for $10-15 every couple of weekends. Same for 3/8, etc. Watch the ads and buy on sale. Screw driver set, etc. are also much cheaper on sale.
As for the need for metric and SAE tools, you only need metric tools for the Elise, but it's handy to have the SAE tools for around the house, etc. Often you can buy sets of tools with lots of sockets - deep and standard, metric and SAE, screw drivers, etc. - on sale for $100 or so. A good starter set, and handy to keep things in for hauling around, but they usually include 12 point and 6 point sockets, and in reality, you very seldom need the 12 point sockets.
If you are buying a roll around tool box, you might be just as happy buying individual sets - the one that you need that are on sale.