as a little aside to my model A, ive been piecing together a vintage/period correct(ish) toolkit for it. I'm aiming kinda late '50s time for it.
it started a long while ago with the chance purchase of this toolbox at the tip, for whole whole english pound!!
got patina?
its a lovely little thing with an internal cantilever drawer, and the construction of it gives it away as military issue, although i cant find a date on it (i havent looked too hard though as i don't want to scrape any of the layers of paint off). i cut some thin textured rubber mat i found (thats suitably used/aged too) to line the base and drawer, and the whole thing is liberally rubbed down with machine oil for that aged look.
open it up, and look what ive got inside so far-
a few bits and bobs, by no leans a full toolkit yet, mostly unchromed '40s stuff. highlights include-
ive not dated this yet. gotta be pretty old though!
a car boot bargain. 8quid!! my local snap-on dealers eyes nearly popped out of his head when he saw it, and he offered me two brand new current range 1/2" drive ratchets for it! suffice to say i declined his offer its late forties/early fifties, and unsuprisingly works perfectly.
i picked up this nice little enots oil can at an antique centre a few months back, well worth the tenner i paid i think. id say its slightly later than the other items, but its a really nice bit of kit so I'm including it anyway. its mostly chrome on brass construction, and i got laughed at for going on about 'what a lovely action it has'. but its true, it has!
youll notice most of the tools here arent chromed. this usually signifies its wartime military issue, to save money on the production, as the harsh truth is a lot of these tools wouldnt have had a very long service life, for obvious reasons...... and they're exactly the tools most hotrodders in the '50s would be using, either their own issue toolkits they had when they were sent home, or stuff bought cheaply form military surplus outlets.
that what this funny little arrow on this pair of elliot-lucas pliers means, and the date gives it away-
sometimes its a bit more obvious though, this time on a britool half-inch socket extension bar-
but, theres a star to this collection. youd think it would be the snap-on ratchet, but oh no! its too big to go in the box, but will sit alongside it very nicely.
check this out-
its a super cool manual jack. any landy owner with a hi-lift will be familiar with its operation. flick the little lever for up or down, and lift it or drop it a notch at a time.
extended-
notice the top is curved to fit it straight under a solid rear axle, and the tab on the front that can be lifted up and down the notches to take up the slack before lifting is shaped to fit a beam axle- thats cos thats all there was back then! the tab has been broken and rewelded at some time, but its repaired well so ile leave it as is. it certainly works better than a trolley jack for lifting my model A up.
I'm not too sure on the age of it, but the patents on the brass ID plate range from 1900-1920!!
now this is by no means a full toolkit yet, i need a lot more sockets and spanners as ive only got a few and not all the sizes i need to take everything on the car apart, and i need some screwdrivers too. I'm after ally handled ones rather than wood, but they're elluding me so far. I'm also going to cut down a hammer shaft to fit into the box, as well as put together a little naafi tin of allen keys, nuts, bolts, screws, etc. ive also got a little push-action brass grease gun somewhere to go in too, but i cant find it at the moment, same goes for my wooden handled adjustable wrenches.
so is there any other collectors of similar stuff on here, and does anyone have anything similar tools for sale or trade to get my kit up to a more complete state?
it started a long while ago with the chance purchase of this toolbox at the tip, for whole whole english pound!!
got patina?
its a lovely little thing with an internal cantilever drawer, and the construction of it gives it away as military issue, although i cant find a date on it (i havent looked too hard though as i don't want to scrape any of the layers of paint off). i cut some thin textured rubber mat i found (thats suitably used/aged too) to line the base and drawer, and the whole thing is liberally rubbed down with machine oil for that aged look.
open it up, and look what ive got inside so far-
a few bits and bobs, by no leans a full toolkit yet, mostly unchromed '40s stuff. highlights include-
ive not dated this yet. gotta be pretty old though!
a car boot bargain. 8quid!! my local snap-on dealers eyes nearly popped out of his head when he saw it, and he offered me two brand new current range 1/2" drive ratchets for it! suffice to say i declined his offer
its late forties/early fifties, and unsuprisingly works perfectly.i picked up this nice little enots oil can at an antique centre a few months back, well worth the tenner i paid i think. id say its slightly later than the other items, but its a really nice bit of kit so I'm including it anyway. its mostly chrome on brass construction, and i got laughed at for going on about 'what a lovely action it has'. but its true, it has!
youll notice most of the tools here arent chromed. this usually signifies its wartime military issue, to save money on the production, as the harsh truth is a lot of these tools wouldnt have had a very long service life, for obvious reasons...... and they're exactly the tools most hotrodders in the '50s would be using, either their own issue toolkits they had when they were sent home, or stuff bought cheaply form military surplus outlets.
that what this funny little arrow on this pair of elliot-lucas pliers means, and the date gives it away-
sometimes its a bit more obvious though, this time on a britool half-inch socket extension bar-
but, theres a star to this collection. youd think it would be the snap-on ratchet, but oh no! its too big to go in the box, but will sit alongside it very nicely.
check this out-
its a super cool manual jack. any landy owner with a hi-lift will be familiar with its operation. flick the little lever for up or down, and lift it or drop it a notch at a time.
extended-
notice the top is curved to fit it straight under a solid rear axle, and the tab on the front that can be lifted up and down the notches to take up the slack before lifting is shaped to fit a beam axle- thats cos thats all there was back then! the tab has been broken and rewelded at some time, but its repaired well so ile leave it as is. it certainly works better than a trolley jack for lifting my model A up.
I'm not too sure on the age of it, but the patents on the brass ID plate range from 1900-1920!!
now this is by no means a full toolkit yet, i need a lot more sockets and spanners as ive only got a few and not all the sizes i need to take everything on the car apart, and i need some screwdrivers too. I'm after ally handled ones rather than wood, but they're elluding me so far. I'm also going to cut down a hammer shaft to fit into the box, as well as put together a little naafi tin of allen keys, nuts, bolts, screws, etc. ive also got a little push-action brass grease gun somewhere to go in too, but i cant find it at the moment, same goes for my wooden handled adjustable wrenches.
so is there any other collectors of similar stuff on here, and does anyone have anything similar tools for sale or trade to get my kit up to a more complete state?
