Hooniverse Asks: What Obsolete Automotive Tools do You Still Possess?

oil can
I pretty much never throw anything out. That’s why I still have hanging on my garage wall one of the original – and dented – wheel covers off of my first car, a 1961 Chevrolet Corvair. I replaced it with a solid citizen edition, and put the wounded soldier up on a nail. It’s followed me for years across four moves and a like number of garages.
The detritus of our hobby follows us like Pan’s Shadow, always lurking, almost never useful. Tools occasionally become obsolete too, owing simply to time marching on. Car radios once used vacuum tubes and a number of places – Thrifty Drug being a notable example – used to have testing kiosks for them. Both the tubes and the testers are long since gone.
Those of course didn’t take up room in your garage, but you might just have an oil can spout laying around, even though it’s been years since oil was sold in the once ubiquitous quart cans. Why do you still keep that lying around, and more importantly, what other antiquated tools are you also holding on to? What obsolete automotive tools do you still possess?
Image: Etsy

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48 responses to “Hooniverse Asks: What Obsolete Automotive Tools do You Still Possess?”

  1. Chris Tonn Avatar
    Chris Tonn

    I still have a Uni-Syn, though the only things in my garage with carbs are the mower and weed trimmer.

  2. P161911 Avatar
    P161911

    Not strictly automotive, but I have one of these these that I inherited: http://www.tias.com/stores/minnesotasfinest/pictures/fla-13a.jpg
    A torch heated soldering iron.
    I still have a timing light (and one car old enough to need it).
    I still have the tool to take apart 1973-1991 GM/Warn 4WD front hubs. I haven’t owned a GM 4WD in over 7 years. But I might again someday.

    1. smalleyxb122 Avatar
      smalleyxb122

      I never really thought of a timing light as obsolete, but I guess for many, it is. Of my cars, only one is distributorless, so my timing light isn’t obsolete just yet.

      1. P161911 Avatar
        P161911

        That would be a good trivia question, “when was the last new car with a distributor sold?” My non-running ’77 Corvette needs the timing light, the other three don’t.

        1. mzszsm Avatar
          mzszsm

          My ’98 Volvo still had a distributor, that must be getting on.

        2. Fuhrman16 Avatar
          Fuhrman16

          That is an interesting question. I know Chrysler used distributors until ’03-04, when the Magnum series V8 was discontinued.

    2. GTXcellent Avatar
      GTXcellent

      So that’s what it’s used for!

  3. GTXcellent Avatar
    GTXcellent

    My Grandfather was a mechanic and service station owner back in the ’50s and early ’60s. Sadly, he died before I was even born. However, a vast majority of his tools still sat in my Grandmother’s garage – when she died 3 years ago, I was the lucky heir. I now have a LOT of really cool, obsolete tools (and a lot of very old, but still very useful tools).
    There’s an old vacuum tester, a stethoscope, a really cool axle/hub puller that utilizes a slide hammer, and a bunch of stuff that I frankly have no idea what it’s for.

    1. P161911 Avatar
      P161911

      I was fortunate enough to inherit tools from two grandfathers. I got all the tools from the first one. It was probably easier to go through the 1977 Craftsman tool catalog and circle what he didn’t have than what he did have. He was a certified GM mechanic in the mid 1940s, after he got out of the Seabees, an appliance repair man for the local electric utility in the 1950s, and finally an attorney (but part time tinkerer/jack of all trades). The other grandfather was a mechanic at the Lockheed plant and part time farmer, I probably got 40% of his tools. There aren’t many hand tools that I’m missing, but I don’t have too many matching sets of anything.

    2. longrooffan Avatar
      longrooffan

      Send some images our way and we’ll see what we can do to get those identified. Rob would have a field day with this.

      1. Sjalabais Avatar
        Sjalabais

        Werkzeug Wednesday?
        (The two t’s are used up…)

        1. Vairship Avatar
          Vairship

          Machine Mittwoch

  4. Frank T. Cat Avatar
    Frank T. Cat

    I don’t have much of any obsolete automotive tools, outside of my timing light. I DO have some really old interesting tools meant for working on silk spinning machines… for a silk mill that burnt down in 1977. Most of the tools date back to the late 1800’s, early 1900’s, from when my great-grandfather bought or outright made them himself to work in the mill. Nobody is left alive that worked with my great-grandfather and grandfather at the mill to let me know what half of them do, but I know what all the pipe wrenches are for. 🙂

    1. Frank T. Cat Avatar
      Frank T. Cat

      Here’s a postcard of the mill, circa 1925, that I found (and subsequently bought) on Etsy:

  5. PotbellyJoe★★★★★ Avatar
    PotbellyJoe★★★★★
  6. Bozi Avatar

    I still have some OBDI Testers that roll around the box that I haven’t used in ages

  7. smalleyxb122 Avatar
    smalleyxb122

    I have one of these. My truck is OBD1, so the key has a function for me, but it can be rendered obsolete with a paperclip.
    http://thumbs1.picclick.com/d/l400/pict/221674450740_/AUTO-ZONE-AUTOZONE-GM-CODE-KEY-VINTAGE-EPRO.jpg
    http://www.blogcdn.com/www.engadget.com/media/2007/07/macgyver-multitool.jpg

  8. Windbüchse Avatar
    Windbüchse

    The drawer of obsolescence…

  9. dukeisduke Avatar
    dukeisduke

    I have one of those spouts, a fancy chrome one with a plate around the base, with a foam gasket. I remember when I first saw plastic oil bottles. I thought, “An oil container, made out of oil? That’s stupid.”

    1. irishzombieman Avatar
      irishzombieman

      I’ve got one too, sits in the top of my rollaway. Friends my own age ask me what it is.

        1. irishzombieman Avatar
          irishzombieman

          Ha! Nice!

  10. SlowJoeCrow Avatar
    SlowJoeCrow

    Ignition dwell meter/tachometer for setting up breaker point ignitions, plus a timing light, a vacuum gauge and some special tools. I have a dummy centrifugal advance shaft for setting points on BMW Airheads and some circa 1980 VW valve clearance and timing belt tools. Also a breaker point file, which is very useful for filing small flat things.
    I should have a carb synch tool, but I’ve never gotten around to buying one.
    Also 2 oil can spouts, one with a built in plastic funnel.

  11. dukeisduke Avatar
    dukeisduke

    I also have a Sears Penske timing light and carrying case, like this one:
    http://thumbs4.picclick.com/d/l400/pict/291456115239_/VINTAGE-SEARS-PENSKE-DC-INDUCTIVE-TIMING-LIGHT-2442138.jpg
    and Sears Penske ignition analyzer:
    http://thumbs1.ebaystatic.com/d/l225/m/mVHQeA_-WC8jhAgifqbhaXg.jpg
    Two of the first tools I ever bought, in 1978, along with a Craftsman 3/8″ drive socket set, and a Craftsman beam type torque wrench. I hated the way the dealer adjusted the timing and idle on my ’75 Vega (it pinged, and the engine would stall at idle when the a/c was on), so I bought tools and a Haynes manual, and set them myself.

  12. mve Avatar
    mve

    For most drivers today, any automotive tool is obsolete, n’est-ce pas?

  13. Joe Btfsplk Avatar
    Joe Btfsplk

    I have a headlight adjustment kit that allows the setting of sealed beams with a system of suction cup, mirrors and viewers to properly set headlamps. When was the last time you had your headlights adjusted?

    1. smalleyxb122 Avatar
      smalleyxb122

      How many people even know that’s what the little nubs on the lens are used for?

    2. Frank T. Cat Avatar
      Frank T. Cat

      A lot of halogen setups still used those adjustment kits with the alignment bumps on the lenses, up until the mid to late 90’s, when OEMs started putting bubble levels in the headlight housings.

    3. salguod Avatar

      Since my daughters have a habit of running into things, I’ve had to figure out how to aim headlights.

  14. irishzombieman Avatar
    irishzombieman

    When I bought a ’74 Ford F250, I had to buy a 3-13/16″ 8-point socket to get into the rear brake drums.
    Available for ~$25 on Amazon now, in pre-internet days I had to buy it a Napa for something like $90.

    View post on imgur.com

  15. irishzombieman Avatar
    irishzombieman

    When I bought a ’74 Ford F250, I had to buy a 3-13/16″ 8-point socket to get into the rear brake drums.
    Available for ~$25 on Amazon now, in pre-internet days I had to buy it a Napa for something like $90.

    1. irishzombieman Avatar
      irishzombieman

      Disqus hates me today.

      View post on imgur.com

      1. dukeisduke Avatar
        dukeisduke

        Oh yeah! I remember seeing those, usually hanging on the Cal-Van tools rack in the parts store.

  16. engineerd Avatar
    engineerd

    I still have an OBD code reader from when I had my ’87 Crown Vic wagon. I haven’t had an OBD vehicle in 14 years what with that newfangled OBD II and CAN protocols.

    1. mve Avatar
      mve

      I’ll take it off your hands. My 92 F-150 is OBD I.

      1. engineerd Avatar
        engineerd

        Let me dig it out his weekend.

  17. HycoSpeed Avatar
    HycoSpeed

    I too have a timing light, and no oil can spout, but I do have an unopened can of Valvoline that such a spout would be right handy for, but likely my obsoletest tool would be a set of Model T transmission band wrenches:
    https://www.modeltford.com/i/c/474129l.jpg

  18. Ted Avatar
    Ted

    I have a more or less complete set of Whitworth stamped steel sockets. Despite not owning a Whitworth car, I still use them fairly regularly for adapters and such.

    1. GTXcellent Avatar
      GTXcellent

      Follow up question could be what obsolete tool do you have that you use for other purposes – much like your Whitworth sockets?
      Another of my ‘fore mentioned old tools is a big valve spring compressor like this one. I’ve never used it for it’s intended purpose, but it has become one of my handiest tools for all sorts of clamping needs.
      http://i.ebayimg.com/00/s/MTYwMFgxMzY0/z/RaoAAOSw8d9UseZY/$_35.JPG

  19. JayP Avatar
    JayP

    Uniden RD9XL – Still in my toolbox, haven’t used in 20-25 years,
    http://s.ecrater.com/stores/339047/549cea7d44725_339047b.jpg

  20. Alff Avatar
    Alff

    None of my automotive tools are obsolete.

  21. Batshitbox Avatar
    Batshitbox

    Are beam-type torque wrenches out of style these days?

    1. P161911 Avatar
      P161911

      I hope not. My click type wrench stops at about 80 ft. lbs., so I have to dig out the beam type for other applications.

    2. Tiller188 Avatar
      Tiller188

      Not to me — I very much like having a reasonably-accurate torque wrench that’s cheap and dirt-simple enough to toss under my trunk liner with the spare, so if ever I need the spare I don’t have to just whale on the tar arn and hope for the best.

    3. salguod Avatar

      It’s the only one I have.

  22. Guest Avatar
    Guest

    Not quite automotive, but we have a manual drill press in one of our sheds. Actually that shed itself might qualify. It’s a garage (with manual, wooden, barn style doors) built before my family moved onto the farm, (they bought the place in the 50s).

    Just recently I found a bunch of signatures and ages on the back door. My dad only recognized one name, written when the author was ten. That same author is now in his eighties.

  23. zsvdkhnorc Avatar
    zsvdkhnorc

    At first I was going to go with my Silver Beauty armature tester. Then I realized that I have something that I actually have never used, and don’t expect to ever use.
    I have a tool used for testing individual plates in a battery. It has a wooden handle. From this extend two forks, with a probe on one and two probes on the other. Mounted between the probes is a voltmeter that reads + and – 0-2 VDC.
    When was the last time you saw an end-user rebuildable lead-acid battery?

  24. Cool_Cadillac_Cat Avatar
    Cool_Cadillac_Cat

    Oh, I have a full set of tach/dwell meters, a timing light, and the like, though I stopped carrying this about 17 years ago:
    https://cephalopodprods.files.wordpress.com/2010/01/matchbooks.jpg
    They’re more accurate when the cover is worn a bit, but a matchbook cover is the near-perfect points gap measuring tool when you’re in the field, and can’t do it by ear/feel.
    Here’s another, though I have the new version, too:
    http://www.bennettsupply.net/cart/gaugesr12.jpg
    “Obsolete” is relative, however. I fully expect to again own a car with points and which has an R-12 A/C system*.
    Pro-tip: An excellent R-12 substitute is camping stove propane. Mineral oil is the lubricant, which you can get at the drug store. Fill a line with it, and that’s likely enough for a depleted system.
    No, it doesn’t explode if you crash. BTDT.
    Also, if you put about 3/4 of an ounce of mineral oil in your non-“sealed” battery, it keeps the terminals from corroding. Yeah, I know, sounds bogus…I’ve been doing it for 15 years, and it really does work.