Im about to be ready to start putting my motor together soon and i still need a few more tools, i was wanting to know if anyone has used harbor freight tools to rebuild a motor?? And if so what tools did you use??

Originally posted by rst_eclipse
Im about to be ready to start putting my motor together soon and i still need a few more tools, i was wanting to know if anyone has used harbor freight tools to rebuild a motor?? And if so what tools did you use??

I bought an engine stand $60iirc, and a digital torque wrench for about 40 dollars ...

Unless it's some kind of single-purpose specialty tool, their tools are fine. I have one of their cranes, an engine stand, compressor, etc... All are warrantied for life and I may have spent half of what I would have at Sears/HD/Lowes. If the tool is guaranteed for life, why would you bother paying the extra premium for just a name?

Edited for spelling.

Originally posted by Fallen4ng31
Unless it's some kind of single-purpose specialty tool, their tools are fine. I have one of their cranes, an engine stand, compressor, etc... All are warrantied for life and I may have spent half of what I would have at Sears/HD/Lowes. If the tool is guaranteed for life, why would you bother paying the extra premium for just a name? Edited for spelling.

This!

I would not rely on an HF torque wrench to torque my motor to spec... but that is your call.

Originally posted by CODE4
I would not rely on an HF torque wrench to torque my motor to spec... but that is your call.

Agreed. I have Craftsman inch and ftlbs torque wrenches that get sent off once a year for a recal.

Originally posted by teklein

Originally posted by CODE4 I would not rely on an HF torque wrench to torque my motor to spec... but that is your call.

Agreed. I have Craftsman inch and ftlbs torque wrenches that get sent off once a year for a recal.

how much was that Craftsman torque wrenche?

Originally posted by rst_eclipse

Originally posted by teklein

Originally posted by CODE4 I would not rely on an HF torque wrench to torque my motor to spec... but that is your call.

Agreed. I have Craftsman inch and ftlbs torque wrenches that get sent off once a year for a recal.

how much was that Craftsman torque wrenche?

I think like 160 for both.

Originally posted by rst_eclipse

Originally posted by teklein

Originally posted by CODE4 I would not rely on an HF torque wrench to torque my motor to spec... but that is your call.

Agreed. I have Craftsman inch and ftlbs torque wrenches that get sent off once a year for a recal.

how much was that Craftsman torque wrenche?

Go to.sears.com and check for yourself.

This is what im up against, should i just get a crate motor or build it yourself because by the time you get all the parts and all the right tools to put it together it would be about the same price!!

I think you're getting the wrong impression... We aren't trying to scare you off from the brand, I think all of us in this thread all own some kind of HF tools. But remember, it's a DISCOUNT tool store. If you want precision tools, you buy the more expensive stuff. (I personally wouldn't want to use one of their torque wrenches, either.) And there is no such thing as owning too many tools.

Originally posted by Fallen4ng31
I think you're getting the wrong impression... We aren't trying to scare you off from the brand, I think all of us in this thread all own some kind of HF tools. But remember, it's a DISCOUNT tool store. If you want precision tools, you buy the more expensive stuff. (I personally wouldn't want to use one of their torque wrenches, either.) And there is no such thing as owning too many tools.

I understand, I think I have a friend that has a maco torque wrenche I can use :)

Originally posted by rst_eclipse
This is what im up against, should i just get a crate motor or build it yourself because by the time you get all the parts and all the right tools to put it together it would be about the same price!!

Keep up the texting language and watch what happens. You have been warned about this already.

Originally posted by rst_eclipse
This is what im up against, should i just get a crate motor or build it yourself because by the time you get all the parts and all the right tools to put it together it would be about the same price!!

But its nice to have the tools for any future disassembly and reassembly which YOU WILL run into eventually. Mechanic shops are expensive. Buy the tools, learn something, and do work.

Anything that needs to be accurate I wouldn't buy. A torque wrench definitely get quality. My dad has MAC and Matco ones and they will , after time, be inaccurate and need recalibration. It happened on my head bolts. Just felt too tight on some and used a different one and clicked so do a favor and buy a good torque wrench. Also by brother bought a trailer from HF to tow his drag bike. Just reinforced it some more and it works great!

most of the tool you can get from there will be fine. just dont be suprised if you break something, especially a tool that gets alot of use. if you can i would get a "name brand" torque wrench. just not sure if i would trust the HF ones for rebuilding a motor.

I work at harbor Freight and most of the products we do sell work great, sometimes you will run in to a few bad tools that stopped working from shipping or manufacturing. some products doesn't last long and or just not good at all. hand tools are lifetime warranty and air tools and more have extended replacement plans that are actually worth the extra cost. Harbor freight is getting better and If i hear another person talk about how they are made from china, #### tools, or god damn china tools...said this guy that's shopping here telling me this while buying a Chinese made American flag...dude, i just work here and go ahead and call corporate on me because this product sucks because of china... lol.

I tried the 1/2 drive torque for my oil pan bolts last night and it does not work. It is now exclusively a huge 1/2 drive ratchet.

The torque wrenches from HF are hit and miss from what I understand. My brother happens to use HF ones and he's pretty happy with them for what he uses them for. He used to work on V8 camaros all the time, but it's been a while since the last time I saw him rebuild a motor and I don't remember if he used the same wrenches when he did or if he borrowed my Dad's Craftsman ones.

I did do a bit of reading about testing torque wrenches when I thought about buying a cheap set just to have something for general use. If you already have a cheap wrench and want to see if it's off, you can follow this guide to calibrating them yourself. I'd still recommend a professional calibration over the DIY method, but you can just use the bar and weight to check it and then send it in somewhere instead of fiddling with it yourself.

http://peterboston.hubpages.com/hub/torque-wrench-calibration

A more accurate way to test might be to use a digital torque adapter, like the guy in this link. That requires buying an extra tool though.

http://www.popularmechanics.com/cars/how-to/repair-questions/4345728

Bear in mind that a torque wrench is not evenly accurate across it's range. The closer to the center of it's range you are, the more accurate it is likely to be, so you will want to select a weight close to the center of its rating to test it. According to the article in the link below, the center 60% is fairly reliable for most wrenches.

I would suspect that the cheaper wrenches would lose accuracy at a higher rate as you deviate from the center than more expensive ones, though the ones at HF do claim to have roughly the same level of accuracy that Craftsman torque wrenches claim to have IIRC. Even if they are initially just as accurate though, I would also suspect that cheaper parts would cause them to lose calibration at a faster pace than higher quality tools. If you're paying to have the wrench re-calibrated, that could eat up the savings of buying a cheaper wrench pretty quickly. The article below also points out that you may have a hard time finding someone willing to calibrate them for you at all.

http://www.dirtrider.com/features/protips/141_1102_using_and_caring_for_a_torque_wrench/

My HF 1/2 torque wrench is ON POINT! i guess its hit or miss like the guy said..but i tested mine with my SnapOn digital torque wrench that was brand new. So some work, some dont. Thats why at HF you can return it if its broken lol

I always get in trouble if I go to harbor freight because I always want to buy something there if I need it or not. I'm sure I'm not the only one here with that problem.