The Workshop Tools section covers the general-purpose specialist tools that make classic-MG work easier and more accurate, the items that fall outside the dedicated brake, clutch, wheel and trim tool sections but that come up across the broader range of service and restoration work. Quality tools make the work go better, last longer than budget alternatives, and produce results that show in the finished job.
Torque Wrenches
A torque wrench is the single most important tool for any owner working on engine, transmission or suspension fasteners. Cylinder-head bolts, conrod and main-bearing caps, flywheel bolts, brake-caliper bolts, wheel nuts, all are specified to torque values in the workshop manual, and getting them right matters. Under-torqued fasteners come loose and cause failure; over-torqued fasteners stretch, strip threads, or distort the components they hold. The range covers torque wrenches in the inch-pound and foot-pound ranges needed across classic-MG work, typically a small wrench for the 5 to 25 foot-pound work (small bolts, brake components) and a larger wrench for the 25 to 100 foot-pound work (cylinder-head bolts, conrod caps, wheel nuts).
Click-type wrenches are the workshop standard for repeatable accuracy.
Valve-Spring Compressors and Engine Specialist Tools
Valve-spring compressors are essential for any cylinder-head work, removing the valve collets and springs from a head for valve regrind, new valve guides, or a Stage II conversion. The compressor pattern needs to suit the head being worked on; the A-Series, B-Series and C-Series cylinder heads each have specific compressor styles that fit cleanly without damaging the spring retainer or scratching the head surface. The wider engine specialist range covers piston-ring compressors for fitting pistons during an engine rebuild, valve-stem seal pliers, oil-pump priming tools, and the cylinder-leakdown testers used to diagnose head-gasket and valve-seating issues without dismantling the engine.
Period Fastener Spanners and General Tools
BMC and British Leyland production used a mix of UNF and Whitworth fasteners through the classic-MG era, and the head sizes don't always match the metric or AF spanner sets that most modern toolboxes are equipped with. The specialist spanner range covers the Whitworth and BSF sizes that come up on the earliest cars, the AF sizes used through the bulk of the production run, and the metric sizes that appear on the later cars and conversions. Copper hammers (for releasing stuck splines without damage), gasket scrapers (for removing aged paper and cork gaskets without scoring the mating surfaces), magnetic dishes (for keeping dropped bolts off the floor) and the various other small tools complete the workshop range, each modest in cost, each substantially improving the work.