# The old socket set **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [August 4, 2019, 7:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-old-socket-set/838188 "2019-08-04T19:07:45Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 19\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2019, 5:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-old-socket-set/838188/21 "2019-08-06T17:23:37Z")
I’ve just ordered an SAE one, in a dark green box for $8 (plus $8 shipping). It has the original sticker inside; so I’ll just get the rust off, and paint, the outside. It should be just the thing for working on the MGB. ---
**Author:** ![california\_jobcase](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9d8465/32.png) [@california\_jobcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/california_jobcase)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2019, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-old-socket-set/838188/22 "2019-08-06T17:59:43Z")
Does anyone else remember Buffalo brand tools? As I recall, they were the first widespread tools from China. Big Lots and Big R stores sold lots of them. They always had a ridiculous price labeled on them, such as $19.99 for the socket sets mentioned in this thread, but “marked down” by the store to $3.99 or less. They weren’t the best tools, but how bad can a claw hammer be? I got one for 75 cents marked down once, and I still have it. It’s 30 years old now. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2019, 6:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-old-socket-set/838188/23 "2019-08-06T18:08:25Z")
> [@california\_jobcase](#): > > Does anyone else remember Buffalo brand tools? As I recall, they were the first widespread tools from China… That reminds me… From what I can see, I’m guessing that the reason the tools aren’t marked with a brand is that they were sold as ‘generic’ sets that U.S. companies would buy and put their own names on the box. ---
**Author:** ![WildaBeast](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wildabeast/32/6_2.png) [@WildaBeast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WildaBeast)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2019, 9:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-old-socket-set/838188/24 "2019-08-06T21:30:16Z")
> [@Johnny\_L.A](#): > > Dad bought a new Toyota Corona Mk II wagon in 1972. He also bought a metric socket set. Apparently that was the thing to do after buying a foreign car in the 1970s. My dad also bought a metric socket set after he bought his Corolla in 1979. Not the same as yours, though. His is in a yellow metal case. I assume he still has it. My dad did get me my own socket set for Christmas when I was in my late teens. It’s a good Craftsman set, and very complete with both standard and metric sockets plus a spark plug socket, large and small ratchets, and a pair of screwdrivers. I still use it to this day. I did lose one of the sockets after it fell into the engine compartment of my old Saturn and mysteriously vanished. It did not come out the bottom, so I can only assume it ended up on top of some part of the engine or the car’s frame where I couldn’t get to it. I have no idea if it was still there when that car went to the junkyard as part of California’s Vehicle Retirement Program, or it it fell out in the middle of the street somewhere while I was driving. On the subject of “appropriating” (I like that term) parents’ tools, I appropriated my dad’s lug wrench at some point when I was a teenager. I think I just threw it in my trunk at some point thinking it would be handy to have with me if I ever had to change a tire, and it just stayed with me even after I moved across the country. He noticed it in my trunk once while here for a visit and was like “Hey… is that mine?” 😃 Not that he really minded. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2019, 9:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-old-socket-set/838188/25 "2019-08-06T21:37:49Z")
> [@WildaBeast](#): > > I appropriated my dad’s lug wrench at some point… [This is my lug wrench](https://mossmotors.com/wheel-knockoff-hammer-copper-rawhide-2-lbs). 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2019, 9:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-old-socket-set/838188/26 "2019-08-06T21:39:34Z")
> [@WildaBeast](#): > > My dad also bought a metric socket set after he bought his Corolla in 1979. I’ve often wondered why Toyota discontinued the Corona, and kept the Corolla. I liked the Corona. ---
**Author:** ![WildaBeast](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wildabeast/32/6_2.png) [@WildaBeast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WildaBeast)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2019, 10:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-old-socket-set/838188/27 "2019-08-06T22:30:07Z")
I’m too young to actually remember that time, but as I understand it rear wheel drive was beginning to be viewed as obsolete in the 1980s. By then the Corona was possibly starting to be viewed as old fashioned, and possibly Toyota felt they needed a “modern” front wheel drive car to compete with the Accord, so they introduced the Camry and dropped the Corona. Of course they switched the Corolla to FWD around the same time and kept the Corolla name, so arguably they could have used the Corona name for their new FWD midsize car. Although they apparently still sold the RWD Corona in other countries, so that might have just created confusion. ---
**Author:** ![WolfpackJeep](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpackjeep/32/2921_2.png) [@WolfpackJeep](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WolfpackJeep)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2019, 11:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-old-socket-set/838188/28 "2019-08-06T23:58:59Z")
Pictures, as promised! It’s not exactly like **Johnny L.A.'s** set, but it appears to have most pieces in common – just a different arrangement. [Closed.](https://www.instagram.com/p/B0109T5hrgG/?utm_source=ig_web_button_share_sheet) [Open.](https://www.instagram.com/p/B010drehxIe/?utm_source=ig_web_button_share_sheet) [The spark plug socket.](https://www.instagram.com/p/B010quZBaCM/?utm_source=ig_web_button_share_sheet) [And the nut driver. (A bit gross.)](https://www.instagram.com/p/B010xkSBM6W/?utm_source=ig_web_button_share_sheet) ---
**Author:** ![Backwater\_Under\_Duck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ba8739/32.png) [@Backwater\_Under\_Duck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Backwater_Under_Duck)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2019, 1:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-old-socket-set/838188/29 "2019-08-07T01:30:03Z")
> [@Johnny\_L.A](#): > > I’ve often wondered why Toyota discontinued the Corona, and kept the Corolla. I liked the Corona. Yeah, I had a Toyota Corona Mark II. Say it real fast and it sounds Spanish. And in 1973, I was living in Baltimore, and I bought a ratchet set at an auto parts store for about 5 dollars or so, so I could work on my Toyota Corona Mark II. I just retired that set about 6 months ago. The ratchet finally just couldn’t handle the pull I was going for. I got my money’s worth. ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2019, 12:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-old-socket-set/838188/30 "2019-08-07T12:34:22Z")
The mention of nut drivers reminds me of the one left in my Beetle by the previous owner. (Under the back seat where all sorts of things tended to wind up in Beetles.) It was 1/8" drive with a 90 degree swivel plus a small number of sockets. Came in handy then and I still use it once it a while. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2019, 2:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-old-socket-set/838188/31 "2019-08-07T14:16:01Z")
> [@WolfpackJeep](#): > > [And the nut driver. (A bit gross.)](https://www.instagram.com/p/B010xkSBM6W/?utm_source=ig_web_button_share_sheet) Um… What happened? ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2019, 10:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-old-socket-set/838188/32 "2019-08-07T22:23:57Z")
Pretty sure that is a Western Auto set. We had one, too. Still around, somewhere, I think. ---
**Author:** ![WolfpackJeep](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpackjeep/32/2921_2.png) [@WolfpackJeep](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WolfpackJeep)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2019, 12:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-old-socket-set/838188/33 "2019-08-08T00:03:23Z")
> [@Johnny\_L.A](#): > > Um… What happened? I think there was some kind of reaction between the plastic in the handle of the nut driver and the plastic of the liner. (One of the two is made of acetate, judging from the slight vinegar smell.) The liner appears to be otherwise intact. I didn’t touch the handle of the nut driver, but the part that’s visible looked like it might have a slight coating where something has leached out. The set has been stored in a hot garage, which might have accelerated the reaction. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2019, 12:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-old-socket-set/838188/34 "2019-08-08T00:30:33Z")
> [@Gatopescado](#): > > Pretty sure that is a Western Auto set. As I’ve been thinking about it, I’d bet money dad bought his at Western Auto. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2019, 1:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-old-socket-set/838188/35 "2019-08-08T13:31:20Z")
> [@Johnny\_L.A](#): > > Is the ‘switch’ (whatever you call the thing that changes directions on the ratchet) Spinner? Ratchet? ---
**Author:** ![kopek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kopek/32/337_2.png) [@kopek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kopek)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2019, 2:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-old-socket-set/838188/36 "2019-08-08T14:14:15Z")
> [@WolfpackJeep](#): > > I think there was some kind of reaction between the plastic in the handle of the nut driver and the plastic of the liner. You are right; I’ve had it happen to me as well. People have mentioned getting tools that had been their Dad’s -------- I got a couple of those but not too many. I started working on beer trucks with an uncle of mine when I was 8 and fixing neighborhood cars in the back yard when I was 12 or so. I got an actual real job at a Harley shop bending wrenches when I was 15. So a lot of tools I bought myself 50 years ago. But I have a few that are special to me if no-one else that came from Zeke ---------- Zeke’s Auto Wreckers. Zeke’s was one of those wonderful places where you could go and rip out the parts you wanted and save much money in the process. Since people often left tools behind (those adults just didn’t appreciate good things like us kids did 🙂 ) I always carried two tool boxes and made sure I had some room for adding any “foundlings”. Since I always gave Zeke any cool non-tool things I found (like that sawed-off shotgun) he basically knew what I was up to and let it slide. I have some S-wrenches branded for Ford, a great little Packard jack, and I scored almost enough Snap-on to call a set of one kind or another. And some large open-ended wrenches (2"+) I can only guess at why people had them - maybe to use as hammers? All the Japan stuff I scrapped but the US ones I still have and use and I can tell you where many of them came from; what car I found them in. One of those meaningless things that mean nothing to anyone but me. ---
**Author:** ![california\_jobcase](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9d8465/32.png) [@california\_jobcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/california_jobcase)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2019, 11:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-old-socket-set/838188/37 "2019-08-08T23:41:33Z")
> [@Johnny\_L.A](#): > > As I’ve been thinking about it, I’d bet money dad bought his at Western Auto. The good Western Auto brand was Wizard. I have some (of course, they were dad’s). ---
**Author:** ![wolfman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/a8b319/32.png) [@wolfman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfman)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2019, 12:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-old-socket-set/838188/38 "2019-08-09T00:31:40Z")
Yeah my dad had one of those very similar sets, and I am virtually certain still had it until downsizing for a home a few months ago. I think his was a dealer throw-in with a 70’s-ish Subaru. It had a Subaru branded tool pouch, with the tools out of some some odd alloy, but I think the American dealers also threw-in a metric socket set, assuming people may not have one. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2019, 2:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-old-socket-set/838188/39 "2019-08-13T02:19:36Z")
I decided to get a similar SAE socket set to put in the boot of the MGB. I found one on eBay for $8. It’s been used a lot, and I’ll need to replace the ½-inch socket. I’ll proactively replace the 9/16 and 7/16 too. [Outside, before painting](https://i.imgur.com/ybvxsZm.jpg) [Inside, before painting](https://i.imgur.com/VHwhq65.jpg) [Outside, after painting, open](https://i.imgur.com/v5tuvrB.jpg) [Outside, after painting, closed](https://i.imgur.com/VG9Vecc.jpg) [Inside, after painting, with sockets](https://i.imgur.com/jVRpR02.jpg) I got lazy and decided to paint the outside first, without masking the label inside. Some spray got in. Meh, whaddya gonna do? It’s not collector’s item. This set is going to bounce around in the back of a roadster. . [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-old-socket-set/838188.md?page=1)