found tools

[fordbroncodave]

anyone ever open the hood of a vehicle and find a screw driver laying in the bottom or a socket attached to a rusty bolt?
lets here your story of when you found the golden tools while doing your work.

 

[fordbroncodave]

i found a 20" channel lock brand pliers in between the condensor and radiator of a mini van once. (who could honestly lose those? they are bright blue)

a green snap on long needle nose pliers in the street in front of a dealership.

a snap on 1/8" center punch in front of my neiborghs house in the street as well as a black needle nose craftsman pliers.

a snap on 1/4" long handle ratchet with a snap on 10mm socket attached under a plastic panel of a tailgate on a jmc jimmy.

and various wrenches, pliers, screwdrivers......

 

[Rolling_Thunder]

I found an old Craftsman fliptop tool box filled with tools on the road one morning going to work. Had wrenches screwdrivers, pliers, sockets... in it! Must of fell off a truck during the night.

Found a set of Craftsman Brake Pliers in front of an apartment complex years ago that I was going to install a phone at!

Found an ounce of Pot under the floormat of a crashed mustang I bought to get the engine out of... My mom snatched it out of my hands and flushed it!! Didnt use the stuff anyways!!!

 

[HandyManny]

Found a pair of unbranded slip-joint 8" pliers on the side of the road after a snow melt. Found various screwdrivers in the middle of the street over the years. Saw a bunch of rakes and shovels come flying off the back of a dump truck once on the highway, didn't bother trying to retrieve those, but followed the truck several miles as did a few other cars tha recieved damage due to neglect of securing down stuff when driving.

Typically any damaged but still useable tools I find on the road will get put into a bucket and used as loaner tools or sacraficial tools. Haven't found anything that I would consider high-end.

 

[SirPoopsALot]

I found a Hitachi reciprocating saw on the side of a cloverleaf. The case was scuffed up pretty good, but the saw works great!

 

[JWink]

I found some vise grips in the door of my girlfriends car when I was putting a window motor in it shortly after she bought it. They were clamped on holding the window up.

I also found some vise grips in the junk yard pinching off a brake line.

 

[SpiderGearsMan]

it is so wrong to rest tools in the engine compartment
that is why we by carts

 

[66 GMC Truckin]

I found a Proto Deadblow hammer on top of the spare tire on a GMC truck under the truck box. We were dismantling the truck and took the box off and there was this hammer.

I also found some miscellaneous sockets on engines and transmissions during disassembly.

 

[T56 Impala]

NEW 1976 Chevy Beauville van. Miss fire at idle. Pulled the cover and a 36" Snap on screwdriver was wedged between the block and exhaust manifold. Still have the thing somewhere.

While doing the first of the MANY interior remakes of my 95 Impala, I found a complete set of Lisle Allen wrenches, one Snap On 1/4", 1/4" drive socket and a no name screwdriver.

1995 9C1 Caprice I picked up at a police auction to part out. In the trunk I found 20 9mm +p+ rounds, 12 12 ga rounds, a box of rubber gloves, 2 pairs of Craftsman slip joint pliers, FOUR jack handles, a roll of "Crime Scene" tape and several ticket books. In the glove box I found a crack pipe along with a fist full of business cards (none were from a police officer) and trash. Under the rear seat I found 2 bags of pot, one joint and one thing that I have to assume was a crack rock.

 

[back2class]

Clear snap-on ratcheting screwdriver was left in a car I purchased and I have also found a Klein wire cutter and a nice large SK screwdriver in a vehicle.

 

[ryan_289]

One of my mechanics popped a cab roof off an older John Deere and found a 1/4 John Deere branded bonney ratchet in the cab roof. Didnt look like the roof had ever been off. May have been there from the factory.

 

[onemoretry]

Wife left her car on the street in DC and came back to find a screw driver, but no radio... Cops didn't even want to want to look for finger prints on the screwdriver.

 

[BackTracker]

I was on my way to sell a set of the old black husky tools to a co-worker and I had lost a 6" extension out of the kit....this big gaping hole in the otherwise complete set stuffed into that beautiful red foam. On the way there I about ran over a 6" 3/8in drive extension in the middle of the road! I grabbed it and stuffed it in the open slot and off i went to sell my complete tool kit. My wife was in total disbelief, as was I.

 

[fixerup]

In the 1950's my dad was a mechanic at a ford dealership. Often he would find tools left by the factory when setting up new cars for display in the showroom.

 

[IH82BL8]

I was on my way to sell a set of the old black husky tools to a co-worker and I had lost a 6" extension out of the kit....this big gaping hole in the otherwise complete set stuffed into that beautiful red foam. On the way there I about ran over a 6" 3/8in drive extension in the middle of the road!

Quick, give me some winning lotto numbers!

Anyway, I've found tools in my cars twice that mechanics left. The first was a pry bar and I don't remember what the other was. My policy (probably yours too) is that tools left in my car become my property.

 

[NeilH]

Quick, give me some winning lotto numbers!

Anyway, I've found tools in my cars twice that mechanics left. The first was a pry bar and I don't remember what the other was. My policy (probably yours too) is that tools left in my car become my property.

yeah, or you can return them to the mechanic who owns them and worked to pay for the tools that he has bought. you are keeping tools that a man uses to earn his living

 

[norry]

yeah, or you can return them to the mechanic who owns them and worked to pay for the tools that he has bought. you are keeping tools that a man uses to earn his living

+1

If you know who the tool actually belongs to, that's completely different from keeping a tool that who-knows-who left in some random part of the car 3 owners ago.

On the other hand, my first car came with a well-used Snap-on crowbar abandoned amidst a great deal of junk the previous owner had left in the car. It was my very first (and, for years, my only) Snap-on tool. It was so well worn that I didn't even realize it was from a brand name until I examined it closely, years later. Still works perfectly though!

 

[fordbroncodave]

also the same day i bought the bronco i found a black and decker screw gun in the middle of the road. was fully charged too.

and in the bronco i found a snap on semi deep chrome 1/4" drive socket and a craftsman socket. not to mention about a gallon and a half of spilled antifreeze and $4 in change

 

[ryan_289]

yeah, or you can return them to the mechanic who owns them and worked to pay for the tools that he has bought. you are keeping tools that a man uses to earn his living

Unless I know the person who lost the tool personally they are SOL. If they need that tool so bad they shouldnt have left it. How else are they going to learn not to leave tools on equipment.

 

[GT89mustang]

Found a few c-man screwdrivers in my 89 mustang when I first bought it.

Same car, was underneath one day jacking the engine up to install some longtube headers. Glanced over at the left a-arm and see a wrench inside the coil spring. It wasnt mine and have no idea how or why it would be in there. It was a pretty random size too.

 

[krusty the clown]

Unless I know the person who lost the tool personally they are SOL. If they need that tool so bad they shouldnt have left it. How else are they going to learn not to leave tools on equipment.

where's the human comapsion?

you must be the guy who kept my makita drill when i left it in your car. i even called you and told you i would give you the charger since it's no good without it............shame you didn't show up for it, i had something special planned for you.

 

[Moose-LandTran]

While valeting my friend's Mercedes i found a Snap-on trim tool under the spare tyre. It had never been worked on for anything interior-related, much less anything in the boot of the car so no idea how it got there. It lives in my toolbox these days.

 

[Bolster]

When I was a kid, maybe 12 years old, I was on a (forced) nature walk, came upon a pile of orchard cuttings (ie, trash), and investigated...as only bored 12-year old kids will do.

Found an ENTIRE TOOLBOX inside, along with a double barrel DAMASCUS SHOTGUN.

Dad reported it to a friend of his who worked in the police dept. Police said no reports, so keep it. Dad confiscated the shotgun from me.

That toolbox started my collection...some Cman inside, all unmarked...and I think some of those tools are still with me today.

 

[fordbroncodave]

where's the human comapsion?

you must be the guy who kept my makita drill when i left it in your car. i even called you and told you i would give you the charger since it's no good without it............shame you didn't show up for it, i had something special planned for you.

happened to me. left a snap-on multi angle fan in the back seat of a car when i was picking up a co worker that dropped a car off. forgot to take it out. the owner came and paid for their car and left. i soon after called the owner several times with the work phone number and never saw the fan again. (-$100+ now.) but i found one later on in a junkyard someone threw away. works perfect. just had to clean all the dog hair out of it

 

[evintho]

Found this under the hood of a Turbo Coupe at Pick-n-Pull.

 

[justinmc]

Found this under the hood of a Turbo Coupe at Pick-n-Pull.

Did you look to make sure the owner wasn't other the other end of the 'coupe? LOL I've seen stuff just sitting there before and been like... WTF?? Only to finally notice someone working underneath or behind the thing.


Lets see.. I've found a couple of misc loose S/O sockets at pick n pull before, usually laying in a trunk or on the floorboard probably fell out of someones toolbag or something.

I did find a Mac hard handle screwdriver laying in the middle of the road in an industrial area one day. I figure someone must've left it on the tailgate of a truck or it took a bounce out of someones tool bucket. I almost didn't stop but that red handle made me go... wait.. I think I know that screwdriver! I donated it to my Dad's "I need a #2 phillips" cause awhile back. Man never seems to have a #2 phillips when I am over there and am helping with something around the house... haha.

 

[dieseldodge01]

My dad had just got his 1976 IH 1800 Loadstar worked on at a local truck shop. We had just got it about a month before and the way home the springs broke so it needed new springs and brake lines. After it was fixed it sat at home a week. When we went to check the oil we found a Snap On 47ACP pliers sitting on the brake master cylinder. He has them in his toolbox now, I am surprised them made it from the shop home.

 

[plewlandsbob]

When I was working as a marine engineer,it was common place on fishing boats to find tools lying in the bilge. Especially if you were pulling the engine or gearbox out and got right down to the bottom of the boat. Have crawled into some crazy positions to retrieve a tool. Once spent 10 minutes pulling out a 24" rigid pipe wrench, I spotted lying under a gearbox,with a magnet that was hardly strong enough. Rule was if it was in the bilge,somebody had left it there and it was fair game. Boats tools that were lying in engine room were out of bounds.Although some guys would steal anything they fancied. Gave us honest guys a bad name.
If a tool had been lying in saltwater in bilge for anytime at all it was usually fairly corroded.

 

[BackTracker]

Found a few c-man screwdrivers in my 89 mustang when I first bought it.

Same car, was underneath one day jacking the engine up to install some longtube headers. Glanced over at the left a-arm and see a wrench inside the coil spring. It wasnt mine and have no idea how or why it would be in there. It was a pretty random size too.

Huh.. 92 mustang, but it was a scorpion not a wrench.....

 

[evintho]

Did you look to make sure the owner wasn't other the other end of the 'coupe? LOL I've seen stuff just sitting there before and been like... WTF?? Only to finally notice someone working underneath or behind the thing.

I stripped the car for 2 hours. No body ever came back. I would have gladly given it back if anyone showed up.

 

[olds88]

I found a Craftsman 1/4 ratchet lodged in an obviously flat tire, 6 years ago. I still use it!

Also found an inspection mirror. Gave it to a co-worker who was starting out his tool collection, found one of my own wrenches (Snap-on 10mm short, chrome gone, eBay bargain) I left under the hood of a Toyota when changing the battery 9 months prior, a Kobalt 5/8 wrench, a prybar, the kind you'd rip sheetrock down with (i think they call these wonderbars?), a cheap code reader (Launch CReader), and probably a few others.

 

[TruckTech915]

I was running the lane at work about 2 months ago. I got under a truck to inspect for problems and noticed something shiny. It was a Snap On 11/16" wrench wedged between the frame rail and exhaust. Same night I popped the hood of a truck to find a Snap On 1 3/16" deep well impact socket just laying there.

 

[blue302stang]

I was taking the transmission out of a truck one day at work and as i was reaching up to disconnect the cooler lines i happened to hit something and a nice proto 5449 ratchet came and off and busted me in the lip. I figured i deserved the ratchet after that

 

[HOTFR8]

Whilst pulling out the old carpet in my car I found a hammer left by the man that put my carpet in the first time.

 

[greenreese]

I found a 4x torque multiplier and handle in an abandoned building once. I've never actually needed to use it, but it's cool.

 

[Chris Adams]

Since I'm older, I've found more tools, I guess. Couldn't begin to list them all.
Main place I find tools is in used cars and used tool boxes. Every time I buy a cheap car to fix up (hobby work) I find tools. Since I get most of them from middle men, tow drivers and shops, I never meet the car's owner, so those tools are just part of the profit.
When I buy a used tool box I always ask 'OK to keep anything I find?" and about one in five will check the box right then, and always pull a tool or two that was left. The others say it's OK, being sure there are no tools in the box.
There almost always are.
I've pulled brand new half inch drive Craftsman ratchets, used ratchets from everyone except SnapOn, many, many wrenches, sockets, extensions, chisels, dikes, pliers, etc. Last big haul was an Ingersoll Rand valve grinding air tool.
I have an entire box, about 50 lbs, of assorted tools, the IR tool was in the box, and I actually haven't even sorted the box yet. Saw wrenches, sockets, brand name, and lots of small tools I haven't really looked at in there.
Will get to it when I get time.
Lots of tools in the Pick-a-Part but they are almost always under the carpets or seats of cars in the yard. The yard dogs clean out most the tools before the cars are put on the lot, but they miss some.
Only tools that I ever kept that I may have been able to track down the owner was a couple of SnapOn wrenches, worn, that were left in a motorhome I was having repaired on a recall. The mechanic made a mess in the interior, (where he wasn't supposed to be, the rear end was being changed, and left loose bolts on the axles. I found the wrenches, greasy, laying on the carpet. I think he went inside and used the toilet... left the wrenches. I had to use one of them to tighten the bolts he missed about 400 miles further down the road. I had intended to mail them to him, but after finding the loose bolts he's lucky I didn't return to the town and feed him the wrenches...

 

[EricF]

I found while walking through the park near dusk a Makita reciprocating saw with battery. Still have it to this day, and the charger for my makita drill is the same for the saw.

Also when I had my car alarm installed found a long reach pliers (12") and a pair of wire strippers in the alarm box that I had requested to have back.
I brought both back to the alarm shop and nobody there claimed them, so they're now in my toolbox.

 

[Charles (in GA)]

While working as a Fortune 500 corporation aircraft mechanic, I found a 1/4 drive Hi-lock ratchet inside the nosecone of our Grumman Gulfstream II after it returned from an inspection in Savannah (a HiShear Corp hi-lock ratchet has a hole down thru the center of the square drive for an allen wrench to pass thru and hold the bolt you are tightening the collar on).

Found an auto body hammer (pointy on one end of the head, and a flat head on the other) inside a rubber bladder fuel tank of a Piper Aztec twin engine aircraft once.

Charles

 

[ranunculous]

I always look on the right-side burm of sharp curves for tools.They slide off of the rear bumper or ? and end up along the road-"orphaned!"
Stihl leaf blower,carpenters square,wrenches,heavy-duty push broom,small metal tool box with various hand tools and yesterday a 3/8 drive 1/2" deep well Snap On socket.It was near new and the chrome caught my eye!

 

[OldSchoolSS]

Found a Stanley fatmax 25' tape on the way home tonight. I've also found a load binder and a 3/4" drive 12" long snap on extension with a proto 33mm impact on it. I saw a needle nose earlier this summer in the road but I was following a buddy and didn't feel like stopping.