Best Air Tools for Automotive work

You add oil to it. It adds oil to your air tool. Not exactly rocket science. Find one in the air tool section at any home center.

If you've ever had to remove old adhesive, caulk or sealant, or baked-on gaskets, you'll appreciate how hard it is to chisel off the stuff. That's why you need an air scraper. Just screw in one of the heavy-duty scraper blades and hit the trigger. The tool cycles the scraper blade back and forth 4,800 times per minute in 3/16-in. strokes to peel off even the most stubborn sealant or gasket material. Note: Don't use the steel scraper blades on soft aluminum engine components.

The Florida Pneumatic FP-706K General Purpose Scraper Kit comes with five varying-width scraper blades, an oiler, a regulator and a molded case. Find it at amazon.com or at a local air tool supplier.

Snap an air line onto this fluid evacuator and you can forget about taking a bath in oil, brake or transmission fluid, antifreeze or water. The unit comes with three sizes of tubing to fit most dipstick tubes. Just shove the tube down the dipstick and open the air valve on the base of the unit. The compressed air flows through a venturi aspirator to create a vacuum that sucks the liquid into the 2.3-gallon tank. The unit also comes with an adapter to bleed brake calipers/cylinders and hydraulic lines.

Find the Mityvac 7300 PneumatiVac Air-Operated Fluid Evacuator at amazon.com or at tool stores.

This air tool may look like a sea monster with tentacles. But the tentacles are actually nineteen 1/8-in. needles that hammer off rust, scale and dirt at 4,600 blows per minute. Move the adjustment collar forward or backward to vary the needle force and coverage area. Use it to knock rust and old paint off your car, wheelbarrow or other metal object. You'll still have to deal with the pits from the corrosion, but at least the flakes will be gone. Wear hearing and eye protection and leather gloves, because this baby kicks up a lot of dust and debris, and it's loud.

The scaler comes with a set of needles and a chisel attachment. Replacement needles are available for about $15 a set. Find the Chicago Pneumatic CP7120 Needle Scaler at amazon.com or a local air tool supplier.

Battery-powered impact drivers have the power to bust small nuts and bolts. But they simply don't fit in tight places. That's where this mini impact wrench comes in handy. It's only 6 in. x 5 in. (including socket), compared with a typical 9-in. x 9.5-in. 18-volt tool. And at 1.3 lbs., it's half the weight of a battery-powered driver. This mini wrench puts out about 50 ft.-lbs. of reverse torque, which is more than enough to remove small fasteners. Switch from forward to reverse with the flick of your thumb.

The Ingersoll Rand 2101K Air Impact Wrench kit (available at amazon.com) comes with the impact wrench, impact sockets and a plastic case.

We've covered professional air-powered impact wrenches before. But this one is kind of a hybrid professional/consumer-grade unit. It packs pro-grade torque (700 ft.-lbs. in reverse) and is built with a lighter weight composite case. It costs a lot less than its professional cousins. Find the Ingersoll-Rand No. 2350XP at Amazon or a local tool supplier.

Air ratchets can really speed up repair jobs. The only downside is that they slam your knuckles against the nearest hard surface once the bolt bottoms out. But a reactionless ratchet solves that problem. As soon as the bolt head hits bottom, the ratchet converts to an impact motion and the handle stays in place, protecting your knuckles. Find this Husky reactionless ratchet (No. H4120) for $100 at homedepot.com.

An air hose swivel eliminates hose kinks by swiveling in two directions. So you can use your air tool at any angle. Just screw the swivel directly into the tool and install the nipple on the other end. Find the Astro Pneumatic 3SB10 Air Coupler at amazon.com or local dealers.

We know why you never check the air pressure in your tires. It's because you hate the routine of inflate, check, inflate, check, deflate, check. Get a combination inflator/gauge and you can do it all in a fraction of the time with the same inflator that tire shops use. Press the air chuck onto the valve stem and read the pressure. Then hit the trigger to add more. Read the pressure as soon as you release the trigger. This Milton No. 506 Inflator Gauge is definitely professional grade and worth the price. Find it where air tools are sold or from amazon.com.

This isn't the best blow gun we've ever used. But it's small and designed to stay on your air hose full time. That way you'll always have a blow gun handy. What else can we say? It's versatile and cheap (about $4 at home centers), and it's easy to install.

The single most effective way to free up any rusted fastener is to first spray it with penetrating oil and then vibrate the heck out of it. And this hammer bit is just the tool to do that. Slap it into any air hammer and place the head against the rusted part. Pull the trigger and watch the rust leap off the part. Find the Grey Pneumatic CH117 Hammer Bit at industrial tool suppliers or amazon.com.

For impact wrenches and ratchets, forget about the forward torque ratings. You want to see the tool's power in reverse. The bigger the number, the better. If that specification isn't listed, move on—the manufacturer left it off for a reason!

A pneumatic blow gun with a nozzle long enough to reach into the farthest corners of the engine compartment (or any other project around the house) quickly pays for itself. Find them at auto supply stores, home centers or online.

When all else fails, sometimes you just have to cut rusted parts out. This Astro Pneumatic No. 207 Cut-off Tool makes quick work of frozen bolts and other problem parts. Available at amazon.com or local suppliers.

Ordinary socket sets can scratch up your expensive alloy wheels and fancy lug nuts. Avoid that problem by using sockets with protective plastic sleeves and internal plastic inserts like this Astro Pneumatic 7835 Impact Socket Set, available at amazon.com.