We may be best known for silicone hoses but our online shop is full of useful products to help you the car builder. We have a range of very handy tools to help you with making your intercooler pipes, coolant or intake systems such as Tube roll beading tools, or pipe flaring tools or tube straighteners for your aluminium hard lines. As with all our products these tools are very well made from quality materials and built to last.

Our range includes:

AN Wrenches
Anodised colour coded wrenches sized to fit the swivel nuts on hose ends. These wrenches have a fully rounded edge to fit your hand. Machined from heat treated 2024 aluminium.

Hose end fitting tool
This tool is a god send when it comes to assembling and crimping AN hose end fittings.  Does a great job with ease in minutes! Supplied with a number of dies / sockets to crimp and assemble braided fuel and oil lines. Ideal for the workshop or engine builder.

Tube Straightening tool
Vice mounted billet aluminium construction designed to heavy duty and years of service, our tube straightener will easily straighten all your fuel system hard lines and brake lines. Suitable for copper or aluminium tubing.

Tube Flaring Tool
We also do a heavy duty professional tube flare devise, designed to flare tubes to a 45° flare to apply suitable fuel hose fittings onto the tube / hard pipe.

Click here to check out the range online.

A recent survey conducted by Halfords Autocentres of 20,000 motorists found that almost a third of motorists (32 per cent) believed that kicking tyres is an adequate test to see if they are properly inflated or not. What is more concerning is that almost two-in-five motorists (40%) have no idea what the minimum legal tyre tread depth is.

So the question is are you a tyre kicker? If so here’s a few reasons why you may want to check your tyres a little better in the future:

1. Low tread affects braking

Worn tyres and smaller tread depth can reduce braking and steering ability, especially in unpredictable weather and wet driving conditions. In fact an extra couple of millimetres’ tread depth can mean up to eight metres of stopping distance in wet weather.

What should the tread on your tyres be?

The legal limit for minimum depth of the tread on your tyres is 1.6 millimetres, across the central ¾ of the tread around the complete circumference of the tyre. For safety reasons it is recommended that you replace your tyres before the legal limit is reached. Many vehicle manufacturers recommend replacing at 3 millimetres.

London’s toxic air has been brought to attention by Mayor, Sadiq Khan, addressing the importance of progress in the pollution world. The Ultra-Low Emission zone has come into force in central London, as of Monday 8^th April.

Continue reading “What is the Ultra-low emissions Zone (ULEZ) and will it affect you?” »

Last year we wrote a post about ‘8 ways to upgrade your car’, many car enthusiasts are keen to drive cars which are tailored to their particular set of preferences. This can include both visual and performance-related modifications. But every modification comes with a compromise, and sometimes that compromise can affect your insurance premium.

What is a car modification?

A car modification is a change made to a vehicle so that it differs from the manufacturer’s original factory specification. The changes can be made to improve performance, aesthetics, or be purely functional.

Why should you declare modifications?
It is quite simple, if your car has been modified, you must declare it. This applies even if you have not made the changes yourself. The result if you don’t declare could be  – an invalidated insurance policy.

Whos responsibility is it?

It is the responsibility of the policyholder to declare all modifications. If you’re buying a car second-hand and are in any doubt of work that may have been carried out, get the car checked by a mechanic. If you don’t declare the modifications, your claim may be refused, and your insurance will be void. It is also important to update your insurance company as and when you make additional modifications, so you remain covered.

Why do modifications affect the price I pay?

There are a few reasons why modifications will affect the price you pay on your car insurance premium. If the modifications increase the value of your car, then the insurance claims you make could be higher as it’s often more expensive to repair or replace parts. If you’ve made your car faster, it could increase the risk of you being involved in a speed-related accident.