[dwathencars]

I'll add a few tips from my "research". Like Dan, I'm an engineer and enjoy this stuff...

BDS was the house brand for Bert Draper & Sons until the mid 60's and the company still sells tools under the Draper name. I found original BDS/Draper catalogs from 1963 and 1966 so these bracket our Cobra years. The catalogs also show Elora wrenches of all types so you could almost buy a Cobra tool kit from them. If we had a time machine...

VintageToolUK has original BDS pliers for about 80 pounds.

The Thor Hammer looks just like the current versions, but has an old patent number cast into the head label. 50130. These show up on eBay, they are also correct for earlier Jaguars and probably many other knockoff equipped British cars.

The 1963 Draper catalog shows the correct red/ bare wood flutes screwdriver. The description says "made in Italy" but the screwdriver itself only has a BDS sticker for identity. My original sticker was in rough shape, but I found a different BDS screwdriver with a perfect sticker and have been slowly getting around to reproducing it. I've given samples to severel Cobra owners on the forum, I normally get around to working on projects like this during Winter here in Michigan. Very similar screwdrivers without stickers show up on eBay or at Beaulieu swapmeet.

My Elora spanners are shiny, like the photos posted here. You can find old Elora spanners, pre "West Germany", but most are dull plating. Of course that is easily fixed. My spanners and most original sets I've seen have a steel clip that holds them together.

Tom Buckus from Pennsylvania deals in old British tools. He had a "correct" jack at Hershey this year with the correct cradle top but the body had the older incorrect casting number. $325. He had some correct handles too.

Dave