Helpful combo:
-3/4" Impact socket set
-Duralast brand 3/4" breaker bar
-10 foot galvanized fence post, got this thing for $8 and put it around my 2 foot breaker bar with the impact sockets. Popped loose crank pulleys and cam sprockets when nothing else could budge it (no air tools at my home)
other useful stuff:
-Irwin Vice Grips - use these all the time on older cars. Also useful on struts that lose their top hat "notch". Strut's shaft was spinning freely so I wrapped ducttape around the top of the strut's shaft (as far from the valve as I could), basically just below the top hat, put the vicegrip around it and was able to spin the bolt off the top. Don't recommend doing this except as a last resort because any scoring on the part of the strut's shaft that re-enters the valve will cause the valve to fail.
-Crescent brand wrenches - very nice quality and not very expensive, probably will last forever
-The Craftsman 300 piece mechanic set:
http://www.craftsman.com/craftsman-300-pc-professional-tool-set/p-00933300000P - this is good as a starter set since you get enough sockets and rachets to do most jobs. When you break them, replace em with a higher end set or use the lifetime warranty. The plastic case it comes with kind of sucks because the drawers will slide out when you are carrying it, spilling the contents. Its a durable case though.
-jbweld: i use this on everything, doesn't matter what its made of, just stick some jbweld on it. fixed a pulley tensioner arm, a timing belt cover, exterior and interior panels, a cooking pot's handle, and countless other stuff.