Hey guys,

I was wondering how all of you learned to work on your cars. I want to learn how work on my car, but i don't want mess up my car. are there sites that i can read into or should i see if there are classes being offered around my area?

should i get a beater to practice on?

thanks guys for your answers...


Chris

 

I watched people who knew much more than I do and saw what they did, and I just do all my stuff myself...that's the best way to do it.

 

When I was a teen I took auto shop in school. I also worked at a gas station as well. Alot was also self taught.

 

a hayne's manual will help if you already know a little aboot cars. I dunno if it will help a total n00b to cars.

if there is any kind of vocational school that is affiliated with the public schools in the area, they will have a class.

 

go to a junkyard and pick up an engine for like 50-$100 (depending on what you want) and just rip it apart and try putting it back together... again, a haynes manual would be very helpful with that.

you may not get all of the theoretical aspects of the engine, but you will get practice with replacing parts, so you know how to change something if need be.

 

thanks alot, i think i will get the haynes manual an maybe i'll buy a engine and see if i can keep it at my grandma's house. she doesnt use her driveway.

I know a little about cars from my friends working on em, but i've never really looked at an 8 cyclinder engine


Thanks guys!!



Chris

 

Um... dont go to a junkyard and buy an engine... if you dont know anything about them you wont be able to correctly assemble it and youll have is a big pile of useless **** sitting in your grandmas driveway.

What do you want to do? If you mean like oil changes and sparkplugs, thats easy, we can help with that. All youll need are some basic hand tools, for about 100$ you can get a decent kit from sears (craftsman) to get you started "working on cars" PM if you want help picking something out

But jobs like head swaps, setting up a rear, etc, those arnt something you can really be "told" how to do.

Before you get into more serious repairs, you need to understand whats actually going on.

Check out www.howstuffworks.com and do some reading in the automotive section. Look up the stuff you are interested in, and figure out how it works. If you want to get into engines, look for a used briggs and stratton 2 to 5 Hp engine. Single piston, easy to work on. It will be a good experience to get into mechanical work... these engines have a little bit of evberything and all you need is a basic set of hand tools and about 50$ worth of specialty tools, which can be used for normal engine repair as well.

Jim

 

thanks, that seems like an easier thing to start out on. I'm going to look into automotive schools nearby my house.

Maybe i'll learn something from that.


Chris

 

pretty much self taught model car help also used to do those alot when i was little then i took automechanics in high school and collision repair and im taking both at technical college im curerently working at an auto body shop!

 

also we have plenty of tech article's stickied to the top of all the different forums for various different jobs. take a look around, you can find some good information.