How did yall learn to work on cars? - Northern California Ford Owners

This is topic How did yall learn to work on cars? in forum General Talk at Northern California Ford Owners .

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Posted by adower (Member # 5955) on :

Basically im a senior at csus and almost done with school. I want to learn to work on cars but, havent really worked on them at all. I was thinking about going to WyoTech but its pricey. Did most of you guys learn just through experience?

Thanks!

Posted by two-gun kid (Member # 5891) on :

mu uncle would give me stuff to take apart and rebuild and hopefully i would do it right, i learn most of it on my own, sometimes i just like to take stuff apart and put it back together,

Posted by Luke87GT (Member # 21) on :

Tons of reading and trial/error

The online sources are endless.

also try:

www.howstuffworks.com

excellent engine tutorial there.

Posted by jordan_0806 (Member # 5888) on :

worked with my brother who i "tool bitched" for...his friend build pro-mod motors so i he used to part-time there...other than that....I BROKE SHIT AND FIXED IT...

Posted by SydeWayzSix (Member # 2222) on :

my pops taught me a lot of the general concepts and procedures...then I just started experimenting myself. Some things turn out better than others, but trying yourself is the only way to really learn.

Posted by 92stangLX (Member # 3252) on :

Learned from my dad origionally. Also, I read lots of manuals and learned from friends and forums like this one on the internet.

I would recommend volunteering to help a friend who is knowledgable work on their car. You will learn a lot that way.

BTW I also graduated from CSUS

Welcome to the board [patriot]

[ December 01, 2005, 05:06 PM: Message edited by: 92stangLX ]

Posted by blind (Member # 3052) on :

take a car apart and you'll learn pretty quick

Posted by Fast_Bitch (Member # 2316) on :

you can always ask johnb to teach you the ways of the mustangs . . . . . . .

Posted by SmokinLX (Member # 1684) on :

Still not very good but started with general maintinace and then did oil and tranny changes at a gas station for a couple year's. Now if it is anything major I take it to the Man [Wink]

Posted by 02GeeTee (Member # 5905) on :

I learned through my old man. Changing oil, bleeding brakes, changing pads, was the first thing I did.

Posted by Jdub07 (Member # 2728) on :

I've learned a lot from BlackNGold. But most of my learning is breaking shit then either fixing it or buying a new one and remembering how I broke the old one. And even though manuals tend to suck and not provide you with ALL information its a very helpfull tool. Every car I have I have a manual for it.

internet is good too but don't take the first advise you read...make sure you do some homework.

Posted by 88DroptopGT (Member # 2535) on :

I started on building blocks, then Legos and went on to bigger and better things.

Posted by 2stangs69-91 (Member # 1951) on :

I bought my 69 mustang when I was 16 and it was a POS so I took every automotive class in HS and JC I could find to keep it on the Road LOL. So now I have been a professional tech/mechanic for 20 damm years. If I bought a new car when I was 16 I could have been a doctor LOL

Posted by JohnB (Member # 969) on :

It is completely dependent on your drive and desire to learn. I read alot of books in HS and when I first joined the AF. That's it. I haven't ever been to a formal class or taken a course for car maint/repairs. You learn ALOT when you're broke as a joke and have to be to work in the AM...LOL. The Internet is a good tool, but as stated...don't believe all that you read...more than 50% is total BS. [Wink]

Posted by Fast_Bitch (Member # 2316) on :

quote:
Originally posted by JohnB:
It is completely dependent on your drive and desire to learn. I read alot of books in HS and when I first joined the AF. That's it. I haven't ever been to a formal class or taken a course for car maint/repairs. You learn ALOT when you're broke as a joke and have to be to work in the AM...LOL. The Internet is a good tool, but as stated...don't believe all that you read...more than 50% is total BS.

whats that sayin . . . dont beilve anything you read and only half of what you hear . . .

Posted by JohnCM (Member # 1076) on :

I took apart my first 5.0, then when I put it back together. And working on all other 5 5.0
s I have had. I learned how to work on cars pretty damn good. Or at least I'm confident now.

Posted by crazyhorse (Member # 5662) on :

My pops showed me how to do oil changes and the basics when i was 12 and from then on ive just tinkered with cars. my first car was an old buick that broke down everyday, being the cheap ass that I am,I would figure stuff out myself cause I needed to get to work the next day.

Posted by PWR HNGRY 302 (Member # 6000) on :

I relied on other people for a while because I was afraid to fuck up my car. and realized that other people aren't reliable so I figured if I want something done I would have to do it myself. I realized that after having my 5.0 for about 6 months so I started taking shit apart and trying to put it together again. I also ask my dad for help when I can't figure something out. But otherwise read instructions and articles in magazine or look online for info.

Posted by eljefe (Member # 1753) on :

i started back in high school on my old honda crx, i took metal shop instead of auto shop because all they ever did was oil changes. so in metal shop my teacher would let me park the car infront of the class, put it up on jacks and do stuff to it, i made the exhaust, intake, a metal spare tire cover with hindges. then i went to csus for a few years trying to do the engineering thing but i realized that working on cars makes me happy. so i decided to piss my parents off and drop out of csus, go to american river and go through the auto program there. most the classes were boring to me like brakes, suspension, and the basic class. but the other classes i learned quite a bit, and now here i sit a ase master tech and a kia senior tech.

Posted by adower (Member # 5955) on :

Looks like ill just have to start experimenting then! Sounds like its just trial and error. Thanks for the input guys!

Posted by Cobra5.0Jeep (Member # 1482) on :

My dad showed me a lot and then i took 4 semesters of autoshop in HS.

Posted by Eddie510 (Member # 2354) on :

yeah man, you should try with one of your non daily drivers dude..if you have a mustang with a fuked up motor buy a used or new and swap them out man, thats how i started. first time its a little bit confusing,you lose bolts(i lost hellah bolts)you forget how the front accesories go so you look at your buddies five oh to look how it goes...stuff like that..
How i started was buying a roller foxbody, then i baught my friends wrecked mustang with complete engine, swapped it out,got every gasket you can think of on the engine,painted everything,and from there on u know about half of the things you need to know. I say do that first because say you sign up to a school and then you dont like the whole getting dirty,wrench status thing,that would really suck [patriot]

Posted by SEMPERFI510 (Member # 627) on :

I learned from my pops first then manuals and friends who know how to do certain shit that I did not.

Posted by v-town coupe (Member # 2771) on :

always helped my dad and read a lot and took a college course on it along with being friends with mechanics andwhat not i guess well..................2 cougars ,3 mustangs,5motors,anda cobra kit car later i got a decent idea on how to handle it??? and if all else fails a loan from the bank and a sacrafical slurpee to johnb and you'll be good!

Posted by Fast_Bitch (Member # 2316) on :

quote:
Originally posted by adower:
Basically im a senior at csus and almost done with school. I want to learn to work on cars but, havent really worked on them at all. I was thinking about going to WyoTech but its pricey.

I dont recomend wyotech .. . at all I mean you pay out the ass and then all you really have are books smarts you do end up having time on cars but basically I would apprentice with someone . . . My dad is a mechanic at a high performance shop in san ramon and he works as the head mechanic on a race team . . . but he tells me all day these kids come in from wyotech and they have hired a few but he says" dont get me wrong they are nice and they are book smart, but they never realized what they just got themselves into" words of the old man LoL basically if you do deside to do that basically try to get as much hands on as you can . . ..

Posted by NavidR (Member # 3164) on :

I learned alot from friends. I bought my first mustang and didn't know anything about them. I ran into few car guys and became good friends with them and slowly I just learned from experience. Its all for Fun, but your talking whyoteck (sp?) thats more for like career investment i'm sure its worth the money. I'm thinking about going after I get my mechanical Engineering degree, just for my own knowledge.

Posted by mtbaughs (Member # 4052) on :

I like this topic. Let see here. This one will date me back to when I was in the 10th grade. I just moved out here from Hawaii. I met a good friend my first year here and he was hooked on mustangs bigtime. It wasn't long before I caught the bug passed on from him. At that point I purchased my old '89 hatch. It wasn't long before the mods started going into the car. All the easy stuff I attempted on my own. Did the off road pipe, headers/ 65mm tb and egr....of corse the good ol' k&n. It's funny because my best buddy also had an '89 hatch. About this time I came across a shop in the south bay called charlie's mustang's. This guy was the guru of everything mustang. For god sake the man slept in his own shop each night. I was a customer of his for about 4 years before I asked him for my first job there. Little did I know at the time the experience I would gain under his watchful eye. People spend 20K + at schools like wyotech and never gained what I learned from this guy named charlie. Not only did he teach me how to wrench but he taught me the ethic's behind doing so. "These people are bringing us their cars...their pride and joy and by god they are going to get the best service we can give them". I know it sounds cheesy but there just isn't this kind of pride... honesty around anymore. I truely value what I learned from a man who wasn't just a wrench but a M.I.T. graduate....a mechanical engineer and most of all a great friend. One day I know I will open my own shop and if I do I know who to thank. I mean this man taught me the skills to provide for my family for the last 9 years. I can't count the many good laugh's...good times....and friendship I had there.... [patriot]

[ December 03, 2005, 11:57 PM: Message edited by: mtbaughs ]

Posted by Fostang (Member # 3752) on :

Dad, self, and more recently started to learn about different rear ends and how to set them up from my bud miles.

No formal education in this subject not even HS autoshop. I wanted to do not sit in class and fuck off which is what most people in autoshop did.

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