• Log InLog In
• Register

Working on cars/trucks, where to start/learn?

Post a Reply

Tiamat United States498 Posts July 22 2011 01:28 GMT #1 I was curious how anyone got their start on learning how to work on their car/truck. I am amazed reading stories of people dropping corvette engines into trucks or restoring a classic cars. I know you can go to school for some of this, but is it really possible to teach yourself how to pull an engine of a car, take it apart and repair it? I guess what started all of this was replacing a radiator in an old GMC C1500, it was leaking coolant so i grabbed a wrench and started pulling all the bolts out of the truck and eventually got it out and bought a new one from Autozone. I installed it and to my surprise it worked without a hitch! I got me thinking on the more advanced work, like transmission rebuilds and stuff like that. I am very interested in any stories you guys have to share.

jinorazi Korea (South)4948 Posts July 22 2011 02:19 GMT #2 well, as for me, i started as a car stereo installer through my friend who did mobile installation. i got the electronics down pretty good(alarm, i did a DIY shift indicator, replace interior lights by building custom LED panels) and doing custom fabrication for speaker boxes, interior mods and whatnot. when i got my car, i started with simple stuff changing out fluids, breaks, suspension, exhaust, etc. i can't do engine swaps but i have friends who are very good at them and if i want to learn or need help, resources are abundant. when you start doing the things you like, you tend to share it with others. go join a car forum, browse their stuff, read DIY, car meets, etc. knowledge is accumulative, educate yourself ^_^ its basically the same way you learn about sc2.

B.I.G. 3251 Posts July 22 2011 02:30 GMT #3 i learned a lot of that stuff when i was younger and had a crappy moped that needed fixing all the time. One of my friends' dad owned a car shop so he kinda grew up in the garage. So we would be sitting their trying to fix my moped with all the tools we could possibly need and all the knowledge pretty much instantly available. my recommendation is: just buy some old 4 stroke moped (that works) and just first try to dissasemble and reassamble that stuff. It will teach you the basic principles of a combustion engine. I suppose that after you mastered that you can move on to cars.(a lot will be different ofc but the principles stay the same) anyway gl with that, its a really cool way to spend your time and remenising about it makes me sad i quit doing it

Urnhardt United States110 Posts July 22 2011 02:33 GMT #4 buy a complete beater that barely runs, or a mechanics special. tool around on one of those for awhile and see if its for you. if you're still interested you should look into some auto mechanics classes at your local community college edit: worked on cars from a really young age, starting with my grandpas 1964 impala all the way up to cat c7 engines, got me ahead of the game you could say when it comes to schooling. you'll be surprised how little some of the people that take these classes know about cars. if you get a head start going in, you can probably get some extra attention in terms of instruction from the head technicians.

Please log in or register to reply.