Car Knowledge and How You Got It

Topic. Can you tell me how you learned what you know now about cars in general (tune ups, mechanics, cars, specs, different engines, each individual part of a car, etc.). I was hoping for different approaches than my current one, which is going to sites that explain things like howstuffworks.com and various automobile forums and sites.

Thanks,
~Mike

First I was taught by my father who was a hot-rodder during the late 50's. Even before I got my driver's license, I restored a 1971 Ford Ranchero with the 256hp H.O. 302 and began learning how to drag race at Seattle Int'l Raceway. During that time, I learned about staging strategies, track conditions, tree reading and launch control, also ideal shift points. Once I had learned the basics, I began learning about suspension setups, engine tuning and basic fabrication. Then I started taking Automotive Vocational Classes which over the next 4 years learning more advanced concepts. While in school I worked at two Service Stations, a Ford Dealership's Service department near Seattle and finally an early tuner shop called "Super Shops" near Seattle in the late 90's.

I also began street racing in the cities around 1990. Loooong before it was cool to do so and there wasn't the law enforcement presence that you see today.

Over the last 15 years I have built a total of 5 cars myself and helped out on countless. Obviously this number would have been much higher but a 5 year stint in the Navy and an eroding interest in performing custom fabrication has put a big damper in many of my prospective projects. Also, for several years, I didn't have a place to work on one any more even if I wanted to.

Don't be thinking that the internet is the only source of information about cars... ever and here's why. When you have someone teaching you something in person, there is a lot of accountability there because if they are wrong, you will go back to them and tell them so. On the internet you can make a website that will say just about anything you want. Anominity breeds disshonesty so take most of what you read with a grain of salt. If you want to learn, go buy a toolbox and start wrenching with a good book to guide you. Or, the best and most obvious choice is to go to school.

Either way you chose... get off your computer and put your head under a hood.

having something break and not having enought money to take it to a garage was how i started. now i just do it for fun or so i can spend the money elsewhere. if it's a PITA of a job, i don't mind paying a garage to do it. :)

I just read the forums, rarely posting. Found almost everything I wanted to know. Hardly had to ask any questions. Try it.

I just read magazines and have conversations with my friends. I went from not know the difference between a V6 and a V8 to just looking at an engine and know what's in it. Not to mention knowing several engine codes.

ive read forums, magazines, video games, and friends, along with web search.

Well, what got me into cars, was seeing one person with a very clean modded Accord in my area. Thats when Fas And Furious came out, and I was interesteed in seeing what people were doing to there cars. So, one day I search it on the net, and slowly started getting into it.

I started learning little facts here and there, but I was learning from my RICER causin, who really doesnt know shit himself. I was learning all the wrong things, and if it wasnt for my friend I would have been a ricer.

Well, one day I come across a site called RPMmotoring.com, and lied to the to ask about sponsership, they asked me what I wanted to do to my car. He knew I was a kid then, and didnt know what I was talking about.
So, he told me to call him for any questions, and over the next year I would learn SO many things, I never thought I would know. I got out the FWD fad, and I started hating ricers.
He introduced me into drifting, (before it became bastardised like it is today) and well, I likied it.
So, now I get my info from magazines, internet, and mostly from him.
Hes very anti-rice, and he knows WAY more than I can even imagine.
But, latly for the past 3-4 months his site, and phones were down, and I cant get in touch with him. Check out the site at www.RPMmotoring.com.

Oh, BTW, that Supra in the backround is the first Supra in the US to have a REAL widebody from AB-Flug. When its done, it should have BIG HP.

Thanks guys. I appreciate the help. I've been petitioning my HS library to get more mechanical books in so I can read up on that and as for my HS goes, it doesn't have any mechanical class. I am thinking of either doing both a college and a vocational college to learn about cars or, if the college has the class, I will take that instead so when I -do- go to the USMC I won't be spending most of my time learning about cars and actually focusing on my USMC job, whatever that may be. But I have a long way to go, and as far as I am concerned, I have nothing but time and time is what it will take. That and patience, aswell as a loving brother who will teach me anything and everything he knows. He's been with me 110% of the way and I am greatful because without him and his Jetta 1.8 Turbo, I would have never been introduced into the import scene. SRS the game was also a huge contributer to my fancyness with Skylines, but I loved them even before that just not as much now.

Do you know any books, by name or author, that you know will help me with generals and specifics of cars that I can request the library to get? Right now all they have is Chilton's.

Danke,
~Mike

Well, there is a book my friend kept trying to get me to read. It teaches you about turbos, and he tells me it will help a lot. Dont know any though.

My stepfather owned an auto repair shop and I worked there for a while full time and then part time. That got me the basics, but most I've picked up either working on my own cars, or hanging out with tuners and builders. People who would be considered experts with them.

When I was a teenager [many moons ago] I leaned a lot from my father,who was a full time mechanic for a large fleet of cabsHe had a preference for Vauxhalls, but I was a BMC man...Yup,I owned Minis,1100's,1300's and even a Maxi. I briefly owned a Crayford-bodied Wolseley Estate[about 3 days actually,I got sold a pup there].
From there Iwent to Ford Cortinas and Capris, tinkering with an Essex powered Capri for drag racing until I grew out of it,and went for the severley tacky look of a 1980's customised Cortina with the obligatory Celica 5 speed gearbox conversion and mags and fluffy dice.....

I gave away my car obsession when I got married, not 20 years on,I'm just starting to pick little bits up again.Got to say though,theres much more to take into consideration with the newer cars.Glad I have a tame mechanic to hand when the going gets ugly.

Haha, seems like you all grew up with mechanics or friends that were mechanics. I've got only my brother who is a bartender and going to college for IT, so not a great deal of knowledge there about cars indepth. But I guess I will have to be the starting man in my family for cars and hopefully my sons/daughters will get into it aswell some day. For now, I'll stick with learning the basics in any way I can. Thanks a lot guys, you've given me great options. I truly appreciate it.

~Mike

Well me I played NFS Underground and wanted to learn more about how they all worked rather than Stage 1 engine kit and +5 horsepower for putting the greddy sticker on :P. So I searched the net and am building up knowledge and I'm currently learning to drive (man the clutch can be a b***h when your learning).

Hahahah Amril, I hear ya. Sticks are hard to learn at first, but it is easy when it comes down to it. Just remember to let go of the clutch a bit faster on inclines and give more gas... I kinda peeled out on that one while my brother was teaching me how, lol. What started to get me into cars and engines was Street Racing Syndicate. They did the import scene very well in the game, though, even if a 1.9s 0-60 skyline isn't possible, it was a good game either way.

I grew up with a car fanatic for a dad, and as soon as I could talk I was naming parts off a Cola Carbeurator...

But then childhood things got in the way and I slowly got out of it untill I couldnt tell you the specifics of my first car.

Then it came right back and hit me full on in the face... im an absolute car freak now.. working on getting money for a Skyline (student and working part time, its hard) and working with my dad on getting it legalized.

nderground was the worst racing game I ever played. Hope you know Fast And Furious, and NFS Underground are not good tools for learning about cars. Thats what I am always told.

Movies should NEVER influence your major decisions about life or auto mechanics. TFTF was a good movie in it's own right (god Vin Diesal rocked) but the drags and races were slightly overexaggerated. Also, NFS:U was a horrible game for me because I didn't understand it. But games -can- be good tools for just general knowledge, but there is always that possibility of overexaggeration (Like SRS's 1.9 0-60 Skyline) so I like to steer clear of those two methods whenever possible.

NFSU is a horrible game, and 2fast 2gay is horrible movie. It doesnt teach you anything about cars. The only thing it does teach you is how to rice cars out. If you want a real game try GranTurismo4, that will help more than NFSU.

If any of you young people take anything from my post and some of the other's here it's this... and remember it well.

If you want to learn how to work on cars, there are 3 ways... Books, School and Wrenching. And I can't stress wrenching enough.

Video games are NOT reference material, they are entertainment as are movies and much of the crap on the internet should not be taken for gospel. Besides, learning cars' facts and figures does NOT, and I repeat NOT make you a good mechanic or tuner. Period.

If you don't believe me, than I suppose that people that know every baseball player's stats in Major League Baseball makes that person a badass 2nd baseman as well.

Get off your computers and put your heads under a few hoods if even just to change the oil. Get some grease on your hands and learn something the old fashioned way.

Get off your computers and put your heads under a few hoods if even just to change the oil. Get some grease on your hands and learn something the old fashioned way.
I second the notion.

Get off your computers and put your heads under a few hoods if even just to change the oil. Get some grease on your hands and learn something the old fashioned way.
:boink: yes good way to explain that :iagree: .............aint nothing but a gangsta party.......sorry just fell like saying that

As I said, I like to steer clear of those two methods of trying to find stuff out. And also Matada, in order to even attempt to fix something, you need to know how something works. There are two ways: Books and respected auto sites. Now, say you just found out some knowledge on engines and how to change the oil. You get a buddy who knows what to do and you ask him for help. He takes you step by step, and since you already know some of the general things, you just skip on by and you remember how to change oil. This is a good method to finding out many things, unless they require trial and error, i.e. tuning a car to perfection.

fathers a mechanic so learned some stuff form him and others trial and error

reading...

get the haynes or bently manual for your car and then read it cover to cover. start off by doing some of the simple jobs and work your way up.

yes, there's no substitute for spanner spinning.

!!but a word of warning!!

until you get more experianced, don't take anything apart that you can't afford to buy a new one if you break it. and when working on something that could have a safety impact on your car (brakes, steering, fuel, etc) have someone there who's already done it before and that you trust to double check your work. better to be safe than sorry.

Yeah zzpza, that is what I was suggesting. And dammit, everyone's father used to be a mechanic!!!! Grrrr, lol.

my father wasn't a mechanic....he taught me the secret of his method of auto repair, however.....

The 2 step troubleshooting/repair method:

conviently invite a technically-savvy friend over just about the time that you are to attempt a job you know damn well you can't do.....languish in ineptitude for as long as it takes before said friend takes the wrenches away and does it himself....


mB

my father wasn't a mechanic....he taught me the secret of his method of auto repair, however.....

The 2 step troubleshooting/repair method:

conviently invite a technically-savvy friend over just about the time that you are to attempt a job you know damn well you can't do.....languish in ineptitude for as long as it takes before said friend takes the wrenches away and does it himself....


mB

very cunning :D :D :D

my father wasn't a mechanic....he taught me the secret of his method of auto repair, however.....

The 2 step troubleshooting/repair method:

conviently invite a technically-savvy friend over just about the time that you are to attempt a job you know damn well you can't do.....languish in ineptitude for as long as it takes before said friend takes the wrenches away and does it himself....


mB


wait a minute, i just realised i got suckered in by that one when i brought some spring compressers round to a friend and ended up changing the springs and dampers on his bimmer...

2 Fast 2 Furious did nothin good to the car world but bastardise it. I'de love to meet the makers of it, and Craig Leiberman. I'de kill em both.

wait a minute, i just realised i got suckered in by that one when i brought some spring compressers round to a friend and ended up changing the springs and dampers on his bimmer...

ahahaha lol.

It wasn't that NFS U taught me about cars, hell all it tells you is that rice is good and performance parts come in carefully prepared packages but I wan't to learn how they actually worked

ohh....and GT3.....

^along w/ reading...

the only thing GT3 will teach you is the cars in general. Specs and stuff, good way to start out is by knowing your cars, and GT3 does that, but it wont teach you anything else.

GT3 teached me alot, LOL! I know its really sad. Well, I joined these forums to learn about cars, and thats exactly whats happening

HA, GT3 is a pretty good game. Hell, its my favorite game of all time. It does teach a lot, because there are summeries of the cars, and spec and all that. Even when you mod, they tell you some parts, and how they work. But theres still more ways to learn about cars.
Oh, and you cant read magazines like Super Street (love it) and Modified (hate it) and expect to learn a whole lot. In my opinion those magazines are already for people who know the cars and parts... In my opinion the best was are to search the net (on non-biased sites) and learn from real car guys (not the ones with the cheap mufflers on there 86 Civic coupe). If you do hang out with ricers, and play NFS U, and watch 2 Fast 2 Gay, then 2 things will happen to you. 1. you will think the Skyline is the car to end all cars....2 you will be a ricer (like my goddamn causin) Dont be like that, cuz nobody will take you seriously. Ricers have one thing in common. They all want the image of looking fast even though most of the time there car is shit. For example, my gay causin..He had a 96 Mazda 626. He had a stolen no name brand muffler on it (stole it form some other ricer). A tachometer (the ones with the shift lights), and neons. All this on a bone stock rusted up car. Wow, what a fucken idiot he is. Now, he has a G35 (new Skyline) has an X-Box, and 4 TVs in it. Wants to put a single G-Rated turbo in it (no such thing as G-rated, but his stupid ass confuses it with Greddy lool). Greddy makes twin turbos for it, and he doesnt know the proper way to upgrade a car. He thinks you just slap on a turbo and that the end of it. Hello, when putting a turbo on an N/A engine, there is a much bigger procces to go to! In front of him, I act like I dont know shit about cars, but as I hear him say bull shit, I laugh it off in my head. You guys should see him, hes the biggest ricer, and waste of life I ever seen.

lol...well maybe it wouldn't be smart to meet your cousin...^

My friend/teacher in cars, wants to beat him up even though they never met. lol

My dad was a mechanic....my step dad was a nut.

My dad let me tear stuff apart....my step dad wouldn't let me drive until I OWNED a car. He wouldn't let me own a car until I could do 1st echelon maintainence. My 1st car was a Corvair (easiest engine swap in the book next to the VW). My second car was a 1964.5 Mustang.

I have always hung around gearheads to some extent. I have gotten back into cars since my own kids are now gearheads...especially my youngest son. He routinely pulls engines swaps them...rebuilds them...then takes them out on the track and breaks them.

We currently have more cars and parts than sense at our house. We have 4 S13s (2 Sileighties, a Skyvia,and a Silvia), 2 Laurels, a Nissan truck to haul tools and parts to the track....and more parts and tires than I care to think about.

.

We currently have more cars and parts than sense at our house. We have 4 S13s (2 Sileighties, a Skyvia,and a Silvia), 2 Laurels, a Nissan truck to haul tools and parts to the track....and more parts and tires than I care to think about.

......and no more than 2 are fully operational at any given time:evillol:. Trust me. I am the one with the tow truck.

Ahhh....some are operational....just not legal for the street. We have two permanently parked (stored) at the track. :D

Thegladhatter, what country do you live in? And as for your Silvias, what kind of racing are they setup more?

We live in Japan....just down the road from Matada, and GTR2b. My son's passion is drifting. (THAT is why Matada gets to drive his tow-truck so much)

Nice. Man, I would do anything to live in Japan. It seems like such a peaceful and advanced place to live. Two of my passions come form Japan, anime, and drifting (even though drifting in the states is getting a wee bit bastardised). I LOVE underground drifting. Been a fan since my friend introduced me to it.