Where's a good place to begin to learn car mechanics?

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GoldenGuppy

Diamond Member
Feb 4, 2000
3,494
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I wish to know more about car mechanics so that I can work on cars as a hobby! Damn movie! (you all know the one I'm talking about!) this might just be a phase... but to get to the point, do you guys know where's a good place online or some good mags that I can begin to look at to get some beginner's knowledge?

Thanks!
 
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Ronstang

Lifer
Jul 8, 2000
12,493
18
81
The only real place to learn about cars is out in the garage. The most important ingredient is desire, once you have that and mix it with persistance the rest will follow. Start by doing simple things like tune ups etc. Working on cars is mostly take one part off and put another in it's place. Not nearly as difficult as one thinks. Diagnosing problems is the difficult part but the ability to do so comes with experience.

The best place to start might be to get a magazine that contains articles that pertain to the type of car you own. Follow a tech article step by step to complete a simple upgrade on your car. I don't know what kind of car you own so I can't suggest any magazines or beginner projects. If you have a Japanese car I really don't know of any sources, but I do have one tidbit of advice - DON'T RICE!!!
 
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perry

Diamond Member
Apr 7, 2000
4,018
1
0
Go to Pep Boys, et. al and buy a Haynes or Chilton's manual for your car. Start doing routine maintanance and stuff on your own car, then as little things develop as you go along try and fix them yourself. The best way to learn to work on a car is to actually do it yourself. Get your hands dirty and learn. Don't be a bench racer/mechanic that only knows what he reads in Motor Trend.
 
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Soybomb

Diamond Member
Jun 30, 2000
9,506
2
81
If you're talking about real mechanics then just start turning wrenches like most people do screwdrives on their computer the first time they take it apart. If you're inspired by "the movie" though I'd suggest a trip to wal-mart for stickers and yellow spray paint. Once you master masking you're a SAE certified master rice mechanic.
 
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thedarkwolf

Diamond Member
Oct 13, 1999
9,018
114
106
I took a year off of school and went to a vocational auto mechanics school for a year for pretty much the same reason. The one I went to was only $1200 plus atleast $200 in tools(they had tools but you had to atleast have the basics). The place basically worked like a garage for the poor or very cheap :). We only had one or two class cars to screw with most of the stuff we did was real problems with real cars. Almost every Friday we were allowed to work on our own cars and over the winter its slow so I was allowed to rebuild the engine in my galaxie.

Note if I had tried to make a ricer in there I would have got my ass kicked :)
 
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1967mustangman

Senior member
May 31, 2001
500
0
0
I think that the ASE puts out a line of good basic info books that will give you a rundown of all the major systems what they do and how etc.. I must tell you I work at a garage and I love every minute of it!
 
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djchemistry

Senior member
Mar 9, 2000
856
0
0
Ugh...a rice rocket engineer? How about learning to be a real mechanic? I'm pretty sure once you get your hands dirty with a real engine you'll understand how cosmetic alot of those modifications are. Why add Nitros to a crappy engine when you know how to choose, buy, or build a better one?

However if you're set firm on your rice rocket quest, I suggest starting off with stereo installation and such. There's no real need to learn the specifics under the hood. All you really need to know is how to attach add-ons and accessories anyway.
 
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Pacfanweb

Lifer
Jan 2, 2000
13,154
58
91
<<People who race cars just aren't athletic enough to race themselves. >>

Very dumb statement. That would be 99.999999etc... of all people.
 
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