YACT: Damn... I wish I knew how to fix cars

[ndee]

So I could tune them all by myself. Make them faster and all the good stuff. I'm sure it's LOTS of fun to work on a car.

 

[Monel Funkawitz]

Yeah... whole lotta fun when you are changing a head gasket in your driveway in sub zero temperatures. It is a freakin' funfest.

So I could tune them all by myself.

You mean like a B flat?

 

[Eli]

So why don't you learn?

Seriously..

 

[NogginBoink]

Fixing cars and tuning cars are different things these days.

Back when cars were driven by carbeurators and sparks were timed with points, tuning a car could be done by the garage mechanic. Nowadays all that stuff is done by the computer, and the garage mechanic has no way to alter the performance of the car that the computer delivers.

Fixing cars can still be done by joe average for the most part. "Fun" is not the word I would use to describe it, however. It's more like celebrating a rite of self-inflicted injury to save a few bucks that's repeated many many times in one lifetime.

 

[ndee]

*waits for notfred*

I could put Bi-Turbos in my Toyota Corolla 1.6, damn that car would be fast cuz it's so light.

 

[zCypher]

Originally posted by: ndee
*waits for notfred*

I could put Bi-Turbos in my Toyota Corolla 1.6, damn that car would be fast cuz it's so light.

how about in a suzuki swift hatchback? weighs like 1800lbs.. you'd probably need to ADD weight just so it wouldn't have so much wheel spin

 

[NogginBoink]

Damn, I forgot to check my sarcasm meter before posting, didn't I?

 

[apoppin]

Damn... I wish I knew how to fix cars
Originally posted by: ndee
So I could tune them all by myself. Make them faster and all the good stuff. I'm sure it's LOTS of fun to work on a car.

Then learn.



Make a new friend (mechanic) and read a good book (your car's shop manual) or go to school.

And quit just "wishing" . . . (I did - I went the "friend" route and learned to rebuild rotary engines for performance)

EDIT: "Fun" depends on how much you like mechanics' work . . . I never do it for fun but have saved huge sums of money . . .

 

[slikmunks]

or just make friends who work on cars a lot, hang out, help out, ask a lot of questions and you'll start picking things up. That's how i learned about rx7's... i won't say i know about cars b/c i don't... i just know the basic ins and outs of a rotary

 

[ndee]

Originally posted by: NogginBoink
Damn, I forgot to check my sarcasm meter before posting, didn't I?

exactly

 

[Brutuskend]

I can't say working on cars is exactly FUN, but there IS a certain satisfaction in doing it yourself.

And you WILL save a load of cash.

I don't think I've owned a single car that I could have afforded to keep as long as I did if I hadn?t been able to fix it myself.

 

[thebestMAX]

What Brutuskend said.

Had a car while I was in the AF and what we were paid then forced me to learn how to do it myself or walk.

Wasnt that hard then but now about all you can do yourself now is oil, filters, PM and bolt ons.

If you want a fast car today you almost have to buy one that way. Almost.

 

[PunDogg]

Originally posted by: ndee
So I could tune them all by myself. Make them faster and all the good stuff. I'm sure it's LOTS of fun to work on a car.

yeah i wish i knew more about cars

Dogg

 

[apoppin]

Originally posted by: PunDogg

Originally posted by: ndee
So I could tune them all by myself. Make them faster and all the good stuff. I'm sure it's LOTS of fun to work on a car.

yeah i wish i knew more about cars

Dogg

Quit wishing . . .

it is SO easily attainable (just think of a car as a big computer with many subsystems . . . on wheels . . . with moving parts . . . and LOTS of grease)

 

[stickshift]

i'm in the same "wishing" boat..

Its nice to have a car to work on though; this week after finals, i'm off to find a chilton's repair manual and mess around with our old '93 maxima. I'm a bit paranoid about touching my 03 civic and our other 02 cars, since i'm sure i'd probably lose warranty

 

[KokomoGST]

Originally posted by: thebestMAX
What Brutuskend said.

Had a car while I was in the AF and what we were paid then forced me to learn how to do it myself or walk.

Wasnt that hard then but now about all you can do yourself now is oil, filters, PM and bolt ons.

If you want a fast car today you almost have to buy one that way. Almost.

Oh.... SOOOO not true.
Besides, the term "bolt on" has gotten pretty abused lately. Heck, friggin blowers and complete heads are now "bolt ons."

But that's not tuning... tuning is knowing about to set up your car's air and fuel delivery systems properly including all the requisite sensors to enable a car to make maximum horsepower in the configuration given without running too rich or too lean. Sometimes it involves some off throttle tuning so the car is more streetable and not just good at WOT. That is not easy... not by a longshot.