kravdra

I doubt anyone can help, but maybe I can still get ideas So here goes. I'm 17, and love my car, and want to learn all about it and about cars. I'm helping my dad rebuild hsi '60 corvair, and have replaced the clutch on my '99 OBS. But I haven't really learned a lot about cars and things. I've learnt a lot here but thought if I could get a job at a machine shop I could learn a lot, and have something to do this summer. However, the place I take all my stuff, (flywheel and corvair stuff) couldn't use help. Does anyone know of a machine shop or mechanic near sunnyvale who might want help from someone who knows virtually nothing? Also does anyone have any other ideas of how to learn more? Thank you very much

itwrx

iTrader: (1)

I hear books are great... they are at the library... Is this your junior year in highschool or Senior? you might be able to take an autoshop class or a summer auto shop class at a local community college.

kravdra

junior, so next years senior. thnx

dan avoN7

iTrader: (11)

i feel autoshop classes are a waste of time. Its mostly for general cars and not car specific. I've been to my friends auto tech class once and the only good part about it is that they let you use snap on tools. Just read the forums and check out scoobymods.com Thats how ive learned everything i know and im also a senior in high school. So far ive done everything to my car from uppipe, turboback, turbo, injectors, fuel pump, coilovers, etc... Once you start working on the car its pretty basic and you can see what you need to do in order to install the part.

verc

iTrader: (12)

Wait you want to learn MACHINING, as in mill and lathe, casting, forging, welding/brazing,

or TOOLS, as in die grinder, dremel, air powered crap, drill press, bandsaws, cutting sheetmetal, carbon fiber/fiberglass?


for everything I listed under tools you can buy a book and just get the tools; they aren't very expensive.

To actually machine, you will most likely need to take some sort of certification/safety class before someone lets you into a shop. This means vocational school like Sequoia Tech, which will have FAR more advanced facilities than most community colleges.


Most of the people on this board who learned to work on their cars have broken stuff in the learning process. Some of us learned on a previous beater car, others (like me, unfortunately) learned to work on their wrx and had pains in the **** accidentally overtorquing a bolt or blowing a fuse or whatnot.

You really should take classes at your highschool autoshop though, you may not learn car specific things, but you WILL learn tool specific things. I'd say 70 percent of the f-ups with cars are with improper use of tools.

MeshmeZ

iTrader: (3)

if you want to learn about cars i have found the best way is by doing. books help you get it done correctly, but just reading the books wont help you learn all that much (though they are much better than nothing) with cars, a lot of the learning has to do with actually seeing what is going on. the auto shop classes might be a good idea, most DO give just a general look at cars, but thats a good jumping off point.

i dont know that you have money to burn, but you might go to pick-n-pull or someplace similar and pick up a cheap engine/tranny. this wont exactly be CHEAP but you can tear it apart and see whats going on, and you wont have to worry about ruining your daily car if you screw something up.

as for finding a job, i would have to say that unless you know someone who owns/manages a shop no one is going to take you in.. its probably an insurance risk :-/

Keisatsu

get a chiltons manual for your car if its available... that'll teach you everything to know

nachomc

iTrader: (7)

corvair: the car deemed unsafe at any speed!

Fatal Velocity

iTrader: (1)

take your car apat and put it back together you will become a auto master.

kravdra

thanx for the reply's, i guess ill probably get a book or somethin. As for auto class, I cant do it through my school, since i go to a private scool that doesnt offer 1. I guess the jist of what u guys r saying is just mess with it, which I'll do, ut I don't know, I guess I hoped for something more, where id learn about cars more than simply how the tranny and engine go together. Yup, the corvairs the one thats "unsafe at any speed" (although its interesting that it handled better than the corvette at the time, so GM made them mess with the suspension to make it more equal

verc

iTrader: (12)

Here's another point to consider:



Everything you see in daily life is an ABSTACTION. That is, it's a simplification of something more complicated. For example, a video game is an abstraction of code, which is an abstraction of machine language, which is an abstraction of digital principle, which is an abstraction of CMOS/BJT transistor technology, which is an abstraction of electronics, which is an abstraction of the E&M physics.

Now, you can play a video game and understand something about how it works (its graphics engine, its AI construct, etc) but the more deeper levels of abstraction you go to the more you will intuitively understand

So when it comes down to it, CARS are an abstraction of a LOTS of stuff simplified into one.

Therefore, even if you can't get a lot of hands-on experience now it's OK. In fact, I would not advise you to go out of your way to "learn about cars". You will struggle with a lot of uncertain concepts that are hard to understand, but if you pursue a major in mechanical engineering, these concepts will become intuitive to you. A lot of people argue about Compressor flow maps, a lot of people argue about torque vs. horsepower. This controversy is because these concepts have higher levels of meaning that are not possible for an average person to understand so people make stuff up and argue about these all day. Yet they are layed out in a way that a layman can practically use them (picking out a proper sized turbo, dyno's, etc.)


So bottom line is I'll tell you my own story. I have a friend who was a ricer in high school. Yup, he had a civic with a big wing and a fartcan. When I met him freshman year of college I flamed the crap out of him even though he was my friend, because he was such a ricer. The short of it is, now it's 3 years later. He's got a an ecplise GSX and he's calculated and bended his own intercooler piping, he's pieced together an awesome Aerocharger VATN turbo kit (which isn't even available ANYWHERE on the market) and gave instructions to a machine shop to CNC mill a dogbox transmission of his OWN design, all this for practically free. His bodykit is custom made and he's actually going to test the coefficients of drag and downforce of his front and rear spoiler in a wind tunnel this summer when he works in a laboratory. Next year me and him are going to try to piece together a custom engine management system from scratch. Tell you something, you can dive in to it all you want, but education pays off in the end. You'll start with fundamentals and after step by step, you will be totally surprised at the real world things you can apply your classroom knowledge to. It's like the big single turbo supra vs. the McLaren F1. The N/A F1 will pull it off the line, maybe even up to 100 miles an hour, but the single turbo supra will start pulling ahead like a raped ape once it spools (in about 2 hours).

mot

iTrader: (5)

kravdra what school do you go to?

MeshmeZ

iTrader: (3)

check out the junior colleges... they normally have auto classes

kravdra

Harker...

I was thinking about taking a junior college class but I'd have to miss half of it, although i'm still looking into it

kravdra

O yea, and I'm wanting to go into mechanical engineering cuz i luv cars, and knowing what stuff does (physics is awesome)

Or going to Western Washington for their car program.

Thanks for all the replies again, nice point verc, and awesome story!!!