how did you learn to work on cars?

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Princess Valiant

Princess Valiant

A.K.A. Rainy Day Auto
Joined
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The more tech threads and the more tech articles i write have resulted in me getting some interesting Private messages here.

Most of them elude to a tone of "how do you know about cars ....your a GIRL"

some have a challenging tone that almost makes me feel like im doing
something wrong......So to avoid being a total smarta$$ about it ....i figured i would start this thread to share a little about it.

i did not magically wake up one day and "OMG i know how to work on cars"!!!!

i did have a mentor who is a Mopar guy and was before i even knew him....really close family friend who knows my parents very well.

there was a time when i was younger and i was injured really bad from an accident....so i had nothing better to do than sit around all day reading.......so my mentor put a stack of mopar muscle mags in front of me and that is what made me aware of lot about the auto industry that i would have never known otherwise. when i got better....like everyone else i started baby steps .....try changing the oil ....this is how you check tire pressure and why....all the way to ....this is what an engine looks like on the inside.....all the way to being shown how a car looks disassembled and why parts go together the way they do.
my mentor did inspire me to go to auto school ....nobody forced me to ...i did that on my own will.

so aside from my mentor.....really most of my knowledge started from books ......my books are my friends and i have spent a lot time with them even more than my mentor due to him having a busy shedule and limited time for me......i have even bought more tech books here on FABO.
i learned a lot from messing with my own cars ....there has been a lot of trial and error on my own cars ....i have tried to do a lot with my cars that didnt work out.......many many failed attempts at stuff .....but a few sweet victories of getting stuff to work the way its supposed to.

so when guys are surprised and shocked so bad that i know this stuff ....and there is no way i know everything either...........

Yes thats right gentlemen: this info is NO SECRET....ANYBODY WHO CAN READ CAN LEARN THIS STUFF.

so tell me .....how did you guys learn to work on cars ?
 

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When something broke we fixed it and learned by DOING!!!!!! It inspired me so that I went to tech school for my ASE certification!!!!!!!Also used to hang out at the local garage and we only had one in town and Joe could fix anything!!!!!! Swifter
 
Good morning Rani! For me it started as a young kid and my dad owning a garage. I started off there pumping gas and like you changing oil. My mentor has always been my father and he still is. It makes it difficult to see him aging. I have always maintained he has forgotten more than I will ever know.

Magazines and books as well, but for me I am a "hands-on" learner. Reading for me is a "reference". I can do all the reading in the world, but I need to put my hands to work. Ya know what they say, "idle hands are the devils play child" ...or something like that...
 
If something broke and I couldn't afford to pay to have it fixed...which happens a lot when you're a kid... I learned to fix it myself. Now days it's the same for my dd pos, don't work on that unless I have to, but I'll work on an old classic happily.. I'll never catch up to your level of experience tho Rani. You go girl:thumblef::thumblef: Your level of enthusiam is amazing!
 
I started at about age 10 reading how cars worked in the encyclopedia. Drove my first car at 13 and been working on them since. Just put my 360 together from bare block, first one in a while was really pleased when it fired on the first turn.
Bruce
 
Sorta the same way with me. I started reading old car and bike magazines, I built A LOT of models, helped my dad work on the cars at home when he serviced them. I inherited an old Chebby that sat in a field for 15 years, and a lot of taking apart, cleaning, figuring out etc... Started Vo-tec high school and took the auto shop courses. bought/sold cars learned from mistakes. Lots of magazines, books, parts cataloges (before internet). Worked in body shops, mechanic shops my own garage.
I see many of the samebooks I have that you show in your pictures. Books are a great thing.
 
Learning by doing. I got my first car at 16 and with no money you had no choice but to learn to fix everything yourself. There was a lot of trial and error. Reading (usually after making a mistake) gave a lot of knowledge.
 
Early in my career in the Air Force and as a husband, father and homeowner, there were times when money was tight. The cars I could afford were generally not the most dependable and would need repairs that I didn't know how to do. This of course would tighten the money situation further. After buying my latest "lemon" at an auction and realizing the money I had already put into it to get it working right was just the tip of the iceberg, I decided to cut my losses and get rid of it and look for an older "simpler" car to learn on. I ended up with my 74 Duster. Within a month I had pulled the motor and torn it down to the bare block. There wasn't anything wrong with it, I just wanted to learn. It took me about 3 weeks working on it after work, but when I had it back together, in the car and fired it up.......what a feeling! Most of my knowledge came from observation of the way it came apart, books, and a couple of car guys at work that I would fire questions at when I was confused about something. Now money isn't as much as an issue, I still own the house, the boy is now 17 with a car of his own, the wife drives a nice Nissan Titan, I drive a new 300, and we now enjoy the Duster as a toy not a daily driver and it has a place in the garage while all the other cars sit in the driveway.
 
When I was around 10 or 11 years old my dad restored his 1966 Barracuda, I was able to watch how that all went. Dad went to alot of car shows when the car was done so got to see lots of other old cars too. I also read every Mopar magazine and book I could find, I even liked the tech articles even though I wouldn't be driving for another 5 years. I was also obsessed with plastic model kits. Learning how the kits went together and what the parts were, it was like training for the real thing!
 
For me it was my dad. He built up a Ford small block HIPO engine in our basement at home when I was in junior high school and put it in a 63 Falcon. The thing was scary to say the least. I got to be the first to ride in it on the day he got it done. I was hooked on fast cars from that moment on and have been every since. My two older brothers weren't much into cars at the time, probably because of one major side track...GIRLS! So I caught the bug at a early age and signed up for auto shop classes at my high school and began to hang out with guys who knew lots more than I did at the time and that helped me a lot too. The next thing I know, I'm fixing my two brothers cars everytime they would break something. Like was said before, I learned a lot of stuff on the fly as I went. Then I spent 8 years working at the local Ford dealership in the parts and service department right at the time Detroit was exploding with muscle cars. So that added a lot to my resume and I have been messing around with cars ever since. It was the best hobby I could have ever learned to do and to think it all started at home as a punk 13year old watching his dad build a fun street machine. Kept me occupied and out of trouble too. My first girlfriend liked fast cars and we had a blast together cruising through town and catching a few street races now and then. A great time to be a kid.
 
I always had a fastenation with mechanical things from a very early age.....I knew when I was about 10 years old that cars were a large part of my life and always would be, and mopars in paticular, growing up in a mopar family. After high school, I attended an automotive school which was T.C.I., which years later became Linclon tec. I have been an ASE certified master tech, for many years, and really got interested in restoring old muscle cars about 30 years ago, when I restored my first mopar, an AAR cuda.
 
I had a buddy. He was pretty good at stuff. In asking him how he new so much, his reply was his Dad. I asked for help in learning and doing. So he invited me over to work on his car(s). I asked when. He said everyday. So I arrived everyday. Started with taking the radiator out.

From time to time, other freinds of ours would show up and twists wrench. Sometimes, we all would show up at there house and twist a wrench. Car to car, house to house, we all wrenched on each others cars. After a few years of this, you kind of realized everybody learned something off of each other becoming a little smarter and better at it.

This tradition continues today with my local buds. I'll stroll down the block and pop in on Ron, give/get a call from Steve for an issue, Milke stops In And bagger bagers me on owning a MoPar. So I'll give him some crap back while we tune up the ride or BS a out stuff. Hell help turn a wrench in a heartbeat flat on anything. My daughters old boyfriend would pull up looking for driveway space and a set up tool box (something he really didn't haven't the time) so he can supercharge his ride.

Reading books to unlock the inner workings and secrets is a great idea. You learn tips, tricks and secrets fast without the trial and error. Which is a bit costly and time delaying nower days. LOL, I just don't have money like I used to for the toy. House takes 90% of it now. So fixing stuff myself becomes a must do since paying the man his fee is a bit pricey. This is on the car and house.

After getting ripped off a few times, house and car, you start saving money real fast by doing yourself what needs to be done.
 
I think my first real repair was putting a new pull rope in the B/S push mower.
Sometime later I used a file to recreate the notch in the end of that recoil spring after the end had snapped off. I think my "If I cant fix it it aint broke" mentality started right there.
Car knowledge came from.. 1 owner operated auto repair shop with 1 worker. 1 owner operated auto upholstery shop with 1 worker. These were the places I chose to be whenever I could, even playing hookie from school.
 
I lived on the road growing up with out a father but many father figures
My mom was a dandy mechanic back in the day, having 4 brothers she learned
quickly how to do things like change her oil, and keep our car ready for the next trip.
I was about 7 and remember her removing a fuel filter on the HWY and cleaning it out
Me, I quess it was my uncle Robert (moms brother) that was my mentor and always seemed to be working on someone's car, and let me hang around and hand him wrenches as he needed them
If I remember correctly my mom and I changed out a water pump on a 383 New Port when I was 8 years old, reading never was my strong point, so common old fastion horse sense and doing it tought me first, now I use books and read allot better :study:

I have about 20 books to use when I need them or when a member asks
a question I can answer :glasses7:

I know well over 5 ladies that turn wrenches here in town and at the track
Rani, and not at all surprised to see them enjoy wrenching and getting grease
on there hands, Not very many, but a few, It is very nice to see them getting after it and doing it well, and as good as any man could :coffee2:
 

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I was always fascinated with cars and when I was in H.S. I left half day in went to Votec for autobody and paint. I always read manuals and instructions something I try to instill in my son!
 
My Great Uncle Dale taught me how to do an oil change when I was 19. After I joined the Air Force, my best friend taught me all I know and still helps me today with information, even though he lives very far away from me now. When I lived only 3 hours away, he came down and helped me put my 71 440 4-speed Duster together. Also, like you, I try to read what I can to obtain some knowledge on how to do things. Fortunately I have manuals as well.
 
Older brothers and dear old Dad. He also was also the one to turn us on to Mopar.
We have a sister too and she was into cars(still is,, She married a drag racer).She took night classes at the high school for "Auto Mechanics".Her favorite cars was a 68 Coronet. She is in her 60's now and drives a Dakota.Oh, ALL of her cars were(are) stick shifts.
 
I learned out of necessity, like several others have stated. My Dad died when I was 15, and that made life a money struggle for my Mom and I. I was an "oops" baby, and was born late in my Mom and Dads life, so my Mom wasn't able to work in her later years due to medical problems. My next door neighbor was my mentor about quite a few things, and helped me understand the how and why of cars. I worked as a bagboy at the grocery store, and paid my own way and most of my Moms way too. My older brother had given me a 64 Corvair Spyder when I was 15. I learned pretty quickly with that P.O.S. that throwing good money after bad just didn't get it! I offered to give it back to my brother, and he told me to sell it to make a down payment on a better car. Sold it for $400 and got a loan to buy a 70 Duster. I changed my own oil, did my own brakes, and even put spider gears in the 7 1/4 a few times. I read a lot of Hot Rod and Car Craft stuff, and learned a great deal from that. We had no Mopar mags back in the day, and the Mopar articles were few and far between. FABO's own White Punk on Nitro wrote quite a few Mopar pieces back in the day. Thanks Tony!:prayer: I've been in the old car hobby for a long time, and still learn new stuff on a regular basis. I try to keep an open mind, and never stop learning.

Rani.....don't EVER let the haters who rag on you for being a young lady in the car hobby get you down. Some may be dumb enough to feel threatened by an attractive woman who's not afraid to turn a wrench. There is a lady that lives in my area that works on her own Mopars. She is a girly girl, and is a VERY nice looking woman, but she knows how to do anything she needs/wants to do to her car... and isn't afraid to do it. Some people treat her just like you have been in the past. I say good for you for working on your cars! :prayer: :cheers:
 
At the tender age of 9 years old, my parents moved into the first house that they and the mortgage company owned. There was a guy down the street with a 61 BelAir with a 409 in it. I started hanging around, and being a general pain, I guess Galen figured he would use my energy to keep his garage/shop clean and put me to work pushing a broom. From there, he swapped cars around and in '63 bought a Dodge 330 2door with a 413 in it. I learned may thing from him by just hanging around and helping out. In '65 I went to work in a gas station, the full service type station pumping gas and fixing flat tires. From there it progressed to changing oil and filters, to doing tuneups on customers cars. When I turned 15, my folks gave me a '63 Dart and I got to work on my own car. After much trial and error, I got it running for a short period of time and the push button trans went south. My mentor down the street had a '64 Dart GT with a 273 and 4 speed in it. It was crashed in the front end, and I proceeded to bug him until he "gave" me the car just to shut me up. From there, I put my '63 front end on the '64 and began terrorizing the streets.

I'm of the older generation that couldn't afford to pay someone else to fix my stuff, so I either learned how to fix it myself or bartered my labor to get someone to teach me how to fix my stuff. To this day, I think back fondly of the many people I met over the untold amount of years. Sadly a lot of the folks have gone to their reward, but some of them are still around and I have contact with some of them.

This past Thursday 12-13-12, my oldest and best friend past away. We worked side by side over the past 43 years on his cars and mine.

R.I.P Tommy Tomlin
 
trial & error, then as I aged-- reading to assist the trial & error, now FABO!!-- also a lot of beer was consumed in my younger days-- my friend & I painted a 67 chevelle 4 door hardtop-- once-- small keg & a week later --drove it home(2 hour drive)I have pics somewhere.!!

on another note-- Rani-- were you inspired by the movie: My Cousin Vinny?

sounds like you have a ready made part-- especially on the the stand & what is the timing of a 327 4 bbl carb!!--Except it might have to change to what is the timing of a 340 4 bbl 1970 Dart!
Lawrence
 
I read LOTS of magazines when I was a kid. I started by just wanting to do it.

I would take stuff apart and if I couldnt figure it out, I would go to the parts store and the guys there would tell me what I needed to do to fix it,. (This was back when all the guys there had cool cars they actually worked on)

The first timing chain job I did, I had to do it TWICE because I didnt line up the dots-as I had been told. DOH!!

The best advice I was given is if it has fuel, fire, and is in time it should start. I might run like crap but it should start. So I always started with those things. LOL
 
JDMopar said:
I learned out of necessity, like several others have stated. My Dad died when I was 15, and that made life a money struggle for my Mom and I.
Click to expand...

x2....through trial & error, friends, manuals, FABO & believe it or not You Tube for some visual instruction.
 
When I was 15 my Dad asked me if I thought I could put a starter in my mom mercury.
Took me all day and I had to crawl under a family friends farlaine to figure out where the wires went, but I got it done.

Next my dad gave me a U-joint for his 61 B model Mack log truck and told me to give putting that in a try.
So I learned from trial and error how to fix things on cars.

Rani don't listen to the na sayers, your a insperation to a lot of us. Keep on wrenching!
 
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