how did you learn to work on cars?

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66Dvert said:
Yup had a paper route and got tired of riding the bike delivering 300+ papers every day. Soooo.. I swiped dad's 39 Chevy and drove it around delivering papers. darn car broke down all the time so I learned real quick how to get her running again before Dad got up @ 5:30 in the morning. I'd get the papers in a bag and start the car rolling down the street and I'd run to the houses delivering the papers and then at the end of the street jump in the rolling car and load up again, cut my delivery time in half. Thinking back on it I was just plain crazy for doing that but it worked for 2 years until I turned 16 and then had saved up enough money to buy my first car.

(I really thought I was getting over on Dad) but it seems like he knew all along and never said anything until I was 30 or so and let it slip that that darn Chevy never ran good until I started delivering papers, of course when I got my car he traded it in on a new 66 caddy convertible and I never found those key's EVER!
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HAHAHA i like this story bcoz thats what i do now ...i have two jobs and one is a paper route ....the other is i work as a maid ....but these are just college jobs ...not sure how long i will do these jobs after graduation with my Master's degree next summer.

the papers sure are fun .....its a really easy job for the money...out here i dont have to run to the houses ....we have the paper boxes next to the mail boxes.... i dont use my Dart for papers except for back-up ...i have a econo-box for papers which i have to maintance which included changing out an engine last summer due to a skipped timing belt. LOL i guess its stuff going wrong that keeps us busy and out of trouble :bom:
 
I took everything apart when I was real young. My Dad was not a mechanic so I learned to fix it when it broke. Dad had me fix things on the farm because he couldnt. Had my first car 48 Plymouth when I was 13, then a 50 Plymouth that needed an oil burning engine overhauled. When I had it back together it ran and that was the car I drove in High School. Air Force after that as a Crew Chief on a KC 135 .
I like working on my own cars and get enjoyment in fixing them right.
 
I was about 10 and one day while working on the family va, my dad handed me a 9/16" wrench and pointed at the bolts on the windsheild wiper fluid resevoir and said take those off.

I was bit.

Over the years I learned a little more everytime dad was outside under the hood, I was under there too. I learned how much money you save by doing it yourself. I had a lot of fun.

Then my grandma died.... Dad spent 3 years in bed mourning her loss and I spent 3 years on the computer teaching myself by finding anything and everything mopar related that was out there.

Then I started working here and there at my childhood best friends dad's body shop, he's the same age as dad and I learned alot from him. Then I got into highschool and my teacher in auto tech was the same age. He was definitely a proffesional and I look up to him and respect him to this day.

Of course, I've learned alot from this site.
 
I started pumpin gas and changin oil at the gas station up the street where I grew up. It progressed into settin toe on cars, doin brake jobs and anything else I could figure out how to do. Although there was a fella there, he was not a mechanic. All he did was make me do everything. I pretty much figured it out myself. That was in 1974. It was kinda a downhill coast from there. lol
 
when i was 15 my dad had an auto repair shop.i wanted a car.he gave me a 327 chevy engine and a chevy vega.i put it together with his guidance.since then i have had every kind of musclecar.restored many, and never paid anyone to do anything to one of my cars.now i repair vehicles daily.and try to mentor younger people with theyre cars....
 
My dad and 3 of my cousins showed me. But before that, I started on Briggs and Strattons'. Had a go-kart and a mini-bike that I got all on my own doing when I was in the 12-15yo range and would tear those apart and put em back together....even if it was just to clean up parts or see how the rings and pistons were doing.
And, as I mentioned in another thread, one of my 3 aforementioned cousins who took me to the drag races for the first time. Two of them are brothers and shared and dragged a 69 Roadrunner. The other cousin drag raced a 70 Duster. So, I was surrounded in it, lol.
 
It started long before I Cars. Dad was a mechanic and a Drag racer from before the time I was born. When I was 3yo I found my fathers tool pouch and disassembled my tricycle. Dad put it back together and I did it again two weeks later. After that he me put it back together but used locktite so I couldn't get it back apart again. Then it was on to Bicycles years later. Mom says I never had a bike more than two weeks before it was in pieces.

My first car was a 70 Slant 6 Duster with 3 on the tree. Dad gave it me at 14 and it was pretty much a basket case. By 16 I had it running great till I blew it up about a year later (So much for /6`s being indestructible!! ;p). I would love to find that car again (Mostly so I could fix all the half assed stuff I did to it back then).

My daughter was the same way. She grew up at the drag strip. I remember getting yelled at by some lady for having her too close to the starting line at 3yo (She had ear protection) and as I walked away, MY daughter threw a temper tantrum. She wanted to stay. The lady fussing at me agreed.. ok that kid wants to be here.

By the time she was 5yo, I would drive my Duster to the strip on street tires and soon I got there I would jack it up, set some jack stands and break the lug nuts loose.. Her favorite thing to do was to help Dad change to the slicks. Got yelled at again by a busy body when I am on one side of the car breaking things loose and she is on the other taking the lug nuts I had already loosened off.

Now my granddaughters favorite thing is sitting in the Duster at 10 months old...She loves the rumble. And the family tradition goes on..

How did we learn?? The only way anyone learns.. By doing.
 
I started taking things apart at a young age [my parents were not happy] cause i was not able to put it back in working order most times [no one in my family is mechanicly inclined]. What it did teach me to do was pay attention to how things came apart and then puttin them back together became easier.I became a wiz at our lawnboy mower [pos,had to rebuild carb/jets every time you wanted to cut the grass] from there it was bicycles,mini bikes,go carts,dirt bikes,i used to modify my 3 hp briggs by putting 5hp cams in and shaving the head down [mounting my fathers belt sander in the vice and grinding the head] made some screamers [most of them threw rods] then as i got older i began to hang around the neighborhood race car guys helpin out buildin roundy round cars,woods buggys,mini stocks,figure eight cars,late models ect. Started fixing my friends cars/trucks and was introduced to a guy that was building quite a few of the roundy round guys engines he took me under his wing and taught me chevy engine building. I went into the Air Force [dabbled around with some street cars of my own] and learned aircraft mechanics spent 9 years in came out and worked on commercial aircraft 89-94,at that time i started to build street/show cars for myself, to this date have built/sold 7 cars got #8 waiting in the wings. Where i got the intrest in cars i'm unsure no one in our family works on cars [my father was a nascar lover] and we did go to the local stock car track every saturday night,the same track that we raced at several years later with a mini stock team i was associated with. At 54 years old i love cars and this hobby more than ever but alas getting older has taken some wind outta my sails,i'm gonna keep buildin/wrenchin as long as possible then i'll just drive the damn things till thats not possible. I look back on my life i would not change a thing!!!!!
 
wow, lot of kewl stories..........

when i was growing up, alot of my older brothers buddies, had hot cars, i was hooked at young age and built models alot.

i also worked on dirt bikes alot w/my dad........well when i crashed them, he would make sure that i was in on fixing them.........it just kind of went from there, loved drag racing and rock and roll, if i wasn't playing somewhere, i'd be over at my mopar buddy's house working on cars.

used to trade alot of parts to go fast, didn't have any cash back then........i think everyone goes through the "trial and error" part, believe me i ruined alot of parts back then, learning..........ah, nothing takes the place of experience.......

higgs
 
I started with my first vehicle, and either ahd to pay to have fixed or fix my self. I can pretty much R&R anything. Being older, and not having a lift, I choose to ave the heavy things done at a shop, I don't mind paying people if they do good work and treat me right. But if I don't have to crawl under around or through it, i don't mind busting knuckles every now and then.

Books are for teaching you how to do! I have found that working on cars is not a scary as it sounds in the manual. even though I never luck out to have the car in the pictures.
 
ive had a general knack for anything mechanical so i started working on bicycles
then lawn mowers and go karts. eventually changing oil on mom and dads cars
and taking shop classes in school. also ive built model cars since i was 5 and
really reading the instructions of how things go on the little replicas really gives
you a sense of how the real ones work. everybody says im a wiz with small
engines. they make me feel like carl.

38575a.jpg
 
Started out with my dads 78 ford pickup when i was 15, helping him out with maintenance on the car, doing a 400 modified engine swap in the truck, then my brother got a 72 dodge dart in highschool, which i currently own now, helped him out on car doing a motor swap from the slant 6 to v8, but he ended up moving to arizona. Then later on i saved up to get myself a 69 mustang coupe when i was 20 and learning how to do things on it from muscle car magazines. Basically parts changing and doing upgrades to the car, then decided to go to automotive school, UTI in arizona, found out my brothers dart had a blown headgasket when he broght it up from california and been sitting for a few years at the apt complex he was staying at so i started getting that car back on the road again while going to school doing an engine and trany rebuild. Hanged around a few guys that had muscle cars going to uti,CHevy guys that had 72 camaro, 72 nova, 69 camaro, and 59 Chevy apache, which we all became great friends and helped each other out on fixing eachothers cars. Graduated from UTI, got what i can from it, sold my mustang, brother gave me his dart for my birthday, did alot of work to the car, redoing wireing, suspension, engine rebuild after engine rebuild, to much hauling ***! lol diff rebuilt and swap, and list goes on!.
NOw that im 29 im restoring a 59 rambler super 6 redoing everything on it, keeping it mostly stock, and im starting to learn how to do upholstry and body work on it on my own. The upholstry, im just doing reverse engineering and getting advise from upholstry shops on how to do it which the ones i went to are very helpful and body work which im barely getting into, im learning thru books and trial and error.
Best way i learned tho was hands on, and watching and seeing how things are put together, trial and error, what makes things tick and people telling me i cant do it which motivates me even more to prove them wrong:D!
 
Back in '61 dad was stocking groceries at a store, got laid off and went to work for a local mechanic shop. It wasn't too long after that, he was laid off again, and while looking for another job, happened into an auto repair shop owned by a fine older gentleman. Dad asked for a job, and in the middle of the conversation Mr. McAllister, who owned the garage, said,' Heck, I'm tired of running this place, how about I sell it to you?'. A deal was worked out, and the following Saturday my dad rudely woke me from a sound sleep, where I was having visions of watching Saturday morning cartoons, and goofing off the rest of the day, to find out that at 11 years old I had been hired to work every Saturday at my dad's new shop.
My first job, which lasted about four weeks, was sorting bolts, nuts and washers from a large pile, into coarse and fine! (This was before metrics!). Got paid a 1.50 for the days work! Shortly after I began cleaning floors, counters, wiping down the oil racks underneath the recycled quart oil cans. Next came using the air impact to remove lug nuts. From there came tuneups, hoses and belts, and eventually engine, clutch and transmission swaps. Eventually dad decided we needed to do some paint and body work. 29.95 paint specials, with materials running 5-10 dollars per job. My job was to mask the window and chrome using old newspapers. Next came sanding and cleaning. I can still remember sanding until my finger tips bled! As tired as I sometimes was of having to work while all of my friends were out running around, I have come to appreciate the demands put on me by my dad, to learn skills, that have always come in handy throughout my life. Ben.
 
"Back then" there was a LOT of bad or at least questionable info in the magazines. I can remember was it, Popular Hotrodding? had a couple project, some "drive shaft expert" actually showed in the magazine, cutting a shaft in the MIDDLE OF THE TUBE. Even I was smart enough to discount that one.

What was NOT as evident was the lies in the magazines about "tested" ET, mph, and mpg. I once saw a disclaimer in the back of one of the mags, wish I had saved it.
 
my dad is mechanic and had his own shop, been working on cars since i was 10
 
For me? It's a God given gift. I've been wrenching on stuff since I was an embryo. I can't tell you how happy my mom was to squirt me out.
 
Cool stories here. Mine would be another Dad story. He was a Master Chief submariner with an electronics background and could literally fix anything. All of our appliances and TV's etc. were from the side of the road. He was so cheap but could fix anything electrical or mechanical. Everyone in the neighborhood would bring their broken stuff to him to be fixed. The only thing he wouldn't fix is my cars as a teen. He would tell me to "figure it out" and then after I failed over and over he would show me the way.

I wish he lived closer sometimes because I'm still "figuring it out".
 
For me the story is one that really causes me to come to tears at times. My father owned service stations from time I was very young. So the every so often game of catch turned into almost never as he worked business owner hours. Well as soon as I was old enough to stay out the way I went to work at the "station". I learned quickly by watching one brother do all kinds of mechanic work and one mess up simple oil changes which was the best way to go. Well finally it was just me and him as both brothers moved out. I was last so it became me and him and often no full time mechanic so I did whatever he told me I was capable of doing. He was terrible with tools but could explain to me the way it needed to be. I loved to read so finding the information was fun for me. Well I finally got to the age where I was moving on too. Decided the service station business wasn't for me. Not long though after not going to the "station" everyday I realized my dad and boss had really become my best friend. So almost everyday included a stop at the "station" and those stops often took up hours. Well after a few years I went to work offshore in the oil patch and one day I came home and drove past the "station" on way back from offshore and when got home phone rang and it was dad asking if I was going right back out to work as I had not stopped. I was dead tired, but told him I just wanted to go get a fresh shirt and was coming back. Know something though, after a little while at the "station" with him forgot how tired I was. That "station" was the location of many friendly drinks with all kinds of great guys, home of some of the best story telling with it being the hang out for the fast cars in late 60's early 70's. Was a stop off point for many a drag racing legend heading to Southland Raceway. Even met Red Adair as he came back and forth and filling up while putting out a local well fire, was at time a poker hall and guy's cook out place. I became a man there, a better man I think also. I met my best friend there. I miss the "station" now, and my god I also miss my dad and best friend.
 
Well when i was younger "30 years ago" a guy up the block had a
Green 68 fastback mustang with a 289 4 speed he was putting in a Rear end one day, 390 if i remember correctly.
I remember him saying if this thing dosnt lift the wheels now it never will! also my sisters Boyfreind had a 68 442 with no reverse and one of those 65 ford vans with chrome slots i remember cleaning the wheels for him one day. And my cousin had a brand new 69 charger rt that rust color and they would come by just about every sunday to visit. I remember them always making sure it was ok in the drivway and wiping it down. Then my Mom bought me my first car it was a 67 Barracuda for $400 with a 273 fold down back seat, best car i ever owned never used a drop of Oil. since then i have been doing motors trani's rear end swaps not too much anymore but alot over the years. trial and error is how i learned i guess.
 
Trial and error,learning by doing. lots of errors but atleast i get better:)
started working on mopeds and dirtbikes at the age of 14,started learning to work on cars alitle later.
i pick up all the information i can get my hands on learning from books,forums,magazines,friends and lots of just just trying to figure stuff out.
 
I was totally obsessed with cars and mechanical things from birth. My parents saw that, and I proceeded to dismantle just about anything and everything that I was curious about, not so much worried about if I would be able to get it back into working condition again. You all know.....the lawnmowers etc.....then graduating to doing clutches, water pumps, tune-ups, hoses etc. on the family car. Sometimes my dad had to go to work in the morning in the family car with open headers. LOL

My parents offered to send me to a technical high school/college from the 9th grade that offered Automotive Technology and an A.S. degree. I was pulling engines and working at a Texaco auto shop, then an Olds dealer at 17. I still love to read about a lot of different stuff though, including body work......because that's something that wasn't taught too much to me back then, plus it's a very "hands-on" thing, where you're working the metal. Still obsessed with it all!!
 
Always been a car guy.Was told I could name any car coming down the road as soon as I could talk.I watched my Dad work on cars and would hand him wrenches he needed.He would tell me what he was doing.He was killed in a work accident when I was 14 so I took what he had taught me and just learned by trial and error(mostly error sometimes :) )
 
Okay to start off Rani you go girl! me my family had a farm fixing equipment when it broke.
 
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