Wanting to start Learning

Davey88 · 03-05-2010, 09:00 PM

Im 22 and love old muscle cars in particular Mustangs and im a Ford man. My question is, how does one learn all the different parts to cars? What parts do what? I feel there is a lot of knowledgeable people around me here at Ford Forums..and i scratch my head and wonder..how do you know/remember all these different part names and different brands!?

If you want to give me some tips on how you learnt that would be helpful, think back to the very beginning!

I want to one day drive 67 mustang rebuilt down my streets. Thats my dream. For now a Ford Typhoon would do nicely!!

I know it takes time to learn but gotta start somewhere. You all seem to be Mechanics!

Remember i know sweet FA about cars really.

Chers big ears
Davey

DoreSlamR · 03-05-2010, 09:05 PM

Get yourself a Gregory's manual on the car you want to own/restore, it will be a good starting point.

Or go buy an old wreck and pull it apart

MAV50L · 03-05-2010, 09:09 PM

You learn by doing what 90% of us have done over the years.
Just giving it a go and learning by your mistakes.
I am an electrician but self taught on cars. I can do 90% of stuff now. Learnt through trial and error.
Must say there has been plenty of error over the years but!

Riksta · 03-05-2010, 09:11 PM

Welcome to the forums!

Your comment about us all seeming to be mechanics is pretty far from the truth, I know a bunch of the SA guys from the forum and I don't think any of them are full time mechanics, just people with a passion! I myself am an office admin worker (when I have a job, currently unemployed unfortunately).

I guess it just comes from having an interest in a subject that you get to know and learn all these things. When you follow directions or how-to's from the forum like I have done from the AU Falcon section on more than one occasion, you just generally start to remember stuff. I guess if we weren't all that interested in our cars we'd just take them to someone else and pay to have whatever it is we want done, done.

Some people could probably name every variation of desktop computer CPU out there, others could name every variation of fuel pump! Its just where your heart and interests lie.

So I guess my tip on how I learnt is to read up whatever you can on what you want to do to your car and then attempt it yourself if you feel confident enough, and you'll soon start to get the hang of things and remember them. I remember certain things about the AU Falcon just from constantly and continually reading threads in that section.

Out of interest what car is it you currently own/drive?

Welcome once again, and good luck!

jaydee · 03-05-2010, 09:17 PM

When I was about 13 I asked my Dad the same question. he said "Petrol goes in the filler here, it goes along a fuel line to the carby which pumps it into the engine and the fuel is lit up by the spatk plugs". That was it, thanks Dad, not.
So I brought a Readers Digest (showing my age) book called "Book of the Car". It helped me heaps with my old Morris, HD Holden, Datto,HX Holden then the mighty XC came along. By now I was pretty much self taught and asked lots of questions when ever I had something done in a shop.
Then I got a huge workshop manual and that also is invalueable.
I still have the Readers Digest book.
Just ask questions and get out the spanners and play around a bit. I figure if someone can put it together, I can take it apart, the fun bit is putting it back together so it works.
Another tip, have some band aids on stand by, oh and a swear jar, it'll help pay for some big ticket item you want for your car down the track.

Iggypoppin' · 03-05-2010, 10:07 PM

These forums are a great place to start! Check out as many build threads as you can, a wealth of knowledge all over the joint. Want to know how to install a diff? Chances are it's in here somewhere. I knew bugger all about fords when I came on here 2 years ago. Now, I can chat comfortably with other people because I know what I'm on about and I have paid attention to what people say on here. Takes time, as they say, Rome wasn't built in a day, but over time you pick it up, very quickly in fact, it's the finer points that can take a bit of time to grasp. Hope this helps bud.
Naish

tankclare · 03-05-2010, 10:13 PM

I am 19 and pretty much self taught. I have a passion for cars that started when I was very young. I have done a lot of reading and research on different parts of cars etc and do as much hands on stuff as I can. I believe this is the best way to learn.

At the age of about 14 or 15 I use to hang around good mates with cars and thats where I got really into cars. I helped them strip down and rebuild a nissan pulsar, a LH torana and a few other cars and gained a lot of knowledge in car construction and how to paint. During year 11 and 12 at school I done 2 mechanics courses through tafe which covered everything. Needless to say I loved it. Then when I was about 17 I was always at a mates workshop helping out where ever I could. There I helped do a lot of 4wd engine rebuilds, tune ups and eventually me and my cousin done 2 dual cab nissan patrol conversions. That was a huge job and we pulled it off successfully.

These days I find I can actually do a better job on things then a lot of the local mechanics so I do my work myself. It helps save money and gives you a good feeling knowing you have done the work yourself.

Some jobs I have done over the last few years:
- Nissan patrol dual cab conversions
- Rebuild of tunnel rammed 350 chev in cousins race boat
- Engine tunes (mainly turbo diesel 4wd)
- Diff swaps
- Engine removal and installs (including commodore v6 into cousins hilux)
- Car resprays
- Car stereos etc
The list goes on....

Mates are always asking me for help and what can I say, I love to tinker lol

fordOwner · 03-05-2010, 10:30 PM

Well I know the RAC in WA used to do courses from beginers to advanced not sure if they still do.
OR sign up for a part time night course in TAFE just a short course, not a diploma or anything - unless you want to.
I did an agricultural machinery course many many moons ago at TAFE once and wow I learnt so much. The lecturers were bush mechanics or qualified mechanics and it was so much fun.
I remember the lecturer said "ok guys take off the motor cover on the whipper snipper infront of you"
The guy next to me took the whole motor apart, took the piston rings off and every thing. The lecturer nearly had a heart attack when he saw it but he said "despite thats not what I wanted, watch closely and we can get it running like this never happend"
And from that day I truly learnt how a motor/machinery works.

bernadette86 · 03-05-2010, 11:12 PM

Buy an xf you'll learn how to fix a car then. I grew up on a station we did our own work on every thing. Im only 19 i've done near everything on early commo's XF's celica's. Might be best to start with a toyota to learn. I did a whole engine and gearbox change with a cheap set of spanners and $10 set of sockets, and only needed a few sizes anyway. Buy a wreck pull it apart put it together. Look at something and figure out how it works, works for me.

needaXYGT · 04-05-2010, 12:10 AM

READING!! hepls a fair bit. After a while you realise that you can pretty much do alot of stuff by your self providing you have the right tools. What do you do for a living?

RedHotGT · 04-05-2010, 10:16 AM

The one thing that you need is passion...

If you're interested, you'll find a way to learn...
If you want something... go out and get it...

Never in my wildest dreams did I think i'd ever be behind the wheel of an XY GT - certainly not at my age... but I made it happen... and i've never looked back...

Read, Listen, and Respect others opinions... (don't necessarily agree, but take it on board)...

Davey88 · 04-05-2010, 01:21 PM

Thanks everyone for your posts. It helped a lot!

At the moment I drive an old Nissan & I Work at the courts but looking at buying an EL Fairmont Ghia xr8. Or a Pursuit Ute(no cashol at the moment though) Im spewing because someone at my work sold his old old old EF Xr8 Falcon i believe for $250- Would have been a good start. I was angry when he told me!! And yes it still worked lol. Just wanted to get rid of it.

Thanks For the tips!

If i was to buy an old wreck I wouldnt know how it worked or where to start. Id pick up a part, scratch my head and wouldnt know what its called or does. I will take the advice and read up on the forums and see if i can get a book to help me out. To what you guys see as the basics, I probably wouldnt know

troppo · 04-05-2010, 02:08 PM

A good place to start: http://www.howstuffworks.com/engine.htm

Airmon · 04-05-2010, 06:03 PM

It always helps if you have someone helping you who knows whats what. Or even if you and a couple of mates who are interested in cars all start at the same time it would be easier.

Start small. Get a $400 bomb (maybe even between a couple of mates), an old Carby 4cyl, something simple, get a manual for it and go from there.
Something that if you stuff up and break something (Something we've all done!), it doesn't really matter, and you can learn from any mistakes.

The main thing would be time, you pick up bits and pieces here and there over years. It takes someone 4 years to become a mechanic, and they have all the tools they need and a workshop of experience to help them.

Franco Cozzo · 04-05-2010, 06:13 PM

I'm the same, my idea is to learn everything about cars, so I ditched going to Uni to do IT to become an apprentice mechanic. I'm at Honda though.

sneaky · 04-05-2010, 07:08 PM

I don't know as much as a lot of people on here, but i know enough to get by. I have learnt from reading, asking questions and doing.

It helps that my brother is a mechanic. I usually ask him how hard something would be for me to do and if he says i'll be able to do it i give it a go.

Helps to know if i get stuck i can get him to fix it or help me.

Another way to learn is to break things and not have enough money to pay someone to fix it

Adamz Ghia · 04-05-2010, 07:13 PM

I learnt what I do know by breaking a lot of things, then learning not to do that again. Trial and error, the fun way...

ZDI-970 · 04-05-2010, 07:17 PM

im 16 and il be honest the best way to learn about different parts and their names is suprisingly ebay, just search the model you like and have a look around at some of the different parts on there, also ive read aprentice mechanics books they explain it all extremely well.

irish2 · 04-05-2010, 07:19 PM

http://www.mustangautoparts.com.au/

These guys are located in Brisbane. They sell reproduction mustang shop manuals. I bought a mustang at 20 (4 years ago) and the bloke who owns this store was very helpful.

bernadette86 · 05-05-2010, 12:41 AM

Buy a gregory's car manual not a haynes. The gregorys explains and shows pictures and actually has wiring diagrams you can read and understand. Somewhere to start good start is do a set of brake pads on your nissan, jap cars are simple. Couple of wheel nuts, wheels off, two bolts caliper is off, use a g clamp compress centre piston back into caliper, put new brake pads in where old ones were, slot caliper back on rotor little bit of thread lock on caliper bolts, tighten up put wheel back on push on brake pedal all done. Pads are simple probably start there.

CFOUR · 05-05-2010, 12:49 AM

Simple.
watch and learn/ trial and error. A xd 6 cylinder would be an ideal pull down and put back together to learn from.

irish2 · 05-05-2010, 07:21 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bernadette86

, two bolts caliper is off, use a g clamp compress centre piston back into caliper, put new brake pads in where old ones were, slot caliper back on rotor little bit of thread lock on caliper bolts, tighten up put wheel back on push on brake pedal all done. Pads are simple probably start there.

You must also open the brake master cylinder reservoir before 'homing' the piston. If you don't it could pop the cap off and spew fluid where you don't want it. Reset the cap rubber before putting the cap back on.

XR6_661 · 06-05-2010, 04:06 PM

Experience...it's like your job...I bet you didn't know much to begin with, but a few years in your are competent and with more experience you get better at it.

I'm 22 as well, and believe it or not, my knowledge of cars started when I used to tinker with tunes on the orginal Gran Turismo PS1 game...Taught me the basics, I then started getting my dad to buy me street machines (keeping in mind this is like 10 years ago!) and I used to read (look at pictures) them front to back several times...

When I got a bit older, I used to read the tech sections of mags...Helped me understand a bit more. Then when I was about 14, me and my old boy picked up an 80s corolla for nothing and we built it into a speedway car with out own hands.
It's amazing what you can learn from stripping a car completely.
I used to pull the rocker cover off, etc etc...And having dad there, he used to teach me everything he knew. Learnt how to arc weld and do rollbacks in the car at the same time...

I guess what I'm trying to say is, to just expose yourself to cars and the workings of them and you'll learn very quickly.

ThePistonHead · 06-05-2010, 04:12 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Davey88

Thanks everyone for your posts. It helped a lot!

At the moment I drive an old Nissan & I Work at the courts but looking at buying an EL Fairmont Ghia xr8. Or a Pursuit Ute(no cashol at the moment though) Im spewing because someone at my work sold his old old old EF Xr8 Falcon i believe for $250- Would have been a good start. I was angry when he told me!! And yes it still worked lol. Just wanted to get rid of it.

Thanks For the tips!

If i was to buy an old wreck I wouldnt know how it worked or where to start. Id pick up a part, scratch my head and wouldnt know what its called or does. I will take the advice and read up on the forums and see if i can get a book to help me out. To what you guys see as the basics, I probably wouldnt know

Those are pretty damn rare mate!

Good luck finding one

I'll let you know if i ever decide to sell!

Davey88 · 07-05-2010, 12:04 AM

Which do you recommend?

Book 1

Book 2

svo supporter · 07-05-2010, 12:46 AM

How I learnt about fixing cars, was with an ex-truckie from the old school.
When my car broke down (every week), he would be there by my side guiding me.
Once he taught me the basics and I had drama, I would ring for advise. If I didn't do the most basic checks he had taught me, he would call me a F wit and hang up.

Needless to say, I learnt very quickly. Check the basics and then ring with what I had already done. Then he would guide me further.

Now, the only things I can't do with a car, is electrics and paint.

So my suggestion. Get to know someone that has sound mechanical ability and get your hands dirty fixing stuff with them by your side. You'll be very surprised how quickly you pick things up doing that.

BERNADETTE86. That brake replacement you described. That's for most cars these days. Not just jap cars

LANKY 1 · 07-05-2010, 01:51 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bernadette86

Buy an xf you'll learn how to fix a car then. I grew up on a station we did our own work on every thing. Im only 19 i've done near everything on early commo's XF's celica's. Might be best to start with a toyota to learn. I did a whole engine and gearbox change with a cheap set of spanners and $10 set of sockets, and only needed a few sizes anyway. Buy a wreck pull it apart put it together. Look at something and figure out how it works, works for me.

I agree with the buying of an XF!! alos having little money makes u work on it yourself!!

i learnt basic stuff in automotive class at school, and just having a passion for cars and reading Ford Forums.