General LSX Automobile Discussion - How'd you learn it?

Just wondering how everyone learned how to work with their cars and how to do specific jobs with them?

like nike, just do it

Its just a matter of getting over the "Im gonna mess something up hump" start off easy changing oil, fuel fiter, etc... The more you do the more comfort you will have for bigger things. I diddnt even change my own oil before I got my Camaro, now ive installed my own Lt's and the exhaust system and lots of other things up till now. You learn more and more every time you get into your car.

I learn constantly about it.. as a matter of fact.. I always wished it had the cruise control feature where u could +1 or -1 mph.. and I was messing with it the other day and found out that it did lol, I was so happy

^ How do you do that? Lol.

I will attempt to do pretty much anything on my car. I'm pretty mechanically inclined when it comes to most things.

Like said above "just do it." When shit breaks I do a little reading on here, then go attack the project. I bought my Z28 when I was 17 and basically only knew how to change the oil. I've learned a lot since then. I've done a clutch, headers, intake manifold, motor mounts, and tons more small crap. In the beginning pulling my trans to change a clutch/ slave cylinder would've seemed impossible, but from doing it myself and learning a ton in the process I am never intimidated by a job. I never have and never will pay to get my car worked on. (except for my duals because I cannot weld yet)

Read and research mostly. I am 19 and did my cam swap, valvesprings, longtubes, converter, and pretty much everything thats done to my car, all on my own. Just dont be scared to ask questions and tear into it. Have confidence and go for it. I also work at a local speed shop where I learn more and more every day.

I started by "helping" my older brother work on his cars when we both lived at home. He taught me the basics and he was the type of guy that could tear anything down and figture out how to put it back together. So I decided that if he could do it so could I. I won't lie, there were times it took me quite awhile to put the car back together but once you figure out how a car works you'll be surprised at how simple they really are.

Read a tone of car mags. specifically Hot Rod, Car craft, Chevy Hi Performance. Mags like that are geared (pun intended) :D toward the amateur mechanic aka "grease monkeys". If you really want to learn alot read the tech Q and A in the back of those mags. Alot of it will go over your head at first but the more you read the more some of it will begin to make sense. The one drawback, is only classic American cars are shown, if you are really into the import scene that is. Although the first "hot rods" were flat head four bangers the predecessor of modern import power plants.

Don't get me wrong the other mags like Car and driver motor trend and the like are good but are more into driving stock cars and generally expect their readers will pay to have someone else to work on their car/perform mods. They are a good source to keep up with new technologies tho.

Another resource is the web. Ls1tech perfect example. People talk about what has worked for them and speculate what can work for you.

Like anything talk with people who know more than you and you will learn more. And don't be afraid to take a look inside your car. Buy the shop manual for your car and it shows you how to do basic maintenance for your car. Chilton’s manuals are a good resource too.

All else fails ask a question.

In time if you are really into it you'll be debating the volumetric efficiencies of the penta valve DOHC Ferrari V10 vs the mechanical sustainability of a OHV V8 or other such meaning less yet entertaining car guy cloud talk.

ya i feel the same way about this... when i first got my car, i didnt know shit about it... and not sayin i still do know everything about it, but it just helps to understand more about it when you actually tinker with it or just read up about it... i was afraid to work on my car till i just got the concept of its my car, and i dont care what others think of it besides me... and after i did the job of removing my whole steering column to replace the turn signal switch, everything else just seemed to be a whole lot easier because i just go at it stress free, and if something breaks or doesnt go the way i would like it to, its not the end of the world... and the money saved working on it myself can now go to new parts, or the ones i broke accidently along the way lol

Alot of cars and truck are diffrent I've been working on junk for 10 years but when it came to my car I did alot of reserch when it was time to make it faster. Information Is a big help thier have been several times where I have found out stuff I could have done diffrently or better. Like brake jobs I've done 100's of them but thier are little things you can do to make it faster and prevent future problems. Using the right tool for the job the right products. But you learn buy doing it.

note to admins sorry if we are not suposed to list mag names. Not sure what the policy is with nonsponsors and being listed :confused: just want to show the different types of car mags

lots of beer!

Don't do complex projects on your daily driver. If you do mess up, you can find the info to correct it and do it right. Being "under the gun" to get your ride up and running cause you need to get to work tomorrow is not good. :bang: Just chipping away at it will help you learn a lot.

Sometimes when I am in the middle on an install I say, "damn I should have payed someone to do this", but when you finally finish its not so bad.

learned by jumping in and just doing it, messed alot of stuff up and had to do alot of stuff twice but thats how you learn.

Wow a thread in the "Newbie Tech" section without a single "read the stickies."
There are several ways to learn and most of them have been stated but hands on armed with some book knowledge is the best approach IMO. Also the stickies actually do have some useful info and links in them.

Sometimes when I am in the middle on an install I say, "damn I should have payed someone to do this", but when you finally finish its not so bad.

hahahaaa I've said that before!! But you just gotta keep on working!

My dad and some of my gearhead friends growing up. I guess I started working on cars because we drove alot of beaters and they were always breaking. After I got a job and some cash I was able to begin working on cars to make them cool and not just to fix them so I could get to work.

Its all bolts...the hard part is remembering where it all went sometimes. Like drum brakes lol. Just learn by trial and error, and a thousand knuckle busts later :)

Just start out easy like stated above.

Breaking stuff and not being able to pay someone to do any work for me. Pretty good incentive to work on it then!

Just doing everything and helping friends on their cars really. The more you do the more comfortable you get and the more tools you start buying. Eventually you'll find yourself willing to do just about anything.

William

My dad used to own a junk yard so i started screwin with cars when i was like 5 lol and it just kept going and getting deeper and deeper into them hell by age 7 i was driving stickshift cars trucks end loaders etc sure i had a pillow under my ass but it was all me in the drivers seat. Best time i ever had was rolling over a mid 80s mustang on purpose, guess you could say ive hated fords since lol. I even jumped a 91 camaro 5spd V6 once now that was fun great air with those cars to. I think the grease monkey life was just ment for me.

I dont know a whole lot about cars, but i just got into about 2 years ago, everything ive learned is from message boards, good friends and just getting in there and gettin my hands dirty and learning from my mistakes..all my mods were done by me and a friend of mine, even though there not that challenging its a start

Like a few other's, I learned from being around my dad and my uncle's. They've all been into that growing up. Started when I was 14, I'm now 28. I first learned on carb'd motors, but being young my mom wanted something more dependable so at the time, that was what EFI was and still is. So I now have more knowledge about the newer cars than I did about the old style, but basically they are still the same. There's nothing like that feeling of accomplishment when you finish a header install, cam, intake, hell just an air filter when I first started was like Woooohooooo look what I did. None of that can compare to building your first engine. When all that knowledge you have acquired comes together to make this pile of cast iron or aluminum crank on the first try and hear it run. Not only that, but to take it to the track several times and it hold together. I'm getting excited just talking about it. Makes me wanna go pull the LS1 out now and start tearing it down. Back on topic, start small and if you have a knowledgeable friend or family member to help, use them and don't forget to buy them beer and food.