CamaroKidZ28

I really want to learn a lot more about mechanics. I have no clue what field i wish to persue, but automechanics has a strong influence on me. Being 16, how do I learn more? I'm always open to learn anything about any car no matter the make, model or year. Just curious what input I can get. Thanks!

Eatinstang4life

iTrader: (10)

Well you can learn anything you want on the internet. But hands on the only real career you could do is maybe at a jiffy lube or something like that. But just look at stuff on any thing mechanical and then learn what it is and ehat purpose it surves and take in and put everything together in your mind how it works, thats really how I learned about mechanics.

Shock Hawk

See if there's a local club. I'm in college and I've joined the local Society of Automotive Engineers and I'm about to join the campus sports car club. There's tons of people and projects in clubs.

GTOSE

iTrader: (1)

I'm 16 aswell, and have learned pretty much everything with this and different forums and internet stuff. In my experience I haven't ran into many kids who knew anything about cars in highschool. I think clubs are a pretty good idea and I'm planning on getting a job at checker or stiffy lube when I turn 17 since thats their age limit.

But yeah, browsing around on online forums, clubs, and maybe a part time job at checker or something is pretty much the way to go if you want to learn about cars.

Z28LS1camaroguy

iTrader: (3)

it really depends on what your wanting to learn, if its just simple things like brakes and all that then somewhere like sears automotive would help, but if your lookin into going into a engine building and full rebuild kinda thing then you will prolly need to get on some speed shop and maybe be an apprentice to learn stuff.

bowtieblue1926

I had the same aspirations of wanting to work on cars my whole life when i was a kid. Then I realized that I really just wanted to work on high performance cars rather than just being a mechanic. They have some schools like UTI etc. or Wyotech I believe. But life comes at you fast, and once you get married and have kids that turns into a distant dream. So the main thing is if your going to do something like that I would suggest an apprenticeship somewhere or even a parts store to help you learn. Good luck to you though.

mercer

iTrader: (2)

my highschool had automotive classes which my friend took then went to a jiffylube to work there for a while. if your serious wyotech is a great school for that as a career.

Revelation Z28

iTrader: (10)

i learned everything i know by hands on at a local shop. i was doing everything you can think of on any kind of car over there.

217zenki

iTrader: (4)

Forums, Factory service manuals , and wrench time.. Hang out with gearheads and take in all that u can... Look in to Wyo-tech or Uti or places like that after school if you want to possibly take on turning wrenches for a career.

Shock Hawk

Powerblock TV on Spike TV... watch it every week. Tape it as you watch it so you can rewind during commercials if you missed something... DVR works well too. After 6 months of Powerblock, I learned enough about cars that I could almost predict what they were gonna do or how they were gonna do it.

CaMaRo67RS355

iTrader: (75)

i just graduated high school and they had a building called the applied technology building where welding, auto tech, horticulture, small engines, auto body etc was taught. i took welding, auto tech, & auto body all 4 years of high school + hung around anyone that was knowledgeable about cars and such + watched any car shows on tv + became friends with a local engine builder and went to his shop every chance i got + read up on car manuals, magazines, etc.

00TurboTA

I go to UTI and i think u get outta it what u put into it so, i liked it a lil and u learn alot so if ur thinkin about that lemme know

Formula_Power

iTrader: (18)

I went to a GM ASEP school which is a GM based Automotive technology 2 year degree. I learned a ton of stuff and worked at a GM dealership for almost 3 years. Let me tell you this....working on your car and working on somebody elses is completely different. People can be bitches and always think you are going to screw them. I wish someone would have told me NOT to go into automotive it is a very cut-throat operation and people are always fighting about money and who's getting the best paying jobs etc.etc.

If you want to learn about cars do alot of reading first....car is a completely different language... When my buddies and i talk car around our gf's they look at us like we're speaking German. 2nd start small do a radiator flush and an oil change before you try pulling a tranny or rebuilding a motor

I am not upset that i learned everything i did with my degree because i will save soooooo much money just by being able to do my own maintanice that it is worth it but I could have a 4 year degree now making real moeny instead...


ALSO....VERY IMPORTANT....many of the schools with automotive programs are liars they will say things about being able to make 100k a year when you get out of school and the truth is only about 1% of techs make that kind of money and most of them are over the age of 40 with 20 plus years of experience. I was making 9.50 an hour at the dealership and if i would have gone flat rate it would have been 13.00 an hour...so do not go into it to get rich cause you won't

Fr3shFr0st

i am 18 and going to college to be a mechanical engineer. through high school i worked at a friends shop. they did all the basic car care stuff (oil changes, brakes, wheels, state inspections) whatever you name it. but they also did a shitload of performance work. i learned all the basics and loved watching and just helping if i could with the performance stuff. thats how i learned my hands on stuff. otherwise just read a lot on the internet, ask a lot of questions to gearheads, and constantly search for new info.

nofearracing28

iTrader: (7)

I did the ASEP thing to...was impressed with the course, but wished I woulda never entered the automotive field. I'd rather make more money and have someone work on my car, than me working on other peoples car and making **** money. You WILL NOT get rich being in the technician field....nor will you make the money you probably want.

03NHSilvy

iTrader: (1)

The past few posts are dead on, all through school I thought I wanted to work on cars, dispite the advice of people I really should have listened to. After 2 years of highschool shop class and a year in a tech school I started at a Hyundai shop. After like a year and a half the owners sold the dealership and the new owners made everything go down the drain fast. I ended up there for 2.5 years and I left the biz (hopefully) for good.

bww3588

iTrader: (49)

you all might want to check out www.unoh.edu
im going there right now, so far its awesome. will be graduating with 2 associates degrees, one in automotive OEM tech and one in high performance tech. auto manufacturers and race teams recruit from this school.

Stang's Bane

iTrader: (22)

Get a job at a tire shop that also does brakes, and small mechanical stuff like suspension etc. You can get alot of good experience that way. Work at that through high school and then you can decide if you want to keep in that field.

colby72olds

iTrader: (7)

i was also interested in the automotive field. i was accepted the Universal Technical Institute but the more thinking i did, i realized it would be a better hobby for me than a career. the stat's from UTI on former students and yearly earning was only $32K a year.....i know thats not that bad, but the schools cost is $30K just to go to the school. i have to many "WANTS" to only make that much a year. i will probably go take the Hot Rod U class just for expiereince, hobby.

ZCAM875

iTrader: (2)

Most of these posts are spot on. Experience and exposure is the thing to have/get when learning about automobiles. I started out young with a passion for cars, intially I wanted to design them but found out how much schooling was involved. So working on them started peaking my interests. Through high school I took three years of auto shop at the high school. I was fortunate and my school offered a shared time program where you could attend college classes and get college credit for them while still in high school, I did that in the automotive program for two years in addition to the three years at the high school. Upon graduation I went on to finish my associates degree at that college. Like the guys that went through the ASEP program I was told that there was good money to be made, but in reality when you get out into it, it is very cutthroat and very hard. It is not the business to get rich in. While there are a select few that get that dream job making bukou bucks right out of the gate, most guys that go into it and plan to stay have to pay there dues, i.e. get s**t jobs and be prepared to not make much money. It really is unfortunate because it requires a special type of person to be a good mechanic and for the most part the people that have that ability dont get compensated or recognized properly. There was an article that I read that a friend of mine had (he went through the ASEP program) that said how mechanics are some of the most inteligent people on the planet. It went on to say that the amount of knowledge that mechanics have to have rivals that of doctors and other high end professionals due to that fact that mechanics have to know the ins and outs of a wide array of automotive systems. Not only do they have to have this knowledge but they have to have the ability to unlearn and relearn new things pertaining to all these areas as technology changes. There is a statistic of how much info a mechanic has to know and relearn every year, the knowing is like 30,000 pages of tech info and the ability to learn 10,000 new each year or some crazy number that might be higher. Like some have said it is much better to have cars as a hobby than a career. I loved working on cars, after I graduated from college I went to work full time at a GM dealership and I began to dread working on cars. Every day it was some pain in the a** problem and somebody bitching or whining about something. One thing that made it worse was that the town I worked in was a GM plant town so everyone thought they were a mechanic and would bring all sorts of normal things in bitching about them. It became miserable. Not that everybody wants to hear my problems but I wanted to let the young man know what he might be getting into. I recently have been lucky enough to move from the retail end to the supplier end, when I got hired into GM Powertrain Engineering doing testing on prototype transmissions. If you really have a passion for cars as many people do then by all means go for getting as much education and experiance you can and if you get in the right situation it can be prosperous and have a positive outcome just be prepared for the down side of things too. Hope this helps somewhat.