Where did you get your knowledge from?

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Originally Posted By: Shannow
Started as a 3 or 4 year old sitting on the fender of Grandad's International flat-top...graduated to maccanno/lego...saved $150 for the lego car chassis set when I was 11 (like 32 years ago).


I got a lego "expert builder" (technics) set for Xmas when I was six. Taught me universal joints, differentials, rack & pinion steering, gear ratios.

Then I hijacked my sister's Care Bear dolls and crash tested the lego cars! I put in crumple zones, seat belts, video taped the wrecks, replayed in slow motion.

Then my paper route mercilessly beat on my bicycles. I came up with an automatic transmission on a $5 English yard sale bike: Since the seat was sprung, I hooked the 3-speed Sturmey Archer hub cable to a loop on the seat. When I dismounted to stop or stood up, it downshifted to first, then upshifted when I was sitting and riding comfortably!

FSMs for my cars have been good for figuring out why they do things they way they do, particularly GM. Love reading the PCM diagnostic or operations trees, like the radiator fan will come on at 211'F, off at 205', or above 45 MPH.

FIL showed me how to patch a rusty rocker panel with aluminum, pop rivets, and bondo, a skill I've applied over and over.
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Have figured out stuff myself that noone in their right mind would recommend, like mounting my own tires with a manual changer. "You'll shoot your eye out, kid."
 
Originally Posted By: Mfrank84
I'm curious as to how you gained your knowledge.


Don't confuse knowledge with experience. While there are quite a few people here with motor oil experience, there are only a select few here that are truly knowledgeable when it comes to oil.

I have experience with oil; I've been changing it for the last 55 years or so in more engines than I care to count. I've also read a lot about it on the Internet.

That doesn't make me knowledgeable.
 
Originally Posted By: Pop_Rivit
That doesn't make me knowledgeable.

For once, I think that EVERYONE here will not argue with you on that fact
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Originally Posted By: Astro14
Started taking stuff apart at age 5.

Started being able to put it back together at age 10.

First engine rebuild at age 12, by then, I had bought my first motorcycle...been a shadetree mechanic ever since...at age 48, I fly airplanes for a living.

Learned a lot about oil from the guys on BITOG.



Astro, I would like to thank you for your service to our country sir! God bless.
 
My dad was my mentor. He owned his own ESSO gas station from '55-'79 after working as a lead machanic/forman at a Chrysler/Plymouth Dealership from 1938 to the time when he opened his own place. Before that, dad did what ever he had to do to survive, being born in 1913 and living though some of the toughest time of our country. And we think we have it bad!

I started work/hanging around the garage in the '60s, gettin' dirty and making a mess. I worked with him on and off during school/summers until he closed shop and retired at age 66.

I started my own detailing business out of his gas station when I was able to break away for my normal duties of pumping gas, changing tires, oil/filter changes and the usual learning of low end mechanic stuff...Tune ups and brakes.

I took my detailing with me as side work when I left home while working in factorys or elsewhere. I have always done detailing work, often to survive but, mostly as side work. My mechanical skills stem from DAD! I prefer to do my own work but, I'll pay a dealer/garage if I need one of my vehicles fixes and there is 6" of snow in February.

Otherwise I fix everything in my home and vehicles myself unless it's just way beyond my skill level.
 
Growing up living and breathing cars and motorcycles.

Enjoying that my dad would only buy cheap cars after his new ones did not last any longer. A trip to the wrecking yard was like Disneyland.

Working for Western Auto for many years (Western Auto's Counterperson proficiency test was much more difficult than the ASE Parts Specialist test)

Being one of the very first ASE Parts Specialists. Working directly under one of the people who wrote the test.

Being the Service Writer/Office Manager/State Inspector/Parts Specialist/Diagnostician for one of Dallas' oldest transmission shops

Installing asset protection devices, alarms, stereos, etc...for a used car lot that would buy anything at auction. As long as it was cheap. Did more than one Renault/Dodge Monaco-Eagle Medallion and a bunch of Daewoos and Daihatsus. Cars you never really see but my boss would find them at auction. (and may be the primary reason I hate GM J-body GMs so much. The asset protection device was easy, but the new owner always wanted a stereo and that dash is a POS)
 
Originally Posted By: Astro14
Lexus 114 - I appreciate the kind words. Thank you, Sir.



You,and our other soldiers deserve all the support/respect we can give them.
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I learned some basics from my dad, I learned a lot from watching the PowerBlock shows on TV for years (long before it was called the PowerBlock), I learned about gear ratios from a power and energy course I took in high school. I've been working at Napa for about 4 years now and I've learned a lot about auto parts from that. But most of my knowledge came from countless hours of reading on the internet. I've been teaching myself and I keep getting more confident and am tackling more advanced repairs on my cars as my confidence grows. I want to eventually get to the point where I basically never need a mechanic again and can handle any job.
 
I am 50 and have subscribed to different car and truck magazines since 1970. I have pretty much a photographic memory when it comes to things I read about cars. It's an OCD kind of thing. Then I started tinkering with them on my own and learned by trial and error. I do a lot of work myself but on the other hand there are things that it is not worth my time or trouble or expense of certain tools to do. A man's got to know his limitations.
 
I think I inherited most of what I can do when it comes to working on cars.My grandpa,he passed on when my Mom was a little girl,was a mechanic.I seem to have inherited the ability from him.

I seem to be mechanically inclined when it comes to a car and can do most anything if I have the tools to do it with.I am not bragging on myself,I just think it was inherited.

My Mom has talked about how here Dad could take a motor apart and put it back together.He worked for himself out of a garage that was next to their home when she was a little girl.
 
The web for sure. Some of my co workers will tell me if one could fix a airplane I could fix a car. I'm a aircraft mechanic by trade. Both systems and totally different is what I always tell them.
 
1987 got my first fourwheeler, BROKE IT, had to fix it (repeat this story a dozen times till i was 14. at age 15 got my driverers license (long story) but had junk car and if i didnt learn to turn wrenches the car didnt go long. all through H.S. I did shop, One year at community colledge for auto repair rebuild. durring that time hot rodded a 1983 Z28 that i raced all weekend and drove to school.. i broke it ALOT. I learned the very hard way how to work on a engine. This continued to the point that i owned 2-3 cars at a time just becouse one of them was almost always broke (my fault) So untill i was around 25 i was constantly working on something. Then the Motorcycle fascination truly hit hard (Rockets) and ive been tinkering on them for 10 years, with all sorts of small engine work mixed in. Im certified in nothing, and MOST DEFFINATELY dont have it all figured out.. but in this stage of life (35) married with kid, we have dependable autos under us and i dont find myself wrenching so much anymore, or driving them as hard.. so 80% of my wrenching anymore is basic maintence. and 99% of my experience is shade tree hands on work.
 
WOW!!!

What a great read. Thanks to all who have shared their experiences. I'm not a "spring chicken" any more and I do hope to get the chance to help someone tear down and re-assemble an engine before I meet my maker. I was was truly surprised at how similar my own experiences were to some who posted. For those who haven't posted, please do. I've really enjoyed this thread. Blessings to all.
 
I always enjoyed Popular Science, Popular Mechanics and Mechanics Illustrated magazines. I remember once (back in the '60s) in elementary school, on a visit to the principals' office (don't ask), the principal seemed quite impressed to find this little trouble-maker thumbing through a Popular Science magazine in his waiting area...

When I was 16, my brother hauled me off to work at his service station as an attendant. Worked there for 9 years. Heck of an education. I know many other young fellows that passed through that service station got a similar "education" (no degree but lots of learning). I'm sorry the corner service station is not available for the young folks of today.

I'll second the earlier comment about service manuals. I've had one for every car I've owned. They help when you generally know what you want to do but you need to find out the specifics.

Casting about, I went to the local community college, sort of to "find myself". I still have a good feeling for the community college. They're a good, reasonably priced, alternative for those uncertain about their path in life.

Hooked-up with a good company, a smaller place that makes industrial equipment, and started working in their engineering dept. They had a tuition reimbursement plan that funded my way through college night-school so I could finish my B S degree and step-up to a full engineer position. I've always been grateful for that. Been there for 30 years now and learned a lot on-the-job there.

These days a lot of my learning comes through the internet. I'm still in awe of the "world brain" and it's potential. Yeah, it does have it's crazy parts, and there's a lot of time wasters, but there's a surprising amount of good information out there. Sometimes the most difficult part is finding it... It's been interesting watching the internet develop.
 
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