How to take it to the next level (learning about cars)?

You bring up a good point, tig. Some guys love to tinker. Then there's other guys that just want to get the job done as quickly as possible. In my experience...the tinker guys will suffer less heart attacks and eventually get the job done cheaply (not counting time) and perfectly. But, I think a tinker guy needs to have 2 cars. If one is broken then he can drive the other while tinkering (fixing) the other. If you LIKE tinkering with cars you are way ahead of the game (if you have another driver). You have to find out if you DO like tinkering with cars. I love finding the problem and applying the solution. But, with cars, applying the solution is rarely a quick and easy task. At my age and health, it has become difficult to work on my cars and some tasks require contortions to which I can no longer conform. The junk yard venture may be a good start for you. I wouldn't do the ball joints on your car as a first attempt without help from someone that knows how to do it with mechanic's abilities and tools. But it WOULD be fine to try it as long as you DID have someone like that to walk you through it after you read about the procedure in your manuals. If you have a mechanic friend...talk to him about any procedure you want to attempt if it is a heavy one. I'm talking about a real mechanic that knows his stuff. I presume you don't want to tear engines down and build them up like I used to do, but, understanding engines is also a requirement. And transmissions, suspensions etc, etc. If you go to the junk yard...look at a car like yours and see what the ball joint replacement would require and you will see that there is a certain amount of danger involved. But, with help and the proper tools it can be a fun and major accomplishment to do yourself. I look forward to observing your venture to see if you do or do not like the greasy, knuckle busting field of auto repair.

 

Being ah natural born tight wad I've used this criteria. Gota problem with your ride? 1. Get a bid from a dealer 2. spend half that much on parts 'n tools and keep the other half in your pocket I started by taking windup alarm clocks apart and putting them back together and makin' 'um run and then graduated to gaging spark plugs with a hacksaw blade when flathead V-8s were in vogueOne last word on the subject: GOOD SERVICE MANUALS ARE WORTH WHAT EVER THEY COST AND THEN SOME!You'll be amazed at how much you'll learn and how many tools you'll accumulate. And the library will grow also. Last time we moved it took one truck load for the house hold stuff and another for garage contents The next time I move tho' It'll take a third set ah wheels for me IN THE BOX Happy Trails, Jer

 

I'm very much a noob here but I think you and I are in a similar boat tigabeast. I'm a computer Network Administrator and I grew up with C64, TI-99, etc too. I'm perfectly comfortable rebuilding a RAID array, replacing a motherboard, or VLANing a network. Cars, however, have always been a mystery to me. I took auto shop in high school but pretty much tuned it out 'cause I knew that I would be majoring in Electronics. It was just one of those things we had to take and I didn't care about it because I didn't think it would affect me. Over the last few years I've developed an interest in knowing what's under the hood and I bought my '81 Parisienne expressly to play with and teach myself. My 2000 Grand Marquis was too high tech to play with and I didn't want to risk not being able to get to work on Monday. I figured I would start by taking the car apart, cleaning and painting the small stuff 'cause I wasn't smart enough for anything important. I bought a Haynes book, and a Fisher Body Guide and browsed through them prepping myself for these little inconsequential tasks. Lo and behold, the first thing that the car needed was a brake booster. I didn't need to open the master cylinder or bleed the brake lines, but swapping that booster was probably one of the coolest things I'd ever done from my point of view. I realized when I had it back together again and the car would stop at a corner without hissing at me that I was capable of more than I thought. I had actually fixed what I considered to be a major repair all on my own! This was doubly important to me since I didn't know what a brake booster was before I started. I interacted with so many parts while doing the job that I was now further ahead, knowledge-wise, than I thought I could be. So far I've only had to change that brake booster, a window motor, and a wiper motor, but surfing the 'Net for help, here and elsewhere, have provided me with pretty much everything that I've needed. Remember too, that many of the odd tools that you'll need and maybe can't afford can be borrowed/rented from your local auto parts store. If you don't plan on needing to replace many ball joints at this stage of the game, that might be an option.
I've found that taking a large task and completing it in steps gives me the sense of accomplishment that I need to keep going. I think everyone here has said it better than I could but you're better at what you need to do than you think you'll be and once you get your hands on it, the hard stuff becomes easier to understand pretty quickly.

 

I was born into it...i was almost born in a HotRod(seriously)

Grew up on a dragstrip and in car shows(thanx Dad)
...ticketed mechaninc at 15...retired from it 12 years ago or more...(hated all the new technology)

building cars for a living messed with me....
now i have a hard time workin on my own stuff:confused:

ive forgotten more than i know

and now i sell classic/vintage car parts..at 53...im tired of that too

think i'll get a job at McDonalds...maybe that'l get my groove back

 

I say just jump in there and do it!!!!! if you screw up 2 or 3 times:banghead3: it is still cheaper then paying a shop to do the work plus you gain the smarts not to screw the next time LOL

 

Great thoughts, Cyber-Wizard. I wish I had taken auto shop in high school. It's funny, guys like us don't have a problem messing around with computers, yet cars are filled with mechanical devices that in many ways are simpler than computers (I'm not talking about newer cars here; I don't think I'll ever be interested in tinkering with them).

Everyone's comments have helped me to be more willing to jump in there and do more stuff.

 

Oh yeah, you'll need some of this stuff:

Just so you computer guys know, you will have to get your hands dirty.

 

Let's see... is that stuff orange juice?

When I was a kid, I spilled chocolate milk on my Commodore 64. Does that qualify as getting your hands dirty?

 

Only if you did it while inserting the giggling pin in the laughing shaft.

That ain't orange juice, that's what lets you clean up like you had a manicure before your big date! Awesome stuff. Even I look better after changing the brakes.

 

WOW that must be some strong s--t Norman,mg:mg:mg:

 

My wife says, "I can dress you, but I can't take you out." She married me, but it could be that I'm so outstanding, like a farmer in his cornfield?

 

Fast Orange is the only car-related purchase that my wife doesn't frown at!!

 

I here ya!!!!!

 

remember these pionts when doing it yourself:
it will take 4 times lomger than you first thought

cost twice as much, but one third less than a dealer and one half as much as a local garage.

never go as planed.

never be afraid to ask for help

 

Im still at the first level so maby I shouldnt answer this thread.

But my way of learning more is using my voice, ears and eyes. I look at the cars, in the cars, at the engine and tools and what the guys are doing, then I ask them to explain to me, and then I don't listen and try to do it by myself anyway...

As I said before, Lowlow has the patience of an angel, I'm always in the way, asking stupid questions. He is kind enough to let me in to "help" him, you know, learning by doing, eventhoug it takes much longer time.

Lowlow impresses me everyday with his knowledge about the v8s, probably he could assemble a 350 in his sleep, so I have a really good teacher...

My dreamgoal is to build my own Dodge Demon with an Hemi in it, and Im gonna do it from scratch, by my self. Thats the BEST way of learning!