I've been reading on this forum for a while and I see you guys talking a lot about engine parts and turbos and other stuff like that. Half of the time I read these posts i'm like becuase I have no idea what you guys are talking about. My question is, how do you guys know all this stuff? Do you guys read books? work on cars? or just learn as you go along? Can you guys give me some pointers on where to get started so I can be as informed as you guys are. A few months ago somebody posted about some good books to read about cars but I don't remember what they where called. Hope somebody can point me in the right direction, thanks.

 

Many of the members here are mechanics, performance shop owners, car enthusiasts, etc. etc. Therefore the knowledge that a lot of the members here have is quite immense. I consider myself to be quite the novice when it comes to engines and I get lost all of the time hearing some of these guys talk. Either way in your case maybe if you have some extra time you could take a basic automotive class or something of that nature. Also, I may get flamed for this one but go to howstuffworks.com and check out some of the articles on there, they give very basic knowledge on some of the things you may read about on here.

 

+1. Howstuffworks.com

READ IT!

 

Almost 5 years of reading forums and articles on different cars, aspects, technical, news, etc.

But I also started off with howstuffworks.com. <-- good place to start.

 

search anything u want to know about on this forum here and it will explain it. or u can just go here http://people.howstuffworks.com as above ^^

 

Hello,

I thought I'd answer this question since I took the route that many people took, but just took it to an extreme. I started off by working on cars - starting with oil changes on my friends' cars, radiator flushes, spark plug changes, etc. I spent a year or so never doing anything more exciting than those kinds of maintenance things.

Then I got more adventurous and installed aftermarket suspensions on peoples' cars. On the Subaru forums (well, before the internet became very popular, we were a mailing list) people would post up "anyone want to help me install a ..." and I'd say "sure" and drive anywhere up to about 100 miles to meet up with strangers and work on their cars. That grew into "install-fests" where first 5 or so people would show up, but later 20-30 people would show up on a Saturday and everyone would install things together (for moral support, being able to borrow tools, etc), with me and a couple other guys walking around and helping out and doing installs for people.

Eventually, I worked up the courage to convert my FWD Subaru to AWD, and then changed the motor from a 1.8L to a 2.5L. Meanwhile, I was autocrossing and going to track events and learning how all the things I was working on would affect the car, to understand how suspensions work, etc.

That all then developed into working as a mechanic for the first Subaru of America factory-backed road racing team, and then working my way up to being the crew chief of that team. I did that for a few years, moved up through several other teams (a few Subaru teams, a Mazda team, more Subaru teams), campaigned cars in the US Touring Car Championship, the Open Track Challenge, the NASA 25-Hour enduro, Grand Am Cup, and now, I'm the crew chief for the Nissan USA factory-backed Car and Driver / NoHotWire racing team, campaigning two 350Zs in GAC.

Heh, if someone had told me that playing around with cars would one day consume me, get me to change career paths, etc., I would have laughed. But dang, this is a disease. Once you're infected, you can't just go back to being a desk job type person... My undergrad degree was a BS in Genetics, my first big job was as a mechanical engineer. I got a JD (lawyer's degree), passed the bar, practiced law for about a year and a half, and just had to stop all that boring stuff to play with cars some more. A real career just took up too much time

That said, I've read every book I can get my hands on to learn more about cars. I read several magazines, always looking for blurbs about interesting technologies and then I research those technologies on the internet. I read several forums to learn from people who know more than I do. I spend time working with people who know things that I can learn: I discuss engine tuning with engine tuners (guys like Trey and Christian at CobbTuning, Mike Warfield at GST-Motorsports (formerly with Gruppe-S Tuning), as well as more race oriented tuners like Paul at Hasselgren Engineering). I talk to people at Koni, Bilstein, Penske, etc., about suspension dynamics, tuning, etc. Although shutting up is hard for me to do, I shut up and listen a whole lot.

But the most important thing to do is DO things. I started by doing things, and I still learn by doing things. The software suggests X spring rate, so I'll try X and I'll bring along X +/-50, 100, 150 lbs, and I'll make changes based on driver feedback. Even if I don't know what change will be best, I make a change and get feedback. An example - if you didn't know how to dial out understeer, you could soften the front springs and see what happens. If the car handles better, I know that softer springs in front have the desired effect. It takes what you read in books to back that up and explain that you're letting the front end work more which increases front grip which reduces understeer.

In the world of engines, though, it's a little harder. You need more sensors to know what's going on and the cost of a mistake can be high, at least on your wallet. So for that, I chat up guys with dynos. It's true that a certain part may make more power, but is the flow across the MAF as expected? Is the car running lean because of a change in the flow characteristics? Without flowbench data to verify the MAF readings, you need at least A/F ratio datalogging or EGT temp readings, etc. So here, learning comes a lot from reading the forums, reading books, magazines, etc., and again, talking to people who know more.

Anyway, I wrote a much longer answer than I intended, but ... ahh well, I guess I should get ready for tomorrow, officially the opening day at SEMA. Goodnight.

Joel

 

I would love to take an automotive class but I'm really busy going to College for computers so I wouldn't be able to do that right now. As for working on cars to gain experience I can't do that either cuz money is tight and I don't trust my self to do anything more advanced than to change the oil. So for right now I'm just gonna try and read books and check out howstuffworks.com

Hey Joel wich books did you read? Do you remember the names so I can get them?

 

Books and Classes are good to "pull" things together after u start to learn some funementals. As with all things, its best to get a little hands on experience by doing simple things and asking advice. Just picking up a book is like Greek if u havent a clue as to what they are talking about. I was late in the computer age, I bought books, WTF !!! I was lost. I started stumbling around and 6 months later I picked up the same book. It all made sense and I was ready to start the book process.
I was a successful Mech Engineer--self taught, as time went on, by the help of books. After a few yrs I got a degree. It was a piece of cake and I had to laugh at, but able to help others that were students as I was, that were stumbling around,lost. Books are good for reference, But "hands on" is best to generate the questions that books will help u understand.
Point is---Get ur hands dirty. After u wash them, Pick up a book.

Edit: Important !!!! Learn who u can trust for answers and advice. Hate to say, But 90% of the "mechanics" out there dont know their A$$ from a hole in the ground. Learn to recognize that 10%.

 

Just a hint for future reference: put a subject in the subject line. Something like Upper plenum leaking not I got a question. Hell everyone has a question. Thanks

 

My dad learned just by messing around with a gokart he got when he was a kid, and by working on cars as he got older, but he's also an electrical engineer, and having an engineering background doesnt hurt at all.

When I was a little kid (like 5-6) dad used to work on this old rx-7 he used to have, and I would watch him work on the car and ask "what's that (point at it)? and then say "what's it do?". My dad was kind enough to explain these things to me, and even at a moderatly complex level even though I was only 5-6. He knew that I didnt understand everything, but that I remembered everything he told me. I was also one of those kids who asked 20 million questions a day, even one day asking "dad, when God greated the universe, what was he standing on?" of course, at the time I didnt understand that He didnt have to be standing on something... Then many years later when I got my first car, I would open the hood and not quite know what was going on... then I got my 2nd car, and it had some problems that needed to be fixed, and I looked around to fix them, and somehow I just knew what to do, and how most of it worked. Of course there where things i didnt know, and the more I worked on the car, the more I asked questions about the things i didnt know about with people on the forums for that car, and the more I read about it, etc. And that's how I learned what I know today.... Dad, experience, reading, and asking questions.

 

i didnt know shii before i got the car and after reading every post on technical and Engine, Drivetrain & Forced-Induction, you'll evenetually pick up on some info which is pretty informative!