Getting into Engine Tuning

[K87]

snotrag said:

Agreed.

Hence my new found love of books. Get on amazon, get on ebay, get some good books. 2nd hand is fine. Read some theory, and science, do some experiments.

I've been reading up on how to make my own flow bench this week, very interested in having a go. Also using coloured paraffin to balance cylinder head chamber volumes.

Where are you reading about making a flow bench? It's something I was looking into too.


Don't get me wrong I'm not saying that going to uni is the be all and end all getting a good job. Far from it in fact, nothing annoys me more than people just going to uni for the sake of it and spending 3 years getting pissed.

But if engine tuning is what you're interested in then I'd recommend getting a decent education in it. Whilst there you'll also have plenty of opportunity to tinker around with stuff to get the practical experience. Most uni's nowadays will open up opportunities, a lot offer final year projects within engine mapping.

You'll also find that the bigger companies. OEM's, AVL cosworth, MERC Hpe etc will only take people with degrees on.

There's different ways into the field. I personally don't think engine tuning is as simple as experimenting with your own engine in your shed, if it works then start charging people for doing theirs.

[snotrag]

The speedpro book I mentioned has a chapter on building your own flowbench - worth a read.

Its on Amazon for not a lot.

[K87]

Excellent I'll get it ordered.

In the meantime that chapter is on google books so I'll have a read through.

[Mr Whippy]

K87 said:

There's different ways into the field. I personally don't think engine tuning is as simple as experimenting with your own engine in your shed, if it works then start charging people for doing theirs.

I generally agree, but the other path you suggest is essentially, go to university, learn it formally, then tinker with your own engine in your shed to prove you can do it to potential customers
Or get employed by someone else, and do more learning (years till they start to really let you in on their hard earned knowledge gained from ,essentially, tinkering in their shed), and then ultimately, tinker on your own engine in your shed by yourself

Yes I know a bit silly but it stands fairly true for this industry imo




Use this guy as inspiration:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burt_Munro

Alternatively, my good friend who got all A's at GCSE, all A's at A-level, then a top degree from a good university, while working summers for an F1 team placement, and then working in F1 for a bit, is now thinking about becoming an accountant

You have to consider that your dream job may actually not be your dream job after you do all the work to get there! I don't doubt my friend is glad he did it of course, but you do have to wonder if everyone feels the same


In any case, I think if you are determined and you get results people are willing to pay you for and are generally accepted as good at what you do, any route works.
You might be st hot at tuning and no good at long division or not understand the integrals to do some aero calculation for a manifold, or not really get electronics hardware at all, but I don't think it matters if you can do the job you need to do without that potentially associated but not essential knowledge. In a way you could say it's inefficient to have spent time learning things you don't need to know to do what you want to do. Extra learning is valid of course, and can be fun, but I think it's a bit elitist to say it's required if you never need it to be really good anyway.

Also if you are good, you can buy people with those skills if you need them, or if you need them later and are interested in them, learn them


I've quickly found in life, that any exploit should either be done for money or for personal satisfaction, or ideally both.
Legal requirements aside, neither of those have a pre-requisite of a formal education or wider understanding before undertaking the activity

Dave

Edited by Mr Whippy on Wednesday 22 June 15:54

[K87]

Mr Whippy said:

Alternatively, my good friend who got all A's at GCSE, all A's at A-level, then a top degree from a good university, while working summers for an F1 team placement, and then working in F1 for a bit, is now thinking about becoming an accountant

Edited by Mr Whippy on Wednesday 22 June 15:54

That's quite common,

It's due to the F1 teams only taking the best students, but then not trusting them to do anything other than sit at a CAD station day in day out for several years before they start giving them a bit of responsibility. By which time they've either got fed up of CAD and moved on or have forgotten most of what they learnt during their degree anyway.

[sam93]

Thanks for the replies, all taken into account! I am planning on hopefulky having a trainee place with a garage who are a TVR specialist who also carry out restorations. engine conversions, rolling roads, engine rebuilds, looms, kit car building and race car prepping! Whilst also going to College to do A levels as just finished a BTEC First in Motorsport Eng Then further onto Uni to do Aeronautical or Mechanical Engineering. I know they are the same with Aero more put towards knowing about Aerodynamics. Although would rather finish uni and go work for someone like Cosworth to get some serious experience working on engines before getting right into engine tuning

[Mr Whippy]

K87 said:

Mr Whippy said:

Alternatively, my good friend who got all A's at GCSE, all A's at A-level, then a top degree from a good university, while working summers for an F1 team placement, and then working in F1 for a bit, is now thinking about becoming an accountant

Edited by Mr Whippy on Wednesday 22 June 15:54

That's quite common,

It's due to the F1 teams only taking the best students, but then not trusting them to do anything other than sit at a CAD station day in day out for several years before they start giving them a bit of responsibility. By which time they've either got fed up of CAD and moved on or have forgotten most of what they learnt during their degree anyway.

Too true I guess.

I think he did ok there, wind tunnel package solutions for engineers and then onto going to the races... when I say working in F1 for a bit, it's probably actually 6 years now... doesn't time fly... eek!

[Mr Whippy]

sam93 said:

Thanks for the replies, all taken into account! I am planning on hopefulky having a trainee place with a garage who are a TVR specialist who also carry out restorations. engine conversions, rolling roads, engine rebuilds, looms, kit car building and race car prepping! Whilst also going to College to do A levels as just finished a BTEC First in Motorsport Eng Then further onto Uni to do Aeronautical or Mechanical Engineering. I know they are the same with Aero more put towards knowing about Aerodynamics. Although would rather finish uni and go work for someone like Cosworth to get some serious experience working on engines before getting right into engine tuning

Engine tuning is a rather big field, but hopefully you'll find the bit in there you want to be in

I doubt there are many good jobs in 'engine tuning' that will give you a strong career path unless you really focus down on a single bit... I think the real money/fun if they are the key motivations, will be in having your own business.

Setting up and running a good business, well, that's a topic for another thread

Dave

[sam93]

Thanks for the replies, all taken into account! I am planning on hopefulky having a trainee place with a garage who are a TVR specialist who also carry out restorations. engine conversions, rolling roads, engine rebuilds, looms, kit car building and race car prepping! Whilst also going to College to do A levels as just finished a BTEC First in Motorsport Eng Then further onto Uni to do Aeronautical or Mechanical Engineering. I know they are the same with Aero more put towards knowing about Aerodynamics. Although would rather finish uni and go work for someone like Cosworth to get some serious experience working on engines before getting right into engine tuning

[sam93]

Mr Whippy said:

Engine tuning is a rather big field, but hopefully you'll find the bit in there you want to be in

I doubt there are many good jobs in 'engine tuning' that will give you a strong career path unless you really focus down on a single bit... I think the real money/fun if they are the key motivations, will be in having your own business.

Setting up and running a good business, well, that's a topic for another thread

Dave

Indeed real money is in own business as it is anywhere really. I'm extremely business like and have a lot of motivation to work for myself.

I do play with own cars and do work on others as I'm in the modifying scene heavily. Built 2 Vdubs so far and all handled very well in the twistys. Now got a car to build into a track day road legal car which is my civic, planning on building a B16B up for it, with just head work and breathing work. Then if I ever can get the money together a k20 build will be coming to it. Obviously a lot more work on suspension etc.. will get done. But I'm doing it to gain more knowledge and for the fun

Just working out the best path really as I have to go from the bottom as I messed about in school and got told I would pay for it. Now I am lol!

[Mr Whippy]

I didn't do so well at school. Not really knowing what I wanted to do was probably a big part of that, so 'lots of potential' but simply never realised or directed it.
I ended up doing the wrong a-levels and the wrong degree. Even now I'm probably in the wrong job, using my hobby work for my portfolio for applying for new work, despite my current job using skills I developed from hobbies at the time to get rather than my credentials from school etc

In any case, either path works. Work hard academically, get a good job, be happy.

Have no direction, but do what you do well and with passion, get a good job, be happy.


I've seen loads of people go both ways and do ok in life, so it's all about you and your motivation to succeed imo

Dave

[K87]

Mr Whippy said:

Use this guy as inspiration:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burt_Munro

Edited by Mr Whippy on Wednesday 22 June 15:54

Bit of a thread resurrection but whilst on the subject, the film world's fastest Indian is one of the greatest motoring films about and well worth watching by any petrolhead!