Would love to fix up a car...no experience though

Would love to fix up a car...no experience though

Author
Discussion

6fire

406 posts

150 months

Wednesday 13th June 2012
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sclayto2 said:
Guilty.

I rebuilt my Land Rover, with no knowledge other than a Haynes and some tools I bought at Halfords. I learnt along the way.

It depends upon what you're going to tackle.

Care to pass on any other information.
Likewise. Was a great start though as I had to learn to weld, fabricate special tools (it's a landrover a big screwdriver and a hammer genreally did the trick!) and because all of the mechanicals are simple you can't really go wrong.

MrBrightSi

2,912 posts

169 months

Wednesday 13th June 2012
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Richie Howard said:
Get yourself an mgb (or another Lego-based car) and experience the joys of discovering how easy it is to sort a car yourself.

There are books, websites and car shows full of people who are thrilled to see young people proud of their cars and more than willing to share their lifetimes knowledge.
This, or a Triumph. The British classic scene is huge, there are plenty of forums, clubs and shops that dish out information, guidance and parts. If it was an MG or Triumph, rimmer brother stock everything you need, with proper exploded views and what have you, plus with the club backgrounds, you will never be far short of great help.

Spitfire mk3, started my love affair with cars and my progression up the ladder from cheap easy to fix but slow dangerous suspensioned car to faster money pits.

MadRob6

3,594 posts

219 months

Wednesday 13th June 2012
quotequote all
I pretty much taught myself with a bit of tutoring from my Dad and lots of playing with Technic Lego as a little'un.

I started off doing a few little things like brake changes and moved up to larger stuff as I was just replacing things that went wrong on my daily driver instead of paying a garage to do it (mostly down to too many bad experiences with garages local to me).

I ended up being offered a Porsche 944 which had been off the road for many years and have been fixing it up myself over the past 4 years and now it's back on the road but still not to a standard I'm happy with. If you're interested I created a project thread here

McSam

6,753 posts

174 months

Wednesday 13th June 2012
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aw51 121565 said:
I'm self-taught too; patience is a virtue, and taking plenty of tea breaks to keep your concentration going and your head together is a good plan smile .

Then a lot more excellent advice
Follow this and you won't go far wrong!

Take care, and look at things before pulling them apart, and it's amazing how much you can understand and think "ah, so that's what it's for". If you do look and understand first, then refitting becomes a lot easier! And as people have said, there's generally very little to be scared of smile

B'stard Child

28,320 posts

245 months

Thursday 14th June 2012
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tinkertaylor said:
I have no experience with any sort of mechanical work etc, is there anyone else on here who is self-taught? I know what car i'd like to start with and what i'd like to aim to achieve with it...
Yes

experience is what you get whe you don't want it

People who never take a risk never do anything at all

get it bought - ask questions if you are stuck - plenty of advice on the net (pick and choose the answers)



T.K

461 posts

177 months

Thursday 14th June 2012
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Some good points here.

Some people are 'naturals' when it comes to working with their hands, some people aren't. Assuming you are one of the vast majority that fall into the latter category (like me), you will still get there and you will learn an enormous amount along the way. Just give yourself bags of time and be patient. Divide the project up into manageable parts, do them one at a time where possible, and make sure you make copious notes along the way. Take the time to read up on things rather than go charging in. Critical point- make sure the right tools for the job are on hand (need not spend a fortune to do so). Provided you pick a half sensible project in time you will have something to be very proud of. Good fun along the way too.

T.K

461 posts

177 months

Thursday 14th June 2012
quotequote all
Some good points here.

Some people are 'naturals' when it comes to working with their hands, some people aren't. Assuming you are one of the vast majority that fall into the latter category (like me), you will still get there and you will learn an enormous amount along the way. Just give yourself bags of time and be patient. Divide the project up into manageable parts, do them one at a time where possible, and make sure you make copious notes along the way. Take the time to read up on things rather than go charging in. Critical point- make sure the right tools for the job are on hand (need not spend a fortune to do so). Provided you pick a half sensible project in time you will have something to be very proud of. Good fun along the way too.

firman

1,407 posts

192 months

Thursday 14th June 2012
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Another self taught driveway mechanic here, started at 15 with a 1974 mini thats rear subframe had disintegrated, spend about 2 years doing all sorts of work on it including fitting a Metro turbo engine. Now have very little fear of most jobs on the cars.
Buy a cheap spotter and get stuck in, build up tools as you need them and there will always be people around to answer questions, take this place for example!

JPearson

1,269 posts

161 months

Thursday 14th June 2012
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Depending on how much money you want to spend, an old mk3 polo is pretty simple!

tinkertaylor

Original Poster:

566 posts

141 months

Thursday 14th June 2012
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thank you for the responses! wasn't expecting so many, I am surprised at how many people have had no prior experience and are self-taught. I will definitely start to 'tinker' as soon as possible. Hopefully i'll be posting a build thread in the future, and you can all see me getting it terribly wrong biggrin

RWD cossie wil

4,295 posts

172 months

Friday 15th June 2012
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You can't teach experience....don't beat yourself up for making mistskes, it is learning WHY you made the mistake that will teach you the most.

Start with a few simple jobs and build up, and google is your friend, there is an amazing amount of knowledge out there on pretty much every car ever made, forums are a fantastic source of pictures & job guides.