I was a student from Sept. 1996 to Sept. 1997 I entered the industry shortly after finishing school working for Shelby American. This was at the time when Shelby had just begun building Cobras again. I worked building Cobras for a few years when they were completely hand built here in Las Vegas, we only built two a week and they were completly hand built. Shortly after Shelby moved to thier current facility at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway I took a position as the Fiberglass shop manager. That position involved working inside Southern Desert Correctional Center. I worked at the prison for Shelby for over three years. All the while keeping in touch with Doug LaRue and usually getting together during SEMA. It was during one of his visits that he asked me to come work for the school. I started at WyoTech in May of 2002 as an instructor. After Doug and Mathew Harris (Dagmar Customs) left the school I was promoted to the assistant coordinator of the Street Rod program and worked there intil Sept. 2006 to Move back to Las Vegas. I was completely happy with the school when I left and left on very good terms and frequently speak with my former boss and fellow instructors. That's my story. I have learned from many sources thru-out my life. WyoTech is one of them. The one common thread that runs through my life is cars. Because of my love for cars I have had many good oppertunities. Brick
One of the best automotive programs in the country can be found here in Dayton, Ohio at Sinclair Community College.
I'm not saying this to put down WyoTech or it's students, but after having hired and worked with two of their graduates who claimed they could do "everything" and in reality could do virtually nothing except make crappy tack welds on shitty sheet metal work, all I can say was that I was not the least bit impressed by their education. I would rather at this point hire a FNG and train the little bastard myself from scratch to do things at our level of craftsmanship.
I actually went through the street rod program when brickster was there...hell i even remember what his daily driver was. Besides the point..wyotech is a great school. Brick was a great guy to talk to and was probably the sole influence of me picking up my shoebox. I cant even tell you how many times ive talked to people about him and his car, his dodge truck or even his stories about working for shelby. There are some extremely talented people working there teaching...some maybe not so much in certain sections but thats why it helps to have 3 instructors. Each has his own special place in building cars. Now i read earlier that 8 out of 10 kids there are dipshits...probably more like half. But you are going to have that anywhere you go. Is wyotech worth the money...probably not. Would i do it again...yes. No questions asked. It is very expensive and you have to have your heart in it when your there and not let everyone else bother you. I learned so much while i was there and have brick to thank for a large portion for it. If at all id recommend finding a quality shop to work at if you cant afford a school. All school does is give you the ropes it doesnt make you a pro.
24,000 for 4 classes, I have a BS in History from IU and half a Masters at IUPUI for that money. Sorry, seems like too much money for something you could get as an apprentice and get paid for it. My cousin did HVAC, made $12 an hour for 4 years as a lackey and then $70 an hour as a journeymen. I did the same as an Electrician till I quit from a fall.
Just trying to clear up how most of these "big name" schools (WyoTech in particular) work. The student initially signs up for 9mos. This includes 6 mos of "core classes" (either automotive, collision/refinishing, or diesel mechanics), and one 3 month "elective". Electives are: Trim/Upholstery, Street Rod/Custom Fabrication, Motorsports Chassis Fabrication, Light duty Diesel (pickup trucks), High Performance Power Trains (engine modification), or Automotive Sevice Management. Students may then sign up for as many "add-on" electives as they choose. And as far as the skills a student can obtain, it's all there. It is ENTIRELY up to the individual how much they really want to learn. There are other, smaller schools that do a better job of focusing on one aspect of our industry (hobby). Fay Butler's metalshaping course is second to none in that regard. What these big schools do better is to give the student that APPLIES him/herself more all-around automotive knowledge. I'd say it all depends on where your interest lies.
I took a few weekend classes with the group at Metal Craft Tools and enjoyed them. They do have a training school with a year long program. I suggest checking them out. There are a few posts on this forum of the builds they have worked on during the year. www.metalcrafttools.com
wyotech is a great school. i've been at the laramie campus for a year now and the only thing i would change is their ability to boot the idiots out of class sooner. ive taken the collision/ refinishing course with street rod, chassis and trim added on. i've learned so much from my instructors. it seems the only people who dont or didnt like it here are the ones whose mommy and daddy are footing the bill, havent grown up yet or thought that learning the basics before being a jesse james was crap. i have instructors with wealths of knowledge to hand over to us and when they try to teach....the wanna be badass' in class groan over learning. i barely graduated high school and now im the top student in my class. i can only be thankful for having a school like wyotech who made it fun for me to learn more skill about what i love. what i wanna do for the rest of my life.
Is this really turning into a "my school's dick is bigger than your school's dick" argument? They all serve a purpose. And there will always be students that are not really willing to learn. VooDoo Zombie, you are already on the right path. Researching the schools. Continue on that path. Go to websites, call the admissions departments, talk to counselors, instructors, students. Talk to everyone you possibly can one on one. Find the fine print that each institution has and make sure you understand it. More than anything, if you have the means, take a visit to any of the schools you have a desire to go to, check the facilities, regulations, teaching practices and do the same thing as stated above (talk to every one - one on one), while keeping in mind that many are sales people. A school is a business. Businesses are there to make money, and the way schools do that is by getting your hard earned to pay their tuition charges. Unfortunately a forum such as this does not really get you answers, it only starts bickering amongst people that think they know more about places they have not been. Also take into account other ways of learning and decide what is best for you. IF you can score a job at a shop with people that are willing to take the time to teach you along the way, that may be a better way. OR maybe you can get your foot in the door through other means (art, photography, upholstery, etc...) Anyone on this board will swear to you that the way they learned was the best method. OF COURSE IT WAS! What other means do they have to base it off of? The fact of the matter is, you will never know everything, and if you are not still learning from young and old alike after decades of being in this "hobby," then you were not really all that into it to begin with. Do the ground work. Find the best option that fits you, and no one else. Then get out and show the world what it is you can do.......
Like the man said It is all in how much you out into it. My son went to a Tech school in Denver. For 19 months. He came back here to Illinois And looked for a job for 6 months Some dummy {my Brother } hired him at his shop and the kid said he learned more in two weeks than he learned in 19 months at shool.
I went to UTI almost ten years ago. To be fair, UTi is geared more towards producing dealership mechanics than anything else so it really wasn't for me. I did get a good foundation in how things work and what not, but i can honestly say i learned the most by doing it. I messed around on my own cars and friends' cars, then finally found a hot rod shop that would give me a job. The place i learned the most though was at an Off Road shop. Overall i wouldn't recommend UTI to someone who wants to build hot rods, but i would recommend sticking your nose into every reputable shop you can find, even if its not hot rods, and asking if they need someone to sweep the floors.
The Jalopy Journal
