Where did you learn to do what you do

When I was a kid, I didn't know any better so I just jumped in and took apart an engine. I got it back together, and it ran. I guess this is where the reading part helped? I read everything I could find at the library about working on cars

 

Uncles, friends,practice and OJT.

Lee

 

I pulled a '54 inline six and rebuilt the engine but didn't have the money for doing the machine shop work or valve work, so basically at 15 years old I rock honed the cylinders and put new inserts in and buttoned it back up.

It ran better and smoked a lot less and I felt like I had accomplished the impossible,,I drove the car for about a year and replaced the 6 with a V8,,I have been a hot rodder ever since. HRP

 

I learned by hanging at the neighbor's garage from around 8 yrs. old. Then later from making my own mistakes while trying to do things I'd never done. Eventually picked up old Motors manuals, and "how to hotrod...." books, and finally had a piston blow in my old '57 Chevy, and figureed it was time to learn how to rebuild an engine.
I've always figured I could buy the tools and make mistakes on my car, and still be cheaper than paying someone else to do it. Plus I had the tools later, and learned how to do things by just jumping in and trying it.

 

My Dad wasn't a mechanic and nor am i but he did all his own servicing and showed me over the years. I'm an autoglazier by trade so glass and trim work i'm happy with. Unfortunatly i have to farm certain work out as i don't have the space or tools to do a lot of things but i still do what i can. Apart from the obvious books, HAMB, related forums, etc, etc i found the most important thing is friends that share the passion and willing to get stuck in and give you a hand.

 

Had two much older brothers who ran a wrecking yard/garage/service station in the late '40's and '50's and were into dirt track racing. I was a pest to them but they let me hang around from about age ten. Had my own '40 Ford dirt track racer before I had a driver's license. Moved to SoCal and refined my knowledge in a superb high school auto shop class. There they let us work on our own projects during class and let us use the shop at night and on weekends. The shop teachers were also active local hotrodders and they knew their stuff. I built a decent street/strip 41 Ford Coupe there (Merc flathead with all the goodies) and helped build some seriously great hotrods. Now I shy away from big projects, but I do have a few old cars around to tinker with.

 

gasolinescream,
You are absolutely correct about friends that will lend a hand. A lot of learning gets done that way.

Since I have gotten older I find that there is almost no one to help. I think it is easier when you are young and party around a bit.

 

Buy a POS old car and a set of torches and have at it!

 

Self made...well mostly.

 

All sound advice. I'd mention that to have permission, or be invited to see a fab shop where things are done is good.
In your own work, you've got two eyes, lungs, ears and hands. Treat them as worth protecting! You'll be glad you did. As you start any job, put on the glasses or face shield, fumes are to be filtered or avoided. These are among the best habits to acquire.

 

Just one thing from me, do each step of each project to the very best of your ability. Remember Rome wasn't built in a day. Keep working and over time you will see your skills improve. One day you'll look back and laugh at your early results.

 

I'd buy the parts to be able to spend the day in the garage with a HAMBer with as much knowledge to share as you have, porknbeaner. I can't believe you can't get any help.

The best lessons I ever got were the times when we'd get done working on my truck and I'd ask Dad or Papaw why I get so much more dirty than they do and the answer was because they didn't do anything.

Yeah, find someone that will let you help them and actually show you what they're doing but at some point you want that person to sneak into the helper role while you do everything without even realizing it.


Posted from the TJJ App for iPhone & iPad

 

This thread's a good read. Lots of wisdom and encouragement in these posts - that's one of the things I appreciate about the HAMB.

 

All most all of the above.................... And the best place to learn is right here! Don't be afraid to try. Don't be afraid to ask questions.

 

I learned by doing I guess--growing up on a farm I was involved early on working on tractors, farm trucks and other farm machinery. Also my Dad rebuilt the engines on all of the farm trucks and pickups--most were 235 Chevys with a few fords mixed in and I was involved and helped. Then started with my own cars and with friends installing solid cams and lifters in small blocks in the late 50's early 60's. At 69 I'm still learning and still get stumped now and then and ask for help or advice--you never know everything so don't be afraid to ask for help and read all pertinent info. you can.
As a side note, i've met young guys who were interested I thought and told them they could come help and learn and I would even pay them but none ever followed through.

 

Tore apart several clunkers when I was young. Spent two years in college learning auto mechanics and body work. Then never went into the field. I make too many mistakes with stuff to trust myself on other people's cars. Plus I was kind of burned out after having one instructor who was kind of a dick; his idea of creating a problem in a car for an exam was to remove a fuse - every damn time, even on the final, I swapped the radio fuse for one of the ignition fuses and the car fired right up. Not sure what I learned there since I didn't need a two year degree to know to check the fuse box first in case it's a simple problem.

 

All what the guys say is so true ,but if you can't weld take a course or have some one teach you the basics and practise .Dont be afraid i always had a creed i go by" I can fix this " and if i can't its only cash.

 

Before building my T Bucket, I had never built a car before. But, I had been reading books and magazines. When DVD's came out, I got them and watched what was going on. I asked questions when ever I saw a T at a show or out on the street. I did all of that for over 30 years. By the time I pulled the trigger, I felt like I had built 10 T's, but they were all in my head.

When I got my bare frame, I planned out the next steps. Not having a lot of money forced me to do research and take my time. A couple years later, she was done. I'm still learning. It never ends. I don't think there is a limit to learning.

One thing is for sure. If you don't start, you'll never finish.

 

Books.... that and spending alot of hours in the garage learning by the school of hard knocks with a lot of cussing and screwdriver throwing to boot!

 

Ha I still throw things, I try to miss the expensive parts.

I had traded for a '57 Wagon with an L-79 in it when I was a young man. It had the bumpers and the grill etc in the back. The radiator had a leak so I pulled it out and soldered it up. I was putting the grill etc back in it and managed to mash my finger, I don't recall how, but the nearest thing I had to throw was a 9/16x1/2 box. It ended up sticking through the radiator. I soldered the radiator around it and it was still stucking through there when I traded the car off.

 

Herb Martinez, a great pin-striper of note, said it best during a seminar I attended a few years ago at SoCal's shop

"How do you get to be a GREAT pin-striper??? Well, you go get a gallon of white One Shot, start striping everything you can get your hands on...when that gallon is gone, you might be a fair striper."

That is sort of my philosophy on building hot rods.

 

1. Search you town name / closest city in the search function. Find someone with a build thread goin on and offer to help. I've made some of the best friends I've ever had doing that. Sam Navarro and Richard D I met right here on the hamb.

2. Start with some small stuff. Build confidence . Ie buy Holley 94 and rebuild it.

3. Read read read read read read....



Posted from the TJJ App for iPhone & iPad

 

4 year engineering apprenticeship in the Prototype division at Jaguar Cars ,Coventry England

 

Confidence in your ability is utmost important. If you start out unsure of yourself, your half beaten already. Go at it slow and steady. Learn from your mistakes (School of hard knocks). Read, ask, experiment. You can't fail if your sure you wont.

 

Take a walk around the neighborhood on a Saturday morning, If you see a car up on stands or the hood open, introduce yourself and ask if you can help/watch. When I was younger I used to ride my bike to town and stop at some of the local shops/garages and just see what was going on. Sometimes I would get to watch the technicians, offer to sweep or clean etc. Nowadays a kid near a shop would be a liability. If you have a couple car clubs near you, ask if there is a build going on that you could help with. Even if it's cleaning tools and organizing, you will pick up on alot of information. As mentioned, READ and then keep reading. Become a member here and don't be afraid to ask questions.

 

When you get to building your own car.....build it like YOU want it. Dont worry about being "traditional". The times, they are a changing.

 

I looked at pictures, watched Jesse James on TV, looked at more pictures, went to Home Depot, got a MIG welder, 4" grinder and a chop saw and figured out how to make metal stick together. spent every second I could in the garage and built a 33 plymouth coupe, watched every biker build off and studied every thing I saw, then somehow got a job at a big name hot rod shop worked 70+hrs a week for about 4bucks an hour. went to another big name shop and worked more than the first place, went to Fay Butler's, 11 years later I bought a 10,000sq' building and opened my shop, 1945 Speed and Custom and learn more every day I go to work. I look at everything I see from a fabrication point of view, how things are made and what would make them lighter, stronger, cheaper and better looking. I read something in rodders journal once about someone complimenting a part saying it looks like a factory part and the person saying "factory.. we are the god damn factory!" that stuck with me so everything I make I try to make it look Factory, sometimes better

 

Try, Try, and try again. Talk to the guys at the shows - talk to the old guys at the parts store, go to the vocational school and take night courses. Lucky for me a full time chevy mechanic who took on a lot of side jobs needed help from time to time and called me to pass wrenches. Watch and learn...

 

Great read. I just wasted the whole summer sitting around feeling discouraged about my 61' Cadillac. I don't have friends to help, My parents don't know zip about cars or care, so I'm pretty much on my own, until I crashed the cad earlier last month. I had a couple people come out to look at damages and one even offered for help around his shop if I wanted to. Problem is I don't really have a ride to 5 miles through town where his shop is. My only concerns are I am a girl and don't want to be taken advantage of and my town is a drug community and people steal to scrap for $$. I read through this and thought, sure I could just attack my project but then I fear of making a costly mistake. I'll never get anywhere if I don't practice. I have a little and actually fixed some things and got them working again without anyone's help! I read in my manual, surf the net and ask you fellas. I know I'm capable of making it happen if I just put my mind to it. So, I guess Starting tomorrow I'm going to force myself early and make some progress. My Cadi needs me now and It must get done before the bad weather arrives since I don't have a garage or shelter to work under.